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.

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).

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

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