In addition to coaching at the high school level and spending a summer as an intern with the
Miami Dolphins under
Jimmy Johnson, McNeill has coached 23 seasons at the college level, including seven seasons at Appalachian State, his first job as defensive coordinator. In total, he has been on the coaching staffs at
Clemson,
Austin Peay State,
North Alabama,
Appalachian State,
UNLV,
Fresno State, and
Texas Tech. after a 49–45 loss to
Oklahoma State in which the Texas Tech defense allowed over 600 yards of total offense and three 100 yard rushers. Head coach
Mike Leach named McNeill interim defensive coordinator shortly after with eight games remaining in the season. On December 28, 2009, Leach was suspended, and fired two days later, by Texas Tech University over the alleged inappropriate treatment of an injured player. McNeill was named interim head coach and led the team to a 41–31 victory over the
Michigan State Spartans in the
2010 Alamo Bowl before being replaced as head coach by
Tommy Tuberville. On January 13, 2010, McNeill was removed from the Texas Tech coaching staff by Tuberville and replaced with
James Willis.
Defensive improvements With McNeill at the defensive helm, the Red Raiders' defense improved in every defensive category. The Red Raiders forced more punts and allowed fewer rushing and passing yards than they did to begin the season. These vast improvements in the defense led Leach to drop the interim tag and make McNeill the full-time defensive coordinator. After seasons of 6-7 and 5-7, in 2012 East Carolina posted an 8-5 record which included an appearance in the
New Orleans Bowl. In 2013, McNeill's Pirates posted the second-most wins in school history, going 10-3 including a win over
Ohio University in the
2013 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl. The season also included wins over in-state rivals
North Carolina and
North Carolina State. In 2014, however, most felt the Pirates underachieved, marking an 8-5 record and losing 4 out of their last 6 games. On December 4, 2015, McNeill was
relieved of his duties as head coach after finishing the season with a record of 5–7.
Oklahoma McNeill was named the assistant head coach and defensive tackles coach at the
University of Oklahoma on June 14, 2017. He was named interim defensive coordinator on October 8, 2018, replacing the fired
Mike Stoops. With the hiring of
Alex Grinch as the defensive coordinator in January 2019, McNeill was retained on the OU staff as assistant head coach and outside linebackers coach. McNeill resigned from Oklahoma at the conclusion of the 2019 season.
NC State McNeill was announced as the special assistant to head coach Dave Doeren at
NC State on July 7, 2020. ==Personal==