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Oklahoma football: Sooners down not one, but two assistant coaches

By Chip Rouse

TAMPA, FL - OCTOBER 11: Head coach Ruffin McNeill of the East Carolina Pirates reacts on the sideline in the first half of the game against the South Florida Bulls at Raymond James Stadium on October 11, 2014 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL - OCTOBER 11: Head coach Ruffin McNeill of the East Carolina Pirates reacts on the sideline in the first half of the game against the South Florida Bulls at Raymond James Stadium on October 11, 2014 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Oklahoma football already had a search underway for an assistant coach. Now it turns out they will have two openings to fill.

Assistant head coach Ruffin McNeill announced on Thursday that he was stepping away from football temporarily to provide care for his 85-year-old father.

McNeill joined the Oklahoma coaching staff when Lincoln Riley became the head coach in 2017. He started out coaching the defensive tackles, but in 2018 he was named interim co-defensive coordinator when Mike Stoops was fired. When Alex Grinch came in as the new defensive coordinator this past season, McNeill worked with the outside linebackers.

While McNeill has been at OU, the Sooners have gone 36-6, won three consecutive Big 12 championships and been to the College Football Playoff in three straight years.

Before coming to Oklahoma, the 61-year-old McNeill was at Virginia as assistant head coach and defensive line coach. He was head coach at East Carolina, his alma mater, from 2010 to 2015. Riley was with him at East Carolina for the first five seasons as offensive coordinator. The two had also worked together previously on the Texas Tech coach staff.

"“Ruffin means so much to me and my family,” said Riley in a news release posted on OU’s athletic website, “and his family means so much to him. I know his decision to leave OU was a very difficult one, but was one he felt he had to make.”"

McNeill emphasized that this is not retirement. He still wants to coach in some form or fashion, he said. It just can’t be right now.

A search is already underway to replace Ruffin’s position on the Sooner coaching staff. A similar search is going on to replace special teams and running backs coach Jay Boulware, who is leaving OU to take a similar role on the Texas coaching staff.

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