Report: Tennessee, Nebraska cancel upcoming football series

The upcoming Tennessee–Nebraska home-and-home series set for the 2026-27 seasons has been canceled, according to ESPN insider Pete Thamel.

The series, which was set to begin with the Cornhuskers hosting the Volunteers in 2026 in Lincoln before a 2027 return date in Knoxville, was canceled at Nebraska’s request, according to Thamel. The report cited the Huskers’ desire for eight home games in 2027 during planned renovations to Memorial Stadium.

Sources: Tennessee and Nebraska are canceling their upcoming football series, which was schedule for 2026 in Lincoln and 2027 in Knoxville. A driver of the move was Nebraska wanting eight home games in 2027 when they expected reduced stadium capacity because of renovations.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 21, 2025

Tennessee athletic director Danny White made it clear this was a one-sided cancelation on Nebraska’s part in a “correction” quote tweet of Thamel’s original report.

“Correction: Tennessee is not canceling this series. Nebraska did,” White tweeted Friday morning. “We are very disappointed that they didn’t want to play these games, especially this close to 2026.”

This is the second time the first-ever regular-season football series between the Huskers and Volunteers has been altered following the decision to move the dates of the original series from 2016-17 back a decade to 2026-27 in order to accommodate a scheduling change from Tennessee in 2013. Oregon ultimately replaced the Vols on Nebraska’s 2016-17 schedules with both teams winning their respective home games.

The Cornhuskers and Volunteers have previously played each other three times, the last coming in the 2016 Music City Bowl when Tennessee beat Nebraska, 38-24. The Huskers hold a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series after winning the previous two bowl game matchups in the 1998 Orange Bowl and the 2000 Fiesta Bowl.

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.