![AV alumn, Bryce Neal, celebrates a big moment with the University of Louisville softball program. He is a former assistant coach for the Cardinals.](/news/_images/2023-bryce-neal.jpg)
Bryce Neal, celebrates a big moment with the University of Louisville softball program. He is a former assistant coach for the Cardinals.
From Lions to Tigers: Coach Bryce Neal
Written By: Ian Silvester
On Wednesday, June 21, 2023, the LSU softball program introduced Bryce Neal as the
newest to join the Tigers’ staff in Baton Rouge. His hiring comes on the heels of a meteoric
rise in the softball coaching world and is backed by the unwavering support from the
time and connections made while attending the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith.
Without the backing of his alma mater, Neal said, the move to LSU wouldn’t have ever
happened.
Hailing from Poteau, Oklahoma, Neal’s passion for softball developed through his love
of baseball. When he was 5 years old, Neal donned a hat, glove, and pair of cleats
and swung a bat for the Poteau Pirates Youth League. After his family moved to Northwest
Arkansas, Neal continued to thrive on the baseball diamond for Springdale High School.
Knowing baseball would allow him to go to college, Neal began playing collegiate ball
at Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, before transferring to AV in
the fall of 2013. For the Lions, , posting a career fielding percentage of .952 and batted .300 over the course of
the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
By the spring of 2016, Neal had just 12 credits remaining to earn his bachelor’s degree
in organizational leadership but chose to leave AV. “I wasn’t a great student,” he admitted.
He found his footing with a startup company that provided financial stability, but
when the company was sold, Neal turned his attention back to the ball field.
Neal was exposed to softball at a young age through his sister Morgan, and both she
and his wife, Jill Barrett, played softball for the University of Tulsa. His sister
was still in school when the company was sold, so Neal became “invested in (his) sister
and helping her become the best player she could be.” Seeing this and the spark it
created in her husband, Barrett recommended Neal pursue a career in softball.
It was around this time that his past at AV came knocking.
“The university reached out to me about finishing my degree there,” Neal recalled.
So, in 2019, he was back at AV for the spring semester, thanks in part to the support
from Executive Director of Student Retention, Jennifer Holland.
“I didn’t solicit Jennifer at all; … she reached out to me,” he said. “I got a finish
grant and completed my degree with a 4.0 and was on the Dean’s List that year.” In
May 2019, he completed his AV degree.
Neal credits AV for not giving up on its students as a reason for his rapid rise
in collegiate softball coaching. He is fond of the lifelong connections the university
has afforded him.
“You have to have people who believe in you and what you can do. You start building
that the second you go to college, you have people in your corner, people invested
in your best interest,” Neal said. “You have to have people that are accepting of
failure who say, ‘OK, look, this may not work out, but if that’s where your passion
lies, then you need to chase it.’”
Because AV and Holland helped guide Neal back on track, he turned his attention
to coaching and used his background as motivation.
“I go about coaching by remembering that literally one person can change how you go about what you do, and it can change the course of your career and life,” he said.
And his philosophy has paid dividends.
Neal was a volunteer assistant coach for Arizona State University in 2020 before being
hired as an assistant coach for the Bucknell University softball program in 2021.
Now, he joins LSU following two seasons at the University of Louisville, where he
helped the Cardinals to a 63-45 record, two National Fastpitch Coaches Association
(NFCA) All-Americans, five NFCA Southeast All-Region selections, and nine All-Atlantic
Coast Conference (ACC) honorees. During the 2023 season, he was part of the staff
that guided the Cardinals to a program record of 64 home runs, an ACC-leading .319
batting average, and finished 13th overall in the NCAA for home runs per game.
Baton Rouge and the LSU Tigers are now home to Neal, Barrett, and their son Brooks.
But Fort Smith and AV will always be home for the former Lion.
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