Ty Shelby was born and raised in the Houston, Texas area before attending nearby Friendsville High School. He earned Second-Team All-State honors as a senior when he turned in a packed stat sheet that included 87 total tackles, a whopping 27.5 tackles for loss, 13.5 sacks, six pass breakups, five forced fumbles, and three blocked extra points. For good measure, he was a an all-district basketball player in 2015 after averaging 14 points and 12 rebounds on the hardwood.
Despite blowing up the books as a senior, Shelby was not a highly-coveted football recruit. In the end, he committed to plat at the University of Louisiana, previously known as Louisiana-Monroe.