Countdown to Auburn vs. Baylor - No. 92 DeMarco McNeil

The Auburn Tigers will kick off their 2025 football season against the Baylor Bears on Friday, August 29 in Waco, Texas, and we are officially 92 days away. The days are getting longer and the nights are getting warmer, and AuburnOnSI is helping to pass these hot football-less days of Summer, counting down till kickoff with former Auburn Tigers’ jersey numbers.

Clocking in at number 92 is the former unmovable nose tackle, DeMarco McNeil.

McNeil joined the Tigers out of Blount High School in Prichard, Ala., after winning Alabama’s Mr. Football award in 1998. He is still the only defense-only player to have won the award. McNeil harkened back to a time when linebackers coach Joe Whitt had south Alabama on lockdown when it came to recruiting.

#93 Aundray Bruce

At 6-foot-1 and 300 pounds, McNeil was the unstoppable force and the immovable object, and he made an early impact for the Tigers. He earned Freshman All-American honors as a redshirt-freshman in 2000 after making 72 tackles from his interior defensive line spot.

After dealing with injuries the next two years, McNeil was named First-Team All-SEC in 2003. As a stalwart and leader of a defensive line that included names like defensive ends Reggie Torbor, Jay Ratliff, and Bret Eddins, McNeil finished the season with 55 tackles, 13 tackles-for-loss, seven sacks, and one interception. He was an anchor for a Tigers’ defense that only allowed 2.7 yards per rush. 

After signing with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent following the 2004 NFL Draft, a degenerative knee condition put an end to his short stint in the NFL, and McNeil found a new passion as a coach.

He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Auburn in 2007 and has since held positions at Birmingham-Southern, Tennessee, Alabama State, South Carolina, and most recently, Tuskegee University.