Tennessee football: New staff member Mike Ekeler worked under two former Vols head coaches

Josh Heupel has worked well to blend his staff at Tennessee football with guys he specifically wants to run his system and guys who know the lay of the land. In his final staff member, he gets a bit of both worlds.

North Texas Mean Green special teams coach Mike Ekeler is joining the Vols’ staff, according to Austin Price and Brent Hubbs of VolQuest. His role was not specified yet, but with no special teams coordinator, it’s pretty easy to assume that’s the role he’ll take.

Throughout his career, Ekeler has worked in the SEC, worked under elite coaches and even worked with Heupel. The two were grad assistants with the Oklahoma Sooners in 2004. So, as we said, he brings the perfect blend of experience.

In addition to working under Bob Stoops, Ekeler has worked under Les Miles with the LSU Tigers in 2007 and the Kansas Jayhawks in 2019 and Bo Pelini with the Nebraska Cornhuskers from 2008 to 2010. However, his connection with former Tennessee football coaches is what will likely draw the most attention.

Ekeler has worked under two former Vol head coaches in separate capacities. Most notably, he worked under Mark Richt, another elite head coach, as the Georgia Bulldogs linebackers coach in 2014 and 2015. That was when Jeremy Pruitt was UGA’s defensive coordinator, so they obviously worked together a lot.

One year before arriving in Georgia, though, Ekeler was with the USC Trojans. That was 2013, when Lane Kiffin, Tennessee football’s head coach in 2009 was fired midseason. After working under Kiffin, he worked under Ed Orgeron, who finished that year as interim head coach.

When you break all of that down, Ekeler has worked under three head coaches who have won national championships and four other coaches who won national championships in one stop or another as coordinators. Simply put, he brings a good bit of experience and some interesting connections to the Vols.

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Say what you want about Pruitt and Pelini, but Pruitt knows his defense, and Pelini once did. Those are elite coaches to work under. He has also worked under Seth Litrell in two stints at North Texas, Larry Fedora with the North Carolina Tar Heels and Kevin Wilson with the Indiana Hoosiers. So the guy has coached in every Power Five conference.

He also played for Bill Snyder and the Kansas State Wildcats from 1991 to 1994. Snyder and Richt make for two Hall-of-Fame coaches who didn’t win national championships but still could be considered on the level of Miles, Stoops and Orgeron.

Anyway, the diverse experience is as crucial as Ekeler’s pedigree. Throughout his career, he has worked as a defensive coordinator, a linebackers coach and a special teams coordinator. That will allow him to bring a lot of value to Rocky Top.

Last year, Tennessee football didn’t have an official special teams coach. That seemed like a mistake, as Brent Cimaglia had a dramatic drop-off in his place kicking, although there may not be any connection there. Still, a solid special teams coach can work wonders, and Ekeler’s track record suggests he’s a great addition.