Former Tennessee assistant coach Mike Ekeler has found a new home. According to a post from Southern Cal Football on Tuesday, Ekeler has landed with the USC Trojans. Ekeler will serve as the team’s special teams coordinator and linebackers coach.
Ekeler has had a long career of assistant coaching positions in college football, including a multi-year stop at Tennessee just a few seasons ago. Ekeler came to Knoxville in 2021 as a part of Josh Heupel’s inaugural coaching staff on Rocky Top and served as the team’s special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach.
Ekeler left Tennessee after the Vols’ 2024 season to return to his home state of Nebraska and be the Cornhuskers special teams coordinator during the 2025 season.
“Tennessee ranked either first or second in the SEC in punt return average in all four seasons under Ekeler,” USC wrote in a press release on Tuesday. “Over his four seasons, Tennessee’s cumulative average of 13.9 yards per punt return led the nation, as did the Vols’ percentage of punts downed inside the opponent’s 10-yard line (19.4%).”
During his time on Rocky Top, Ekeler was known for his outgoing personality and memorable press conference quotes. Leading into his first season on Rocky Top, Ekeler had one of the preseason highlight moments while talking about the key traits for a punt return specialist.
“Punt returner? Now you look for a fart in a skillet,” Ekeler said. “A guy who can make you miss. A guy, one cut, get vertical, you know that elusive guy. So it’s a little bit different. You’ve got windows, you’ve got space, you’ve got levels.”
In the same press conference, he also brought up a Days of Thunder movie reference when talking about trying to find a kick returner who can “run through the doggone smoke.”
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After serving as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma and LSU from 2003 to 2007, Ekeler got the linebackers job at Nebraska from 2008 to 2010. He also spent time at Indiana, Georgia, North Texas, North Carolina, and Kansas during his assistant coaching career. This will actually be Ekeler’s second stint at Southern Cal, as he was previously the Trojans linebackers coach for one season in 2013.
When Ekeler left Tennessee after the Vols’ 2024 season, head coach Josh Heupel promoted Evan Crabtree to the special teams coordinator role, and he still holds that spot today. Crabtree was a special teams analyst during Ekeler’s final season on the Vols’ coaching staff. He served as a graduate assistant at UT for two years before that.
“This is an exciting return to USC for Mike and his family,” USC head coach Lincoln Riley said in a statement. “Mike’s special teams and linebacker units are elite, and he brings 23 years of Power Four experience on staffs that have produced some of the nation’s finest defenses and special teams. We’re thrilled to welcome him back to Los Angeles as part of our program.”
