Football
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Phone:
- 765-285-8914
- Email:
- bsufootball@bsu.edu
- Alma Mater:
- Ball State '94
- Years at Ball State:
- 9th season in 2024
- Years Coaching:
- 23rd season in 2024
Ball State University welcomed back one of its own as Mike Neu was named the head coach for the Cardinals football program in January of 2016. Neu played quarterback at Ball State where he was named 1993 Mid-American Conference Offensive Player of the Year.
A member of Ball State’s 1989 and 1993 MAC championship teams, Neu guided his alma mater to its first MAC championship since 1996 and its first MAC West Division title since 2008 during the 2020 campaign. BSU capped the season by earning the first bowl win in program history, defeating San Jose State in the Arizona Bowl.
Now in his ninth season as head coach, his eight years at the helm have produced 55 All-MAC selections and 150 Academic All-MAC choices, including at least 20 honorees in four of the last five years. The Cardinals have made major strides under Neu’s leadership, steadily improving early in his tenure, knocking on the door to a MAC title in 2019 and breaking it down in 2020. Neu's guidance has stabilized the Cardinals among the top programs in the MAC.
Appearing in bowl games in two of the past four years, the Cardinals built upon MAC championship success in 2020 and reached another bowl game in 2021, marking just the third time in school history that the program played in a bowl in back-to-back seasons (2007-08, 2012-13 and 2020-21).
Ball State used that momentum on the recruiting trail and signed its highest-rated recruiting class in the recruiting rankings era (1999-present) in the 2022 class. Youth on the 2022 roster has added continuity to culture leading 2023 and 2024 campaigns.
Neu's return to his alma mater has grown a culture established over eight years and 93 games -- the most by a Ball State coach since Paul Schudel and Bill Lynch led the program over 18 consecutive seasons from 1985 to 2002. Schudel won a pair of MAC titles with Neu as his QB, as part of 10-year run. Lynch, the father of current assistant head coach Kevin Lynch, won another MAC crown as part of his eight seasons. Neu's 2020 league title was the program's first since Lynch's in 1996.
Neu's 2020 conference champs boasted 12 all-conference selections, led by the league’s co-defensive player of the year in Brandon Martin. Ball State also finished the year ranked No. 23 in the final AP Top 25 and the final Amway Coaches Poll. It marked the first time the Cardinals finished a season in the national rankings at the FBS level and the first time the program was ranked since December 2008.
The program began making its upward trek under Neu in 2019 when Ball State reclaimed the Bronze Stalk Trophy from Northern Illinois for the first time since 2008 with a come-from-behind 27-20 win over the Huskies in early October. The Cards then capped the year by knocking off eventual MAC champion Miami to earn the Red Bird Rivalry Trophy, 41-27.
Ball State’s offense was statistically the most explosive in the conference in 2019. The Cardinals led the MAC in scoring (34.8 points per game) and total offense (463 yards per game). On defense, BSU forced turnover after turnover all year. The 24 forced turnovers were the most in the conference and ranked 15th nationally.
Ten Cardinals came away with All-MAC accolades following the 2019 season, the most at the time for a Ball State team since 2013. The football team also placed a league-high 26 players on the Academic All-MAC list in 2020.
Neu has over 20 years of coaching experience with stops in the National Football League (NFL), Division I FBS football and the arena leagues.
Before returning to Ball State, Neu spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons as the quarterbacks coach for the NFL’s New Orleans Saints. In 2014 under Neu’s guidance, quarterback Drew Brees was selected to his franchise-record eighth Pro Bowl as a Saint. Brees led the league in completions (456), tied for first in passing yardage (4,952), ranked second in completion percentage (69.2) and tied for fifth in touchdown passes (33). In 2015, Brees once again led the NFL in passing yardage (4,870) while ranking second in completion percentage (68.3) and completions (428).
Neu, a native of Indianapolis, Ind., started 38 of 41 games at quarterback in his four seasons at Ball State (1990-93). He was honored with the MAC’s Vern Smith Award as the league's most valuable player and the MAC Offensive Player of the Year award as a senior. That year, Neu and the Cardinals went 8-3-1 overall and 7-0-1 in league action to capture the MAC championship. In one of his greatest games as a collegiate quarterback, Neu threw for a Ball State record 469 yards and completed 28-of-40 passes against Toledo in 1993 to help the Cardinals rally from a 30-3 deficit and record the largest comeback in Ball State history, a 31-30 Homecoming victory.
