Early this morning, the news broke that Tennessee’s Special Teams Coordinator, Mike Ekeler, resigned to take the same position at Nebraska. Since the news broke that Nebraska would not bring back Ed Foley, fans, former Nebraska players, and even staff members have mentioned Ekelers’ name for the job. While Matt Rhule did not comment on who he would bring in for interviews, he said he would take his time and get it right. Coach Rhule did just that.
Coach Ekeler turned Tennessee’s special teams into an elite group, finishing in the top 5 nearly every year under his watch. Before his time in Tennessee, Ekeler made stops at other powerhouse programs such as Georgia, USC, Oklahoma, and LSU. Most importantly, he made a stop at Nebraska from 2008 to 2010 as the linebacker’s coach.
Coach Rhule has now made three major coaching changes by bringing in new offense, defense, and special teams coordinators. Add this to Nebraska’s top-5 transfer portal class, and the pieces may finally start to fall into place. Is this the year the off-season championship carries over to the regular season? Only time will tell, but for now, I know I’ll be chugging the Kool-Aid.