University of Tennessee Athletics
Football
Ekeler , Mike
Mike Ekeler
- Title:
- Outside Linebackers/Special Teams Coordinator
updated June 2024
Boasting more than 16 years of Power Five experience and three national championship game appearances, Mike Ekeler enters his fourth season as Tennessee’s outside linebackers and special teams coordinator in 2024.
Ekeler reunited with head coach Josh Heupel as the two served as graduate assistants together at Oklahoma in 2004. Both of Ekeler’s Norman years saw the Sooners reach the BCS National Championship Game.
Ekeler has established the Volunteers as one of the premier and most efficient special teams units in the country. UT has ranked either first or second in the SEC in punt return average in all three of Ekeler’s seasons, and the Vols have been first in the league in punt return defense in two out of his three years. Tennessee has racked up 874 punt return yards and allowed only 23 total punt return yards during Ekeler’s tenure.
Perhaps no special teams unit in the country made as significant a jump as Tennessee’s under the direction of Ekeler in 2021. The Volunteers finished in the FBS top 20 in five team categories, including blocked punts (2 – 17th), kickoff return average (25.41 – 15th), net punting (42.08 – 19th), punt return defense (2.0 – fifth) and punt return average (11.83 – 16th). Tennessee either led the SEC or ranked in the league’s top three in punt return defense (first), punt return average (first), net punting (second) and kickoff return average (third). It represented the first time since 1997 that the Vols were tops in the SEC in punt return average.
The catalyst for the return game proved to be senior Velus Jones Jr. Ekeler’s unit put Jones Jr. in a successful position as the Mobile native led the SEC and ranked second nationally in punt return average (27.3), and he was second in the SEC and 17th in the FBS in kickoff return average (27.3). Jones’ 900 combined return yards on the year was tops in the SEC and third nationally. That figure also ranked second in UT single-season annals and was the most since Willie Gault’s 987 in 1981. For his efforts, Jones was recognized as a first-team All-SEC selection and the SEC Co-Special Teams Player of the Year, becoming the first Vol to earn the honor since Evan Berry in 2015.
Jones’ rise to prominence continued when he dazzled scouts at the NFL Combine and Reese’s Senior Bowl. In April 2022, the Chicago Bears selected him with the No. 71 overall pick in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Ekeler’s unit was a difference maker again the following season in 2022 as the Vols won 11 games — six over ranked teams — en route to an Orange Bowl title against ACC champion Clemson. UT averaged 16.6 yards per punt return and racked up 331 total punt return yards, which ranked third in the FBS and second in the SEC. The Vols were tops in the SEC in yards per punt return allowed at 2.50, a mark that also ranked sixth in the FBS. Under Ekeler’s tutelage, Tennessee was ninth in ESPN’s special teams efficiency rankings in 2022 (68.6), representing the program’s second-highest finish since the metric started in 2005.
Newcomer Dee Williams picked up where Jones left off, averaging 18.7 yards per punt return (15 for 281 yards) and one touchdown in 2022. That figure tied for the third-best mark in single-season school history. Williams was named an honorable mention All-America selection by Phil Steele.
Williams continued his success in 2023, ranking sixth in the nation and third in the SEC in punt return average at 13.0. The highlight came in a win against Texas A&M. After downing a punt at the 1-yard line, his game-changing, 39-yard punt return touchdown gave the Vols the lead for good. Williams, a 2024 Phil Steele Fourth Team All-American, shattered the modern school career record for punt return average at 15.4, topping the previous mark held by Burt Rechichar (1949-51).
Williams signed a free agent deal with the Seattle Seahawks following the 2024 NFL Draft.
In 2023, the special teams unit as a whole under Ekeler continued to shine. Tennessee ranked in the nation’s top 25 in five different categories, including blocked kicks (4 - third), blocked punts (2 - fourth), net punting (41.3 – 22nd), punt return defense (0.85 - sixth) and punt return average (12.3 – 15th). The Vols led the SEC in punt return average, blocked kicks and blocked punts.
Ekeler’s influence has carried into the kicking game in his three seasons. Graduate transfer Chase McGrath left his mark on the program, shattering the school single-season record for PATs made in consecutive years, including 70 in 2022. McGrath finished 28-of-36 in field goals for a .778 average in his two seasons, which ranked second in UT career history. His 118 points in 2022 were the most by a kicker in school history — third-most by any player — with no points bigger than his infamous 40-yard, game-winning field goal to beat Alabama on the Third Saturday in October. He was twice named SEC Special Teams Player of the Week during the 2022 season in victories over LSU and the Crimson Tide.
Graduate transfer kicker Charles Campbell was a perfect 49-of-49 on PATs during his lone season in 2023, while redshirt freshman Jackson Ross was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team following his debut season on the field. Ross was the first Tennessee punter to earn SEC All-Freshman honors since Dustin Colquitt was recognized in 2001.
Ekeler also coaches outside linebackers and watched Byron Young become a household name in the SEC at Tennessee. Young logged 83 tackles, 23.5 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks and 22 quarterback hurries in his two seasons, and he was named a first-team All-SEC recipient in 2022. He was selected by the Los Angeles Rams with the No. 77 overall pick in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Ekeler, a native of David City, Nebraska, came to Knoxville after spending the 2020 season as the special teams coordinator at North Texas.
In 2019, Ekeler was the special teams coordinator and inside linebackers coach at Kansas. He tutored Jayhawk punter Kyle Thompson to All-Big 12 honorable mention honors as he averaged 44.5 yards per punt with 17 punts going over 50 yards, including a long of 73. Meanwhile, freshman linebacker Gavin Potter was an honorable mention honoree for Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year, and Stephon Robinson earned All-Big 12 Third Team honors as a kick returner by Phil Steele.
Prior to his arrival at Kansas, Ekeler served as the linebackers coach at North Carolina for two seasons. In 2018, he coached Cole Holcomb, who led the ACC in tackles per game with 9.5. Holcomb was an All-ACC second-team selection and ranked second in the league in solo stops with 5.4 per contest. He was selected in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Washington Commanders.
In his first season in Chapel Hill, Ekeler tutored a veteran group that featured Holcomb along with Cayson Collins and Andre Smith. Collins, who was second on the team with 83 tackles, signed a free agent contract with the Miami Dolphins, while Smith was a 2018 NFL Draft seventh-round selection by the Carolina Panthers.
Ekeler went to UNC after serving as North Texas’ defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2016. In his first season at UNT, Ekeler oversaw a defense that held opponents to 8.7 points per game fewer than the previous year. That turnaround in scoring defense was the 13th-best mark in the country. He also oversaw a linebacking corps that included the team’s sack leader Joshua Wheeler (5.5).
Ekeler mentored numerous NFL Draft picks as the inside linebackers coach and defensive special teams coordinator at Georgia from 2014-15. In 2014, Georgia ranked 17th in the FBS in total defense (337.2) and was second in the SEC in passing defense (170.4). In 2015, the Bulldogs’ defense ranked seventh in the nation in total defense, allowing only 305.8 yards per game.
He coached four NFL Draft picks during his tenure, including first rounders Roquan Smith (2018) and Leonard Floyd (2016) and Ramik Wilson (2015 fourth round) and Amarlo Herrera (2015 sixth round).
Ekeler also coordinated the defensive special teams at Georgia as the punt return squad had six touchdown returns in two seasons. Prior to his arrival, the Bulldogs ranked 124th in the FBS in punt return average (2.92). Ekeler elevated Georgia 100 spots into the top 25 in that category in his first season as the Bulldogs averaged 10.48 yards per return. In his final season, that increased to 13.13 yards per return, which ranked 17th in the FBS. They also improved in kickoff return coverage under his watch, climbing 37 spots in the FBS rankings and allowing only 19.25 yards per return in 2014.
