Coaching veteran Mike Neu is in his first season as Illinois' senior offensive assistant in 2025. Neu joined the Illini with 23 years of coaching experience, including nine season as head coach at Ball State, and stops in the NFL and arena leagues.
Neu's Ball State teams won 40 games, appeared in two bowls, produced 62 All-MAC selections, and had 165 Academic All-MAC performers. The Cardinals made major strides under Neu's leadership, steadily improving in his tenure by knocking on the door to a MAC title in 2019 and breaking it down in 2020.
Neu led Ball State to the 2020 MAC championship with a 38-28 win over Buffalo in Detroit to earn the program's first MAC championship since 1996 and its first MAC West Division title since 2008. The 2020 team went 7-1, beat No. 19 San Jose State by three touchdowns in the Arizona Bowl for the school's first-ever bowl victory, and finished at No. 23 in the final AP Top 25 and 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 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. Ball State beat Buffalo in the 2021 regular season finale to reach bowl eligibility, and earned a spot in the 2021 Camellia Bowl.
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).
A standout quarterback at Ball State, 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, a native of Indianapolis, was a member of Ball State's 1989 and 1993 MAC championship teams and started 38 of 41 games during his time with the Cardinals. Neu was the 1993 Vern Smith Award winner as the MAC's most valuable player and the MAC Offensive Player of the Year. 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, helping Ball State to the MAC title.
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 was a freshman with the Ball State football team in 2024.
