McEniff played as a wing-back for the St Joseph's combination of clubs from Bundoran and Ballyshannon. He won seven Donegal Senior Football Championships with them, and another one with Réalt na Mara when St Joseph's divided. He won two Ulster Senior Football Championships with the Donegal county team as player-manager in 1972 and 1974, and was awarded an All Star after the first of these, before being ousted. He returned to manage the county to a third Ulster SFC in 1983, then left again. He returned once more in 1989, leading the county to its fourth and fifth Ulster SFCs in 1990 and 1992, as well as the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in the last of these. After becoming chairman of the County Board, McEniff was unable to find a manager so did the job himself for a final time, reaching the All-Ireland SFC semi-final in 2003.