McNeill to highlight Black History Month celebration at BCCC | Eastern North Carolina Now

News Release:

    East Carolina University's renowned football coach Ruffin McNeill will share his message of achieving success on and off the playing field as the keynote speaker at a celebration of Black History Month at Beaufort County Community College.

    The event will also feature choirs from local high schools and Martin Community Action, Inc., and a testimonial by Daniel Garcia, a BCCC student.

    It will be 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, in the Multi-purpose Room of Building 10 on the BCCC campus. It is offered free of charge to the public.

    The theme of the celebration is "Breaking Every Chain."

    The event is sponsored by Men of Success, a male mentoring club at BCCC with the goal of promoting achievement among the college's minority male students.

    The program will inspire attendees to work hard to achieve their goals in life, according to Daniel Wilson, director of Admissions and Recruitment at BCCC and advisor to the club.

    "I am delighted to welcome Coach McNeill to BCCC to bring his message of achieving success to our students and members of the community," said Wilson. "He is a respected coach and a dynamic speaker and I believe this should be an exciting evening."
ECU Pirate's Football Coach Ruffin McNeill: Above.
    McNeill has served as ECU's head football coach since January 2010 after completing a 10-year stay at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.

    A native of Lumberton, McNeill was a four-year letterman on the ECU football team from 1976 to 1980 under legendary coach Pat Dye. He was a three-year starter at defensive back where he helped lead the Pirates to the Southern Conference Championship in 1976 and an Independence Bowl berth in 1978.

    McNeill began his coaching career as a defensive coach at Lumberton High School in 1980 and served at the school for four years before taking collegiate assistant positions at Clemson, Austin Peay State, North Alabama, Appalachian State and East Carolina universities and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

    Before returning to his alma mater, NcNeill ended the 2009 season as the Texas Tech Red Raiders' interim head coach by rallying No. 21 ranked Texas Tech to a 41-31 victory over Michigan State at the Valero Alamo Bowl.

    In December, McNeill led ECU to a 37-20 victory over Ohio University in the Beef 'O'Brady's Bowl in Saint Petersburg, Fla. That win cemented ECU football's second double-digit winning season in school history - the most since 1991.

    McNeill and his wife, Erlene, have two adult daughters, Renata and Olivia, and a granddaughter, Isabella.

    For more information about the event, contact Wilson at (252) 940-6233 or by email at danielw@beaufortccc.edu.


    Beaufort County Community College is a public comprehensive community college committed to accessible and affordable quality education, effective teaching, relevant training, and lifelong learning opportunities for the people served by the College.