Nebraska, Matt Rhule hire Tennessee assistant Mike Ekeler to coaching staff

Tennessee special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach Mike Ekeler has been hired to join Matt Rhule‘s staff at Nebraska, according to On3’s Austin Price.

Ekeler is a Nebraska native who previously coached linebackers for the Cornhuskers from 2008-10. He had been on staff at Tennessee since 2021.

Mike Ekeler started his college coaching career as a grad assistant at Oklahoma in 2003-04, working alongside Josh Heupel, who was also a GA with the Sooners at the time.

He then teamed up with Heupel as an assistant at Tennessee when Heupel landed the Vols head coaching job ahead of the 2021 season.

Ekeler has made several other stops throughout his coaching career, including at Indiana, USC, Georgia and North Carolina. Now he is returning to his home state of Nebraska. He is reportedly set to coach special teams for the Cornhuskers.

Matt Rhule is entering his third season as the head coach at Nebraska. The Cornhuskers are coming off of a 7-6 season in 2024.

Nebraska returns plenty of talent for the 2025 season, including quarterback Dylan Raiola, who was the starter for the Cornhuskers as a true freshman.

Now Mike Ekeler is coming over from Tennessee to try and help the Cornhuskers program get even better.

Matt Rhule sets offseason goals for Dylan Raiola to make Nebraska ‘his team’

Dylan Raiola passed his trial run with flying colors this past season but now, it’s time to take the next step. On Saturday, Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule revealed his offseason goals for the Cornhuskers’ QB1.

“Before he can make it his team, I think he has to make it his offense. Before he makes it his offense, I think he has to make it his receiving corps,” Rhule said. “I went to the Supernova game last night, and he’s over there with Heinrich [Haarberg], and they’re sitting courtside, which is great, as long as you’re in the building this morning, throwing, which I know they were.

“That’s what I mean by gratitude. Like, ‘I’m grateful to be here, so because I’m grateful, it’s not that I say thank you. It’s that I work my tail off each and every day because I’m trying to get better.’”

The work Raiola put in last offseason paid dividends. He started all 13 games for the Cornhuskers during his debut campaign, completing 67.1% of his pass attempts for 2,595 yards and 12 touchdowns while throwing 10 interceptions.