After 19 years as a college baseball coach, Ty Neal decided to shift to high school coaching.

But he said Carmel High School was the only place he would move his family to from the Cincinnati area to teach and coach.

‘It’s probably the only one in the whole country I would have moved to at the high school level,” Neal said.

Neal, 47, is now in his second year as CHS’s baseball coach and is a special education teacher. Although Neal’s wife, Christine, is a CHS graduate, he became even more familiar with Carmel during his eight-year stint from 2006-13 as Indiana University’s pitching coach and recruiting coordinator.

“I got to know the state of Indiana well and built relationships in the Carmel community,” said Neal, whose team (13-10 as of May 14) opens Class 4A sectional play May 22 against host Noblesville.

Neal said he built more relationships during a stint as director of pitching at Pro X in Westfield in 2018 and 2019 when he commuted from the Cincinnati area. He left that job because his home hadn’t sold at the time. He then went back to college, so he could teach.

“Then, obviously, with my wife being from here, there was a family support system already in place,” the Carmel resident said.

Neal became head coach at the University of Cincinnati where he spent four seasons from 2014-17 before resigning. He spent one year as an Arizona State University quality control analyst.

“I like that I still get to coach baseball at Carmel, where you get to teach the game at a higher level that is close to the college game,” Neal said. “It’s a great community and great school system. The community and student athletes are hungry for baseball and higher-level information. I just enjoy surrounding myself and my family around successful people.”

Neal’s son, Silas, is a sophomore on the CHS baseball team. His son, Beckett, is in eighth grade and daughter, Paisley, is in fourth grade.

“This is a community that you can really dive into and embrace and not look over your shoulder for the next opportunity,” Neal said.

Neal said he enjoys his relationship with players and their families.

“I’m a people person,” Neal said. “As recruiting coordinator at IU, my job was to build relationships with families and get them to embrace the culture we were providing at the university and within the baseball program.”

Neal said he can help his players navigate the college recruiting process.

Neal, a pitcher, was a four-year letter winner at Miami (Ohio) University. He began his coaching career as a Miami assistant.