As linebackers coach at Southern Cal in 2013, Ekeler tutored Hayes Pullard, who was named to the All-Pac 12 Second Team. That year Pullard notched 60 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and nine sacks before being selected in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.
Before USC, Ekeler served as the linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator at Indiana from 2011-12, and he spent three seasons as Nebraska’s linebackers coach (2008-10) under head coach Bo Pelini. During his three years in Lincoln, the Cornhuskers won or shared the Big 12 Conference North Division title every season and appeared in multiple Holiday Bowls and one Gator Bowl.
As Nebraska’s linebackers coach, he played a key role in developing some of the nation’s most successful defenses. In 2010, Nebraska was fifth nationally in pass defense (153.6), ninth in scoring defense (17.4) and 11th in total defense (306.8). In 2009, the Cornhuskers led the country in scoring defense (10.4) and pass efficiency defense, while ranking seventh in total defense (271.3) and eighth in rushing defense (92.43).
He coached Lavonte David, a 2010 and 2011 First-Team All-American, who set the school single-season tackles record and was a second round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2012 NFL Draft. Phillip Dillard (2010 fourth round), Cody Glenn (2009 fifth round), Eric Martin (2013 free agent) and Will Compton (2013 free agent) all reached the league under his watch. David is an All-Pro linebacker for Super Bowl LV champion Tampa Bay, and Compton was Washington’s defensive captain and now current Tennessee Titan.
Ekeler broke into the collegiate coaching ranks working as a graduate assistant and intern at LSU (2005-07) and Oklahoma (2003-04). Oklahoma played for the BCS title in both of Ekeler’s seasons in Norman, posting a two-year record of 24-3. While at LSU, the Tigers led the SEC in six defensive categories and ranked nationally in four in 2006. The 2007 LSU team finished 12-2 and won the SEC and BCS National Championship, marking the third time in five years that Ekeler had been part of a team playing for the BCS title.
Ekeler was a special teams standout and linebacker for Hall of Famer Bill Snyder at Kansas State from 1991-94. A team captain as a senior, he earned National Special Teams Player of the Year in 1994 by George Michael Sports Machine, a popular national sports show at the time.
Ekeler earned his bachelor’s degree in social sciences from Kansas State in 1995. He and his wife, Barbie, have a son, J.J., and daughters Cameryn, Abby and Bella. Abby is currently a member of the Tennessee volleyball team, which reached the Sweet 16 in the fall of 2023.
Boasting more than 16 years of Power Five experience and three national championship game appearances, Mike Ekeler enters his fourth season as Tennessee’s outside linebackers and special teams coordinator in 2024.
THE EKELER FILE
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Born: Oct. 4, 1971
Hometown: David City, Nebraska
Education: Kansas State, 1995 (bachelor’s in social science)
Wife: Barbie
Children: J.J., Cameryn, Abigail, Bella
COACHING HISTORY
1999-2001: Omaha (Nebraska) Skutt High School, Volunteer Coach
2002: Manhattan (Kansas) High School, Assistant Coach
2003-04: Oklahoma, Defensive Graduate Assistant
2005-06: LSU, Defensive Graduate Assistant
2007: LSU, Defensive Intern
2008-10: Nebraska, Linebackers
2011-12: Indiana: Co-Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach
2013: Southern Cal, Linebackers
2014-15: Georgia, Inside Linebackers/Defensive Special Teams Coordinator
2016: North Texas, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
2017-18: North Carolina, Linebackers
2019: Kansas, Inside Linebackers/Special Teams Coordinator
2020: North Texas, Special Teams Coordinator
2021-present: Tennessee, Outside Linebackers/Special Teams Coordinator
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (1)
2007 – LSU (Defensive Intern)
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS (2)
2007 SEC – LSU (Defensive Intern)
2004 Big 12 – Oklahoma (Defensive Graduate Assistant)
BOWL GAME APPEARANCES (16)
2024 Citrus Bowl – Tennessee
2022 Orange Bowl - Tennessee
2021 Music City Bowl - Tennessee
2020 Myrtle Beach Bowl – North Texas
2016 Heart of Dallas Bowl – North Texas
2016 TaxSlayer Bowl – Georgia
2014 Belk Bowl – Georgia
2013 Las Vegas Bowl – USC
2010 Holiday Bowl – Nebraska
2009 Holiday Bowl – Nebraska
2009 Gator Bowl – Nebraska
2008 BCS National Championship Game – LSU
2007 Sugar Bowl - LSU
2005 Peach Bowl – LSU
2005 BCS National Championship Orange Bowl – Oklahoma
2004 BCS National Championship Sugar Bowl – Oklahoma
NFL PLAYERS COACHED
RS Dee Williams, Seattle, 2024 (free agent)
DE/OLB Byron Young, Los Angeles, 2023 (3rd round)
RS Velus Jones Jr., Chicago, 2022 (3rd round)
LB Cole Holcomb, Washington, 2019 (5th round)
LB Natrez Patrick, Los Angeles/Denver, 2019 (FA)
LB Roquan Smith, Chicago, 2018 (1st round)
LB Andre Smith, Carolina, 2018 (7th round)
LB Cayson Collins, Miami, 2018 (FA)
LB Leonard Floyd, Chicago, 2016 (1st round)
LB Ramik Wilson, Kansas City, 2015 (4th round)
LB Amarlo Herrera, Indianapolis, 2015 (6th round)
LB Hayes Pullard, Cleveland, 2015 (6th round)
LB Will Compton, Washington/Tennessee, 2013 (FA)
LB Eric Martin, New Orleans, 2013 (FA)
LB Lavonte David, Tampa Bay, 2012 (2nd round)
LB Phillip Dillard, Cleveland, 2010 (4th round)
LB Cody Glenn, Washington, 2009 (5th round)
Ekeler reunited with head coach Josh Heupel as the two served as graduate assistants together at Oklahoma in 2004. Both of Ekeler’s Norman years saw the Sooners reach the BCS National Championship Game.
Ekeler has established the Volunteers as one of the premier and most efficient special teams units in the country. UT has ranked either first or second in the SEC in punt return average in all three of Ekeler’s seasons, and the Vols have been first in the league in punt return defense in two out of his three years. Tennessee has racked up 874 punt return yards and allowed only 23 total punt return yards during Ekeler’s tenure.
Perhaps no special teams unit in the country made as significant a jump as Tennessee’s under the direction of Ekeler in 2021. The Volunteers finished in the FBS top 20 in five team categories, including blocked punts (2 – 17th), kickoff return average (25.41 – 15th), net punting (42.08 – 19th), punt return defense (2.0 – fifth) and punt return average (11.83 – 16th). Tennessee either led the SEC or ranked in the league’s top three in punt return defense (first), punt return average (first), net punting (second) and kickoff return average (third). It represented the first time since 1997 that the Vols were tops in the SEC in punt return average.
The catalyst for the return game proved to be senior Velus Jones Jr. Ekeler’s unit put Jones Jr. in a successful position as the Mobile native led the SEC and ranked second nationally in punt return average (27.3), and he was second in the SEC and 17th in the FBS in kickoff return average (27.3). Jones’ 900 combined return yards on the year was tops in the SEC and third nationally. That figure also ranked second in UT single-season annals and was the most since Willie Gault’s 987 in 1981. For his efforts, Jones was recognized as a first-team All-SEC selection and the SEC Co-Special Teams Player of the Year, becoming the first Vol to earn the honor since Evan Berry in 2015.
Jones’ rise to prominence continued when he dazzled scouts at the NFL Combine and Reese’s Senior Bowl. In April 2022, the Chicago Bears selected him with the No. 71 overall pick in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Ekeler’s unit was a difference maker again the following season in 2022 as the Vols won 11 games — six over ranked teams — en route to an Orange Bowl title against ACC champion Clemson. UT averaged 16.6 yards per punt return and racked up 331 total punt return yards, which ranked third in the FBS and second in the SEC. The Vols were tops in the SEC in yards per punt return allowed at 2.50, a mark that also ranked sixth in the FBS. Under Ekeler’s tutelage, Tennessee was ninth in ESPN’s special teams efficiency rankings in 2022 (68.6), representing the program’s second-highest finish since the metric started in 2005.
Newcomer Dee Williams picked up where Jones left off, averaging 18.7 yards per punt return (15 for 281 yards) and one touchdown in 2022. That figure tied for the third-best mark in single-season school history. Williams was named an honorable mention All-America selection by Phil Steele.
Williams continued his success in 2023, ranking sixth in the nation and third in the SEC in punt return average at 13.0. The highlight came in a win against Texas A&M. After downing a punt at the 1-yard line, his game-changing, 39-yard punt return touchdown gave the Vols the lead for good. Williams, a 2024 Phil Steele Fourth Team All-American, shattered the modern school career record for punt return average at 15.4, topping the previous mark held by Burt Rechichar (1949-51).
Williams signed a free agent deal with the Seattle Seahawks following the 2024 NFL Draft.
In 2023, the special teams unit as a whole under Ekeler continued to shine. Tennessee ranked in the nation’s top 25 in five different categories, including blocked kicks (4 - third), blocked punts (2 - fourth), net punting (41.3 – 22nd), punt return defense (0.85 - sixth) and punt return average (12.3 – 15th). The Vols led the SEC in punt return average, blocked kicks and blocked punts.
Ekeler’s influence has carried into the kicking game in his three seasons. Graduate transfer Chase McGrath left his mark on the program, shattering the school single-season record for PATs made in consecutive years, including 70 in 2022. McGrath finished 28-of-36 in field goals for a .778 average in his two seasons, which ranked second in UT career history. His 118 points in 2022 were the most by a kicker in school history — third-most by any player — with no points bigger than his infamous 40-yard, game-winning field goal to beat Alabama on the Third Saturday in October. He was twice named SEC Special Teams Player of the Week during the 2022 season in victories over LSU and the Crimson Tide.
Graduate transfer kicker Charles Campbell was a perfect 49-of-49 on PATs during his lone season in 2023, while redshirt freshman Jackson Ross was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team following his debut season on the field. Ross was the first Tennessee punter to earn SEC All-Freshman honors since Dustin Colquitt was recognized in 2001.
Ekeler also coaches outside linebackers and watched Byron Young become a household name in the SEC at Tennessee. Young logged 83 tackles, 23.5 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks and 22 quarterback hurries in his two seasons, and he was named a first-team All-SEC recipient in 2022. He was selected by the Los Angeles Rams with the No. 77 overall pick in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Ekeler, a native of David City, Nebraska, came to Knoxville after spending the 2020 season as the special teams coordinator at North Texas.
In 2019, Ekeler was the special teams coordinator and inside linebackers coach at Kansas. He tutored Jayhawk punter Kyle Thompson to All-Big 12 honorable mention honors as he averaged 44.5 yards per punt with 17 punts going over 50 yards, including a long of 73. Meanwhile, freshman linebacker Gavin Potter was an honorable mention honoree for Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year, and Stephon Robinson earned All-Big 12 Third Team honors as a kick returner by Phil Steele.
Prior to his arrival at Kansas, Ekeler served as the linebackers coach at North Carolina for two seasons. In 2018, he coached Cole Holcomb, who led the ACC in tackles per game with 9.5. Holcomb was an All-ACC second-team selection and ranked second in the league in solo stops with 5.4 per contest. He was selected in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Washington Commanders.
In his first season in Chapel Hill, Ekeler tutored a veteran group that featured Holcomb along with Cayson Collins and Andre Smith. Collins, who was second on the team with 83 tackles, signed a free agent contract with the Miami Dolphins, while Smith was a 2018 NFL Draft seventh-round selection by the Carolina Panthers.
