McNeill inks recruiting class of 18 on National Signing Day

Since Ruffin McNeill was named the new head coach at ECU, he has given new meaning to “hitting the ground running.”

Since his tenure began a couple of weeks ago, McNeill has been relentless on the recruiting trail trying to salvage the class that former Pirate coach Skip Holtz had crafted, while also trying to land a couple of his own handpicked players to replace 28 departing seniors.

On Wednesday, McNeill reaped the reward of his hard work as 18 recruits signed their national letters of intent to attend and play football for ECU.

While offering a school’s “pitch” to a potential recruit is often the difference in whether the prospective athlete attends a given school, McNeill said of his 29 years associated with football, ECU was the easiest sale.

“This last week was the most comfortable delivery, the easiest pitch or sale job I’ve ever had,” McNeill, an ECU alum, said. “It was easy to sell this university because it’s my school, too. Going into the home, I was selling something I knew about because I’ve been on both sides … It was an easy pitch; it was from the heart.”

Breaking down the recruiting class, nine are expected to line up on the defensive side of the ball while seven will play offense. The two remaining recruits will be utilized as multi-purpose athletes.

While being considered a balanced class, McNeill and his staff recruited eight athletes to rebuild the defensive unit’s front seven.

Among those committed to help on that side of the ball are defensive ends Maurice Falls, Mack Helms, Lee Pegues and Chrishon Rose. Listed as playing either linebacker or defensive end is Terry Williams and Derrell Johnson. Jacob Geary and Jeremy Grove are being touted as linebackers.

Rounding out the defensive recruiting class is defensive back Detric Allen.

Offensively, ECU added three linemen, two quarterbacks, one running back and two wide receivers.

Anchoring the line will be Anthony Garrett, Drew Gentry and Taylor Hudson. Shane Carden and Desi Brown will both compete for the starting quarterback nod while Alex Owah will round out the tailback and Torian Richardson and Damon Magazu round out the receiver positions, respectively.

Listed as “athlete,” meaning they could be utilized on both sides of the ball, are Lamar Ivey and the aforementioned Brown.

Falls, Grove, Johnson, Owah and Garrett all enrolled in school for the spring semester and will look to get a head start on other incomers when practice starts up.

“While this particular class is balanced in terms of offense and defense, the need to address certain positions is evident on the defensive side of the ball,” McNeill said. “I am also pleased we were able to add a quarterback and a multi-purpose athlete to this initial group to enhance our depth, especially with new systems we’ll put in place.”

Discussed in detail in Wednesday afternoon’s press conference were the offensive and defensive philosophies that the Pirates will display on the field next year.

McNeill spoke once again of a pass-heavy Texas Tech-style offense that “even had offensive linemen excited,” and said that the Pirates will use multiple looks on defense, including at times running five and six defensive back packages.

At the end of the day, McNeill was left pleased by the class that he and his staff were able to put together on such short notice.

“Our first priority was to make sure we had an opportunity to meet with all of the players and parents who had committed to ECU and assure them that we shared the qualities and character to succeed on and off the field,” said McNeill, who was formally named the Pirates’ head coach on Jan. 21. “Although we had a short turnaround, I felt that we took advantage of that time and the resources available to us to keep this group together.”

Wednesday marked the beginning of one of the most hectic times in McNeill’s life, but the Pirate head coach is still coming to grasp that he is at the helm.

“Every day, it’s cool,” McNeill said about being the Pirates’ head coach. “It’s not work … I love it here. I love being a part of it (ECU program). I love the kids; the kids here are awesome. We’re not coming to a program where we have to rebuild. We’re coming to a program that knows how to win.”

This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com.