Back when Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule hinted that Ed Foley’s days in Lincoln were numbered, he said that the Huskers’ special teams unit would get a “complete overhaul.” New special-teams coordinator Mike Ekeler has certainly made that come to pass as he’s put his own stamp on the group.
Just a few months after Ekeler arrived in Lincoln, he said goodbye to punter Jack McCallister. A few days after kicker Nico Ottomanelli entered the transfer portal, the former Tennessee Volunteers coach brought in a brand new placekicker to compete for the Huskers’ starting job.
Nebraska football adds transfer kicker as competition heats up under Mike Ekeler
Late Thursday night, the Nebraska football team secured the commitment of Cal transfer Kyle Cunanan. This move questions the idea that Ottomanelli left the Cornhuskers due to a roster crunch. It’s possible that Ekeler simply saw an opportunity to upgrade the position and had the third-stringer look elsewhere.
The 5-foot-10, 195-pound Cunanan began his college career in 2023 at Charlotte, where he connected on 9-of-15 field goals as a freshman.
In 2024, Cunanan was a perfect 5-of-5 on field goals but played in just three games at Charlotte, allowing him to preserve his redshirt. He took that redshirt and transferred to the Golden Bears this spring, and he was the only kicker on Cal’s roster. However, he left the school when the transfer portal opened in April because the major he wanted to get into was no longer available to him.
Cunane said Ekeler had told him he’d be allowed to compete for Nebraska’s starting kicker job. He’ll go up against Tristan Alvano, the leading kicker in 2023, and John Hohl, who did the job in 2024.
Hohl might be entering 2025 as the favorite to win the job, considering he hit 9 of his last 10 field goal attempts in 2024 after going just 1-for-his-first-5. However, Ekeler is obviously making sure he’ll be the one to make that decision, and doing anything like Foley did seems unlikely.
At the very least, the Nebraska football team has one more candidate to handle the kicking duties. That can’t be a bad thing considering the struggles of the last two years.