Texas Tech’s entertaining bowl victory on Saturday night left one major impression: Texas Tech had better hire Ruffin McNeil.
The Red Raiders interim coach took over during a crazy week, in which popular coach Mike Leach was suspended and then fired. Though McNeil is a close friend of his former boss Leach, and was shaken up by the events of the week, he kept his team together, made some wild calls (going for it on 4th down again?) and his team prevailed over the chaos.
He auditioned for the job in a very harsh spotlight and passed with flying colors.
So if he doesn’t get the job, can we guess why?
McNeil is African-American. Which means he’s traditionally been shut out of consideration for a Division I coaching job.
There has been some progress this winter. While a year ago there were only three African American head coaches in the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision 1A Schools, now there are 11. This has been a very big month with the hires of Turner Gill (Kansas), Charlie Strong (Louisville) and Mike London (Virginia).
But it’s still an uphill battle for men like McNeil.And for the former Texas Tech defensive coordinator, it goes beyond the color of his skin. There’s his friendship with Leach, which the administration could hold against him. There’s also his weight – with the firings of Mark Mangino and Charlie Weis, the ranks of college coaches have slimmed down. McNeil, in contrast, looks like he is borrowing Weis’ coaching pants.
The administration at Texas Tech seems, from an exterior vantage point, like an odd group. This the same school (headed by different parties) that hired Bobby Knight, despite his well-chronicled record of abuse. Their relationship with Leach was, by all accounts, contentious prior to recent incidents.
Will they have the guts to hire McNeil? They should. His job interview on Saturday was pretty spectacular.
What a fraud.
How long ago was it that you would not vote for anyone unless the HOF wrote some rules to clarify the whole steroid business? But, of course, that was nonsense. You just needed to sound tough. As a (former?) member of the media, you really don’t have any convictions.
Guess what? No one in SJ misses you. And judging by the apparent lack of readership on this blog, you can join Mike Tyson and fade off into Bolivia.
David, your first five sentences make absolutely no sense. Nor does the apparent topic you speak of seem to have anything to do with Ms. Killion’s Article. You fail.
Are you joking? The guy wins one game as a head coach and you think he deserves the head coach position? Do you know anything about football? Now that he wasnt hired for a coach with incredible credentials in one of the best conferences in football, are they still racist? You know nothing of football.
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[...]Texas Tech Better Hire Ruffin McNeil – Ann Killion[...]…