Q&A: Wolfpack Weekly Radio Show with Special Assistant Coach Ruffin McNeill

NC State special assistant Ruffin McNeill joined the Wolfpack Weekly Radio Show to discuss the Wolfpack’s bye-week approach, the importance of building relationships with players, what NC State needs in the second half of the season, and more!

Coach, before we talk about Stanford, what did the bye week timing mean for this team? How badly did this team need it?

We needed it big time.

Anytime you have that week, you can really go back to the beginning. That’s what Coach did and how we approached it. We went back like they were freshmen and reinstalled everything.

The kids were very attentive and focused.

We backed off a little bit with the collisions in practice, but the kids really got into it. The coaches did a great job.

It was a very intentional week of work, and the kids were intense and worked hard.

This team is 3-3 through six games. Give me a couple of guys who have earned the Ruffin McNeill stamp of approval with how they’ve played in the first half of the season.

In my brain, I’m a whole-part-whole guy. I look at the season in quarters.

That first quarter was 1-2. We had tough games against Tennessee and Vanderbilt. Then we came back and finished that second quarter 2-1.

The quarterback is always important, and CJ has been a great leader.

Anytime you get voted on by every member of the football team and your teammates, that’s unheard of for me. This is my 47th year, and I’ve never heard of that.

He owns his responsibilities and shows up to practice every day.

Then, up front, the Teagster, Teague Andersen, has done a great job. I call him “Teagster.” He’s done a great job leading and following through. He leads in his own way, which has been great.

We miss Duke, but some other guys have stepped up a lot.

Brian Nelson II has done a great job since the start of the offseason, stepping in and doing his job.

Then you have the newcomer, Popo.

Everybody knows Popo, but he’s been a fantastic addition. He’s amazing.

His nickname is Zero. Popo is his formal name around here.

When I say Zero in this town, they know who I mean.

He’s done a great job. He’s been a great voice and has led well, no matter what.

He’s had to step up a bit more than we expected with some injuries, but he’s done a great job.

Then Kanoah Vinesett has done a fantastic job on special teams.

He’s grown up during the time we’ve been here together.

Those are a few guys off the top of my head.

When I watch you interact with players at practice, your conversations don’t always seem to be about X’s and O’s. They seem much more personal. Are most of your conversations about where players are mentally and how they’re doing personally?

Everybody has a gift.

One of mine is that I can remember things very well.

I know what we’re doing on offense, defense, and special teams.

When I meet with a kid, it is personal and relationship-based. Coach Doeren knows that about me. Everybody does. At the same time, I know what Coach Roper wants offensively, or what D.J. wants defensively, down to position-specific details, because I hear what they’re telling their players.

I may echo that.

I’m not telling them anything different. I’m echoing it while also bringing them positivity.

I watch them.

If you ask the players what Ruff does, he watches.

I’m an information gatherer.

I watch them and try to reinforce what the coaches have told them, and what Coach Doeren has told them.

I repeat it.

Repetition is key to teaching.

You’ve coached for 47 years and through many eras of college football. How is connecting with players in 2026 different from earlier generations?

It’s a lot different.

When I first began, there were no cellphones. You had to use a phone booth. There was no GPS and definitely no social media.

It’s been a blessing and a gift for me to be raised old school.

I was coached by some great old-school coaches, and I was a graduate assistant for Danny Ford at Clemson.

That old-school approach still runs in my blood. That’s my base.

When you see me talking to players one-on-one, they know I’ll always go back to that old-school flavor.

It’s going to be based on fundamentals. It’s going to be mentality. It’s about how you approach the day.

Yesterday is history. Today is your masterpiece. That type of philosophy.

At the same time, I’ve had to adapt.

I’ve had to adjust to the newer generation, but not too much.

You blend in some of those old-school philosophies while adapting enough to relate to them.

I always remember that I’m talking to them. I’m not talking at them.

I think that’s a mistake people make sometimes. They talk at someone instead of talking to them.

I’ve been through different generations, and you have to learn how to adapt. I’ve chosen to do that.

At the same time, I blend in the old-school things that I know work.

One thing about kids has not changed: You always have to be yourself.

If you try to be something you’re not, they’ll figure it out.

I’ve always been myself because if something happens or something breaks, I can fix it.

If you try to be something you’re not, you can’t fix it.

You have that personal connection with the players and coaches, but it’s not always strawberries and ice cream. How do you use all of your experience to challenge the players and even the coaches?

I do it personally with the coaches.

It’s not me telling them what to do. Sometimes it’s just a suggestion.

Dave and I talk daily.

I notice certain things because I’m watching how they coach. I’m watching how the players look at them while they’re coaching.

If I can add anything, I try.

With the players, I know what our staff expects. I know what Coach Doeren has asked us, as a staff, to do.

That helps because I’m in every meeting.

I try to approach it from that angle more than anything.

I cover what we need to get done that week, what we have to do during this travel week, what we’ve had to change, and what adjustments we need to be ready for.

I help relay that from Coach Doeren to our coaches, our staff, and our players.

Every time I see one of them, I’ll pull him aside and talk to him one-on-one.

And remember: Talk to him, not at him.

You’re flying roughly six hours west to Stanford for a late Friday night kickoff. Have you ever been part of a game that kicked off this late?

I’ve coached on the West Coast at Fresno State and UNLV, so I’ve been out there.

I’ve never had to travel east-to-west and deal with that time change quite like this.

I don’t think I’ve had one this late.

But we’ve adjusted. Coach has done a great job.

We’ve had to adjust our schedule, and the young men probably didn’t understand it at first, but every practice this week has been right on point.

It surprised me, but it’s been good to see.

I’ve never personally had to play at that time, but we’ve tried to adjust to the time change as best we can while we’re still here by changing our practice and meeting schedule.

I’m looking forward to seeing the guys perform and benefit from what we’ve done as a program this week.

What does this team need to do to have the type of second half of the season it wants? You’re 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the ACC, with the bye week essentially splitting the season in half.

Stay together as a team.

Sometimes you set goals, and then some mishaps happen.

Then it's, “You don’t win, you learn.”

During those learning times, like we’re in right now, what did we learn? How did we learn it? How can we apply it?

Then you have to apply it through execution on the field.

Coach Doeren brought up the term “mental endurance.”

We need mental endurance for four quarters.

As a group, we need that mental endurance and to do our best job on every play. Eleven-man football.

Offense, defense, special teams, and the sidelines.

Let’s go fight. Let’s be ready to go. Want some, get some.