The Nebraska Huskers had media availability with select coaches on 4 Mar 25, and one of the coaches that spoke to the media was newly hired special teams coach Mike Ekeler. Ekeler comes from Tennessee after having one of the best special teams units in the country, and takes over arguably one of the worst units in the country.
He spoke very highly of Matt Rhule. He said Rhule was one of the best leaders he has ever been around. He explained that when Rhule talks in meetings, he is captivated and takes lots of notes. He remarked that Rhule is highly intelligent, can coach every position on the field, and has surrounded himself with a “bunch of great teachers,” as assistant coaches. He further explained he believes Rhule has a great plan and vision for the future, and it starts in recruiting. He said the team is fast, and made a quip about how a donkey never won a horse race. Speed appears to be a point of emphasis when scouting and bringing in recruits and talents.
For Ekeler, coming back home was the right fit at the right time. He believes in Matt Rhule and his vision. He gets to be closer to family and where he is from. He gets to coach in a stadium that he used to sit in as a spectator and fan. Ekeler called this the “opportunity of a lifetime.” He remarked that he was going to give the state, and university everything he’s got. He said this is home, and he wants to do his small part to “bring it back,” meaning bring back the football program to national relevance.
Ekeler said his first order of business will be to know the players and evaluate them. He said he does this with a spreadsheet, that has six different boxes to evaluate. He wants to identify what each guy does well, not what they don’t do well. Rhule told him he doesn’t want to hear what they cant do, he wants to see what they can do and play to the players strengths. When asked about his opinion of last years special teams and what went wrong, he refused to comment. He said it would be “ignorant” because he wasn’t here and doesn’t know all the fine details. Ekeler even took a stab at the media for covering the situation without being there for every meeting, practice, ect to know all the ins and outs of the issues.
Ekeler did highlight his special teams performances at Tennessee, which he hopes to duplicate at Nebraska. He was quick to rattle off the following stat line from his time there: 1325 punt return yards and 8 blocked kicks at Tennessee. Ekeler said it comes down to technique. He further said in a meeting last week he told the offense they would be playing kickoff coverage. He feels its important for their draft stock and understanding of the game. He firmly believes it translates to all positions. Ekeler also explained that at Tennessee they played all freshman on special teams, so its unclear if any starters will play on special teams here. He also highlighted that his last 5 punt returners he had all went to the NFL. Ekeler doesn’t know who his guy will be here yet, but he says a ton of guys are “knocking down his door” asking to be the guy.
Ekeler brings about a certain energy and confidence to the position. We may never know why it all fell apart last year, it could have been for a number of reasons. What we do know is there is a new man in charge on that front, and we will see if he can remake the magic he did at Tennessee.
Go Big Red.