Mike Neu
Mike Neu went 40–63 as a head coach, 2016–2024, at Ball State. Share
- Record
- 40–63 career
- Seasons
- 9
- Schools
- 1
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Dec 29, 1970
- Alma mater
- Ball State 1994
- Best season
- 2020 7–1, No. 23
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Ball State | 4–8 | 6th (West) | |||
| 2017 | Ball State | 2–10 | 6th (West) | |||
| 2018 | Ball State | 4–8 | 5th (West) | |||
| 2019 | Ball State | 5–7 | T–3rd (West) | |||
| 2020 | Ball State | 7–1 | 1st (West) | Arizona Bowl W | 23 | |
| 2021 | Ball State | 6–7 | T–4th (West) | Camellia Bowl L | ||
| 2022 | Ball State | 5–7 | T–4th | |||
| 2023 | Ball State | 4–8 | T–4th | |||
| 2024 | Ball State coached 10 of 12 games | 3–7 |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 7 | 2–5 | 29% |
| Against top-10 teams | 3 | 0–3 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 19 | 7–12 | 37% |
| Conference games | 68 | 25–43 | 37% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 2 | 1–1 | 50% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 45 | 20–25 | 44% |
| At home | 48 | 23–25 | 48% |
| On the road | 51 | 15–36 | 29% |
| At neutral sites | 4 | 2–2 | 50% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 34 | 22–12 | 65% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 69 | 18–51 | 26% |
His own 103 games on file, 2016–2024, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chuck Martin 2016–2024 | 1–8 | Miami (OH) | 9 | |
| Chris Creighton 2016–2023 | 3–5 | Eastern Michigan | 8 | |
| Jason Candle 2016–2023 | 2–6 | Toledo | 8 | |
| Thomas Hammock 2019–2024 | 5–1 | Northern Illinois | 6 | |
| Tim Lester 2017–2022 | 3–3 | Western Michigan | 6 | |
| Jim McElwain 2019–2024 | 3–3 | Central Michigan | 6 | |
| Lance Leipold 2016–2020 | 2–1 | Buffalo | 3 | |
| Sean Lewis 2018–2022 | 2–1 | Kent State | 3 | |
| John Bonamego 2016–2018 | 1–2 | Central Michigan | 3 | |
| Rod Carey 2016–2018 | 0–3 | Northern Illinois | 3 |
Mike Neu’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Northern Illinoisseries | 9 | 5–4 |
| Central Michiganseries | 9 | 4–5 |
| Western Michiganseries | 9 | 3–6 |
| Miami (OH)series | 9 | 1–8 |
| Eastern Michiganseries | 8 | 3–5 |
| Toledoseries | 8 | 2–6 |
| Kent Stateseries | 5 | 4–1 |
| Buffaloseries | 5 | 3–2 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Ball State | Graduate assistant | |
| 1998 | Nashville Kats Arena | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 1999 | Nashville Kats Arena | Offensive coordinator | |
| 2000 | Augusta Stallions | Head coach | |
| 2001 | Carolina Cobras Arena | Offensive coordinator | |
| 2001–02 | Carolina Cobras Arena | Head coach | |
| 2004–08 | New Orleans VooDoo Arena | Head coach | |
| 2012–13 | Tulane | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2014–15 | New Orleans Saints NFL | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2016–24 | Ball State | Head coach | |
| 2025–present | Illinois | Senior offensive assistant |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Paul SchudelBall State
- Doug KayCarolina Cobras
- Curtis JohnsonTulane
- Bret BielemaIllinois
Assistants who became head coaches
- David ElsonWestern Kentucky
- Colin JohnsonBall State
- Jared ElliottWestern Illinois
Worked under (4)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Schudel | Ball State | 1994 | Graduate assistant | |
| Doug Kay | Carolina Cobras pro | 2001 | Offensive coordinator | |
| Curtis Johnson | Tulane | 2012–13 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Bret Bielema | Illinois | 2025–26 | Senior offensive assistant |
Coached under him, later head coaches (3)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Elson | Ball State, 2017–19: defensive coordinator | Western Kentucky | |
| Colin Johnson | Ball State, 2019–24: offensive line coach and running game coordinator | Ball State | |
| Jared Elliott | Ball State, 2022: passing game coordinator and tight ends coach; 2023: co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach; 2024: offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | Western Illinois |
Other assistants under him (6)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Joey Lynch | Ball State, 2016–18: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2019: assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| John Strollo | Ball State, 2016: assistant coach | |
| Tim Daoust | Ball State, 2016: defensive coordinator | |
| Tyler Stockton | Ball State, 2019–21: defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach; 2022–23: assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | |
| Kevin Lynch | Ball State, 2020–23: offensive coordinator | |
| Jeff Knowles | Ball State, 2024: defensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Ball State | head coachbonuses up to $370,000; buyout $1,401,969 | $436,375 USA Today | |
| 2016 | Ball State | head coachbonuses up to $370,000 | $428,500 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Neu’s teams went for it on 22% of fourth downs and on 38% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 50% of plays and took 24.2 seconds a play, 2016–2024.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 12 g | 23 of 101 23% | 29% | 47% | 22.8 | +0.03 | |
| 2017 12 g | 24 of 113 21% | 27% | 49% | 25.6 | −0.09 | |
| 2018 12 g | 25 of 100 25% | 41% | 55% | 21.4 | +0.03 | |
| 2019 12 g | 23 of 98 23% | 42% | 44% | 23.2 | +0.13 | |
| 2020 7 g | 13 of 53 25% | 55% | 44% | 24.3 | +0.08 | |
| 2021 13 g | 21 of 105 20% | 34% | 53% | 23.0 | −0.03 | |
| 2022 11 g | 18 of 98 18% | 43% | 56% | 21.8 | −0.05 | |
| 2023 12 g | 18 of 95 19% | 37% | 43% | 28.8 | −0.06 | |
| 2024 12 g | 27 of 98 28% | 53% | 59% | 26.8 | +0.01 | |
| All 103 g | 192 of 861 22% | 38% | 50% | 24.2 | 0.00 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.