From Wikipedia
Linebacker and Special Teams coach
Mike Ekeler (born October 4, 1971) is the linebackers Coach for the USC Trojans football team. He previously served as defensive coordinator for the Indiana Hoosiers football team.
Early life[edit]
Mike Ekeler was born in David City, Nebraska, a small city in east central Nebraska and graduated from Blair High School in Blair, Nebraska in 1990.
Playing career[edit]
Ekeler played both sides of the ball at Blair High School, as a wide receiver and linebacker. The Blair High School team won the Class B Nebraska State Championship in 1988, his junior year.
After the conclusion of his high school playing career, Ekeler played for Kansas State as a linebacker under Bill Snyder from 1991 to 1994, lettering in three of his four years there. Ekeler was appointed as a team captain by Snyder in 1994, and was the only player ever appointed captain by Snyder during the coach's entire seventeen-year head coaching career at Kansas State. Coincidentally, during Ekeler's first year playing at Kansas State, future fellow Nebraska Assistant Carl Pelini was early into his coaching career, putting in his third and final year on the Kansas State coaching staff.
Ekeler concluded his time at Kansas State by obtaining his Bachelor's degree in Social sciences in 1995.[1]
Coaching career[edit]
High Schools[edit]
After seven years in private business for himself, Ekeler returned to the game when he began volunteer coaching for V. J. and Angela Skutt Catholic High School in Omaha, Nebraska from 1999 to 2001, and as an assistant coach at Manhattan High School in Manhattan, Kansas in 2002, back in the town where he had played for Kansas State almost a decade before.
Oklahoma[edit]
In 2003, Ekeler's first opportunity to rise to the college ranks presented itself when he was invited by Oklahoma Head Coach Bob Stoops to join the staff as a Graduate Assistant, working under Co-Defensive Coordinator Bo Pelini. Oklahoma played for the BCS Championship in both of Ekeler's seasons at Oklahoma, while posting a two-year record of 24-3.
LSU[edit]
When Bo Pelini moved to LSU to work under Les Miles beginning in 2005, Ekeler followed and continued working under Pelini as a Graduate Assistant, and success followed. In their first year, LSU finished with national top ten rankings in all defensive categories. In 2006, the LSU squad bested defensive records set in 1976 as LSU led their conference in six defensive categories and ranked nationally in four. 2007 brought even greater success, as Ekeler moved into a position as a coaching intern, and LSU rolled to a 12-2 record and won the BCS Championship, marking the third time in five years that Ekeler had been part of a team playing for the BCS title.
Nebraska[edit]
At the conclusion of the 2007 season, Pelini was hired to replace Head Coach Bill Callahan at Nebraska. Many former Nebraska assistants who were let go upon Callahan's hire four years prior were brought back into the program, and being a Nebraska native and also a valued team member at LSU, Pelini brought Ekeler back to his home state of Nebraska, along with a promotion to Linebackers Coach, for the 2008 season. During his three seasons in Lincoln, Nebraska's defensive units consistently ranked in the top ten nationally, and won or shared the Big 12 Conference North Division Title all three years. Nebraska played for the league championship in 2009 and 2010, losing both by a total of only four points, and holding the opponents to a combined 36 points.
Indiana[edit]
Following Nebraska's 10-3 regular 2010 season, Ekeler was hired to serve as Linebackers Coach and Co-Defensive Coordinator at Indiana by new Hoosier head football coach Kevin R. Wilson. Ekeler will work alongside former New Mexico Defensive Coordinator Doug Mallory, who will serve as the other Indiana Co-Defensive Coordinator while also coaching the Safeties. Ekeler had previously worked with Wilson at Oklahoma for 2003 and 2004, when Wilson was the Offensive Line Coach for the Sooners.[2][3]
USC Trojans[edit]
On February 22nd,2013 Ekeler was hired by Lane Kiffin and USC as Linebackers coach.
Georgia=[edit]
On Feburary 6th 2014 Ekeler was hired by Mark Richt & Jeremy Pruitt as a Linebackers coach
READ THE LAST SENTENCE OF ARTICLE
Former Southern Cal assistant Ekeler completes overhauled UGA coaching staff
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FOOTBALL, VOLLEYBALL
BY: MARC WEISZER | FEB 6 2014
Georgia’s completely overhauled defensive coaching staff is now complete with the hiring Thursday of Mike Ekeler, most recently linebackers coach at Southern California.
It’s not just new faces but a different way to delegate coaching responsibility for Mark Richt’s new staff .
Ekeler will coach the inside linebackers.
Kevin Sherrer, who has simply been called a defensive assistant since his hire, will coach the “Sam” linebackers and the “Star” nickel back position.
Tracy Rocker will coach the defensive line and the “Will” linebackers.
New defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt is coaching the secondary.
Those waiting for details on how specials teams coaching will work will have to wait some more. A Georgia release said those responsibilities are still to be determined.
Figure that Ekeler will have a role in that.
Ekeler handled punt returns as an assistant at Nebraska in 2008 and was known as a player at Kansas State for being a “special teams demon,” according to the Omaha World-Herald.
Ekeler, 42, was co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Indiana in 2011 and 2012 and was linebackers coach for Bo Pelini at Nebraska from 2008 to 2010. He was not retained after last season after a coaching change at Southern California.
The David City, Neb., native played at Kansas State from 1991-94 where he was a captain after walking on to the team.
“I was extremely impressed with his knowledge and energy during the interview process,” Richt said in a statement. “He was highly recommended by many coaches and administrators with whom I talked and we’re very excited that he’ll be joining our staff.”
Ekeler also was a defensive graduate assistant and intern at LSU from 2005-07 when Pelini was co-defensive coordinator.
“I’m honored to represent the University of Georgia and Coach Richt,” Ekeler said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to supporting Coach Pruitt and our entire coaching staff in every way I can. Our family can’t wait to move to Athens to get started.”
Richt has said that he was looking for a defensive hire that would have a large role in Georgia’s special teams coaching.
How Bout them Dawgs!!!!!!!
Ride it like you stole it
