In January, Ball State linebacker coach Johnny Curtis was the football team's defensive coordinator and baseball team's head coach at John Curtis Christian School in River Ridge, Louisiana.
He was in the school's workout room when his friend Mike Neu was hired as the Cardinals' head football coach.
Later that same night, Curtis said, Neu called to persuade the decorated Louisiana high school football and baseball coach to join him in Muncie.
“If it was just me, the answer would be yes immediately because I think that much of [Neu],” Curtis said. “But on the other side, I needed to make sure that my family dynamic would be right.