Neu played professionally in the Canadian Football League and Arena Football League (AFL) from 1995-97 before beginning his coaching career in 1998 with the AFL’s Nashville Kats. In 2000, Neu was named head coach for the first time as he took over the Arena Football 2's (AF2) Augusta Stallions. He led that organization to a conference title in 2000 with a 14-4 record and was named the AF2 Coach of the Year.
In 2001 and 2002, Neu worked with the AFL’s Carolina Cobras. He served as the offensive coordinator in 2001 and was promoted to head coach in 2002. During his stint as head coach, Neu led the team to the quarterfinals of the AFL playoffs, including the team's first-ever playoff win.
Neu then spent four years as head coach of the AFL’s New Orleans VooDoo. There, he compiled a 33-31 record and earned 2004 AFL Coach of the Year honors. During his first season at the helm, Neu led the team to a franchise-best 11-5 record, a division title and a playoff berth.
From 2008-12, Neu worked on the New Orleans Saints’ player personnel staff. He then spent the 2012 and 2013 seasons with Tulane as the quarterbacks coach. In 2013, Neu helped guide Tulane to a 7-6 overall record and its first postseason appearance in 11 years – the 2013 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.
Neu received his bachelor's degree in sport administration from Ball State in 1994 and served as a graduate assistant coach for the Cardinals during the 1994 season. He was inducted into the Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004.
Neu and his wife, Charmin, have a daughter, Graycen, and two sons, Carson and Chase. Carson is a freshman walk-on with the Cardinals this season.
Mike Neu’s Coaching Timeline
1994 . . . Ball State Cardinals (Graduate Assistant)
1998-99 . . . Nashville Kats, Arena Football League (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach)
2000 . . . Augusta Stallions, Arena Football 2 (Head Coach)
2001 . . . Carolina Cobras, Arena Football League (Offensive Coordinator)
2002 . . . Carolina Cobras, Arena Football League (Head Coach)
2004-08 . . . New Orleans VooDoo, Arena Football League (Head Coach)
2012-13 . . . Tulane Green Wave (Quarterbacks Coach)
2014-15 . . . New Orleans Saints (Quarterbacks Coach)
2016 to present . . . Ball State Cardinals (Head Coach)
Mike Neu’s Head Coaching Record
2000 . . . Augusta Stallions: 14-4
2002 . . . Carolina Cobras: 7-9
2004 . . . New Orleans VooDoo: 11-6
2005 . . . New Orleans VooDoo: 9-7
2007 . . . New Orleans VooDoo: 5-11
2008 . . . New Orleans VooDoo: 8-8
2016 . . . Ball State Cardinals: 4-8
2017 . . . Ball State Cardinals: 2-10
2018 . . . Ball State Cardinals: 4-8
2019 . . . Ball State Cardinals: 5-7
2020 . . . Ball State Cardinals: 7-1
2021 . . . Ball State Cardinals: 6-7
2022 . . . Ball State Cardinals: 5-7
2023 . . . Ball State Cardinals: 4-8
What Others Are Saying About Mike Neu
“Mike is a tremendous coach, person and family man. In a place like college football where it is as important to mold the lives of young men as it is to win football games, he is the perfect man for the job.” – New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees
“I think this is a fantastic choice for Ball State. It’s great to have an alum back and leading the program. Not only is he a good coach, but also he’s genuinely a good person who understands other people and is a team player. I look forward to seeing him work on the sidelines this fall.” – Paul Schudel, former Ball State head football coach (1985-94)
“I’d like to congratulate Mike Neu on becoming the head coach at Ball State University. At the same time, I truly thank him for the hard work, coaching and teaching with which he has provided our football program over the last two seasons. Mike is an outstanding football coach, I am happy for the opportunity that he, his wife, Charmin, and their family are about to take. I wish them all the best.
The knowledge, passion and dedication that Mike has demonstrated in various roles over the course of his career has allowed him to develop into the type of leader that will be a valuable asset to the Ball State football program and community.” – New Orleans Saints head football coach Sean Payton
“I am extremely happy for Mike and the opportunity he has at Ball State. He not only is a great coach and teacher but a very close friend with a wonderful family who will be missed both personally and professionally. I have had the fortunate opportunity to work side-by-side with Mike and have no doubt that his knowledge, commitment to detail and his continuous strive for perfection will be a tremendous and valuable asset to the student-athletes within the Cardinals football program as well as the entire Ball State University community. I am confident that with Mike’s experience at all levels of the game – as a Cardinals student-athlete, a professional player, a talent evaluator, a position coach and a head coach – that the success he has experienced will benefit his program and those involved.” – New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael
