Report: Tennessee Special Teams Coordinator Mike Ekeler Joining Nebraska

The Huskers may have found their replacement to lead special teams.

Tennessee assistant coach Mike Ekeler reacts to a play during the Volunteers' 2022 game against Akron. | Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Nebraska football may have its replacement to lead special teams.

According to Volquest with On3, Tennessee special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach Mike Ekeler is leaving Knoxville to return to Lincoln and coach the Big Red's special teams. He had spent the last four seasons at Tennessee.

Tennessee assistant coach Mike Ekeler at the Orange & White spring game in 2021. | Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel via Imagn Content Services, LLC

A native Nebraskan, Ekeler played for Bill Snider at Kansas State in the early 1990s. As a senior, he earned National Special Teams Player of the Year by George Michael Sports Machine, a popular national sports show at the time.

Ekeler went on to coach at a number of collegiate programs, including Indiana, USC, Georgia, North Carolina, and Kansas. He spent three seasons in Lincoln under coach Bo Pelini, leading the linebackers.

During his time in Lincoln, Nebraska won or shared the Big 12 Conference North Division every season. Ekeler aided in some of the best Husker defenses of the 21st century. In 2010, Nebraska was fifth nationally in pass defense (153.6), ninth in scoring defense (17.4) and 11th in total defense (306.8). In 2009, the Cornhuskers led the country in scoring defense (10.4) and pass efficiency defense, while ranking seventh in total defense (271.3) and eighth in rushing defense (92.43).

Nebraska linebackers coach Mike Ekeler celebrates after Tyler Wortman's first-quarter interception against Colorado in 2008. | Bruce Thorson-Imagn Images

Ekeler has coached more than a dozen players who went on to play in the NFL over the past 15 years. At Nebraska, those names include Lavonte David, Phillip Dillard, Cody Glenn, Eric Martin, and Will Compton.

Ekeler's Coaching History

• 1999-2001: Omaha (Nebraska) Skutt High School, Volunteer Coach
  
• 2002: Manhattan (Kansas) High School, Assistant Coach
  
• 2003-04: Oklahoma, Defensive Graduate Assistant
  
• 2005-06: LSU, Defensive Graduate Assistant
  
• 2007: LSU, Defensive Intern
  
• 2008-10: Nebraska, Linebackers
  
• 2011-12: Indiana: Co-Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach
  
• 2013: Southern Cal, Linebackers
  
• 2014-15: Georgia, Inside Linebackers/Defensive Special Teams Coordinator
  
• 2016: North Texas, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
  
• 2017-18: North Carolina, Linebackers
  
• 2019: Kansas, Inside Linebackers/Special Teams Coordinator
  
• 2020: North Texas, Special Teams Coordinator
  
• 2021-2024: Tennessee, Outside Linebackers/Special Teams Coordinator

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