default-cbs-image

New Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley announced a new addition to his staff on Wednesday, tapping an old friend to join him in Norman as an assistant head coach and defensive tackles. 

Ruffin McNeill first identified Riley's coaching acumen when both were on the Mike Leach's staff at Texas Tech. When McNeill was named head coach of his alma mater at ECU, he gave Riley his first offensive coordinator job with the Pirates. 

"Personally, I have a great history with [McNeill] from our time together at Texas Tech and East Carolina," Riley said Wednesday. "We're getting an extremely high-quality person and coach. Our team and fans will love the personality and energy he'll bring to our program.

"Ruffin possesses a distinguished record defensively, and I'm excited to see him work alongside defensive coordinator Mike Stoops and the rest of our staff on that side of the ball. I view the defensive line as one of the most important — if not the most important — position groups on the field, and he'll be a big benefit to our student-athletes and to our program as a whole." 

McNeill has plenty of Big 12 experience thanks to his 10 seasons with Texas Tech. At ECU, the Pirates went 42-34 at ECU and played in four bowl games across six seasons with McNeill at the helm.