Mike Ekeler shares where Tennessee special teams stand

Tennessee‘s offense draws the attention, but the Volunteers’ special teams work just as hard. On Saturday, UT special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler provided an update on his dedicated unit.

“We’ve got some great competition right now. Special teams, as a whole, this is Year 3. Our guys understand the techniques,” Ekeler said. “They understand the teaching progression. Where we’re at is where we should be at in Year 3. But, we’re in an endless pursuit of perfection. We’re not there yet and we’ll never be there but I love our group.

“We’ve got great speed. We’ve got guys that will put their damn face on you. We got guys that understand the importance of it. So, the culture that I hype and everyone has created in this building, it’s been phenomenal on [special] teams and we’re only going to continue to be better. The standard around here, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the standard is to be the damn best, and we’re never stopping.”

In Ekeler’s two seasons as Tennessee’s outside linebackers and special teams coach, UT has remained near the top. The Vols have ranked either first or second in the SEC in punt return average and led the league in punt return defense in both of Ekeler’s seasons. The team also averaged the third most yards in the SEC per kickoff return.

While the Volunteers are excellent on the attack, Ekeler wants his squad to be equally talented on the defense. The 51-year-old coach still hasn’t decided who will be Tennessee’s top kicker in the 2023 campaign.

“The kickoff job, we’ve got three guys that are neck and neck right now,” Ekeler said. “You got Charles [Campbell], you got Max [Gilbert] and you’ve got Josh [Turbyville]. Those guys all got really strong legs. We got some great competition right now and it’s not settled at this point.”

Campbell is a fresh face for Tennessee. He joined the Vols this offseason after spending five seasons at Indiana. While with the Hoosiers, Campbell connected on 39-of-51 of field goals for his career.

Paxton Brooks was Tennessee’s first-string placekicker last season, averaging 60.5 yards on 258 career kickoffs. However, moved on to the NFL this offseason. Success stories like Brooks help Ekeler’s message hit home with his special teams unit.

“It’s pretty simple, it makes you a complete football player,” Ekeler said of playing on special teams. “If you have any aspiration of going on to the NFL you might like to become a surgeon on special teams. Our guys understand that and they see it.”