Ekeler went to UNC after serving as North Texas’ defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2016. In his first season at UNT, Ekeler oversaw a defense that held opponents to 8.7 points per game fewer than the previous year. That turnaround in scoring defense was the 13th-best mark in the country. He also oversaw a linebacking corps that included the team’s sack leader Joshua Wheeler (5.5).
Ekeler mentored numerous NFL Draft picks as the inside linebackers coach and defensive special teams coordinator at Georgia from 2014-15. In 2014, Georgia ranked 17th in the FBS in total defense (337.2) and was second in the SEC in passing defense (170.4). In 2015, the Bulldogs’ defense ranked seventh in the nation in total defense, allowing only 305.8 yards per game.
He coached four NFL Draft picks during his tenure, including first rounders Roquan Smith (2018) and Leonard Floyd (2016) and Ramik Wilson (2015 fourth round) and Amarlo Herrera (2015 sixth round).
Ekeler also coordinated the defensive special teams at Georgia as the punt return squad had six touchdown returns in two seasons. Prior to his arrival, the Bulldogs ranked 124th in the FBS in punt return average (2.92). Ekeler elevated Georgia 100 spots into the top 25 in that category in his first season as the Bulldogs averaged 10.48 yards per return. In his final season, that increased to 13.13 yards per return, which ranked 17th in the FBS. They also improved in kickoff return coverage under his watch, climbing 37 spots in the FBS rankings and allowing only 19.25 yards per return in 2014.
As linebackers coach at Southern Cal in 2013, Ekeler tutored Hayes Pullard, who was named to the All-Pac 12 Second Team. That year Pullard notched 60 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and nine sacks before being selected in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.
Before USC, Ekeler served as the linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator at Indiana from 2011-12, and he spent three seasons as Nebraska’s linebackers coach (2008-10) under head coach Bo Pelini. During his three years in Lincoln, the Cornhuskers won or shared the Big 12 Conference North Division title every season and appeared in multiple Holiday Bowls and one Gator Bowl.
As Nebraska’s linebackers coach, he played a key role in developing some of the nation’s most successful defenses. In 2010, Nebraska was fifth nationally in pass defense (153.6), ninth in scoring defense (17.4) and 11th in total defense (306.8). In 2009, the Cornhuskers led the country in scoring defense (10.4) and pass efficiency defense, while ranking seventh in total defense (271.3) and eighth in rushing defense (92.43).
He coached Lavonte David, a 2010 and 2011 First-Team All-American, who set the school single-season tackles record and was a second round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2012 NFL Draft. Phillip Dillard (2010 fourth round), Cody Glenn (2009 fifth round), Eric Martin (2013 free agent) and Will Compton (2013 free agent) all reached the league under his watch. David is an All-Pro linebacker for Super Bowl LV champion Tampa Bay, and Compton was Washington’s defensive captain and now current Tennessee Titan.
Ekeler broke into the collegiate coaching ranks working as a graduate assistant and intern at LSU (2005-07) and Oklahoma (2003-04). Oklahoma played for the BCS title in both of Ekeler’s seasons in Norman, posting a two-year record of 24-3. While at LSU, the Tigers led the SEC in six defensive categories and ranked nationally in four in 2006. The 2007 LSU team finished 12-2 and won the SEC and BCS National Championship, marking the third time in five years that Ekeler had been part of a team playing for the BCS title.
Ekeler was a special teams standout and linebacker for Hall of Famer Bill Snyder at Kansas State from 1991-94. A team captain as a senior, he earned National Special Teams Player of the Year in 1994 by George Michael Sports Machine, a popular national sports show at the time.
Ekeler earned his bachelor’s degree in social sciences from Kansas State in 1995. He and his wife, Barbie, have a son, J.J., and daughters Cameryn, Abby and Bella. Abby is currently a member of the Tennessee volleyball team, which reached the Sweet 16 in the fall of 2023.
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