University of Michigan baseball head coach Tracy Smith announced the hiring of Ty Neal as the program's new assistant coach.

"This is one of those rare opportunities where we get to add not just a coach, but a former D1 head coach, to our staff," said Smith. "Because of our history of working together previously at Miami (Ohio), Indiana University, and at ASU, I know the qualities that Ty is going to bring to our organization. Our program just got better with the addition of Ty Neal."

"I am appreciative of skip, and this is an opportunity to coach this beautiful game at a world-class institution," said Neal.

Neal has been a member of the coaching staff at four Division-I institutions, including serving as the head coach at the University of Cincinnati. With the Bearcats, he developed Ian Happ, a successful player for the Chicago Cubs along with three other major leaguers. In 2016, the team also posted a 3.69 earned-run average, the lowest since 1974 and the best home winning percentage (.720) in school history. In his final season with the Bearcats, he had wins over three ranked teams including No. 1 Louisville. Neal made the American Athletic Conference Tournament in his final three seasons.

He started his Division-I coaching tenure under Smith as the pitching coach at Miami University in 2000, which ended with a MAC Tournament championship and NCAA Tournament bid. Neal then spent three seasons at Southern Illinois University as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator where he coached three freshman All-Americans and the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year.

After a successful three years with the Salukis, he had a one-year stint as the pitching coach at Cincinnati before reuniting with Smith at Miami University in 2005. With the RedHawks in 2005, he helped the team to a MAC regular season and tournament championship, an NCAA Regional appearance, and a pitching staff that ranked top 10 nationally in ERA and staff featured two future major league pitchers.

Neal followed Smith to Indiana, where he spent eight seasons as the assistant coach and recruiting coach. He assembled two top-10 recruiting classes and helped architect the Hoosiers' 2013 College World Series team led by Kyle Schwarber and four future big leaguers. He helped develop nine major league talents, the Indiana career leader in wins, innings pitched and saves, and won two Big Ten Tournament championships and a regular-season championship. He helped lead IU to the 2013 College World Series after hosting a regional and mentored eight freshman All-Americans, four All-Americans, two Big Ten Freshmen of the Year winners, two Big Ten pitchers of the year and two Team USA members.

After success at Indiana, he took the head coaching job at Cincinnati. After his time with the Bearcats, he reunited with Smith for one more season, this time at Arizona State, where he served as the quality control analyst.

After his time at ASU, Neal was the director of pitching for Pro X Athlete Development for one year before coaching at two different high schools, including the last two years at Carmel High School in Indiana.

Neal earned his degree in sport management from Miami University and played four seasons for the Redhawks, including three seasons playing under Smith where he won 19 games. Neal also earned his master's from Southern Illinois in sport and fitness administration/management while coaching.