Nebraska special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler appears "likely" to be leaving the Huskers program.
Ekeler returned to Lincoln ahead of the 2025 season after rising through the coaching ranks and getting recognized as one of the best special teams coaches in the country. The Nebraska native lived up to the hype, turning NU's unit around after massive struggles under Ed Foley.
This week, talk that USC was coming after the Nebraska coordinator sparked up online. On Wednesday, Matt Rhule's comments about the situation added fuel to the fire. On Thursday evening, CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz reported on Twitter that the Trojans were indeed moving closer to getting a deal done with Mike Ekeler.
USC targeting Nebraska special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler
It appears that Rhule has been bracing for the departure for a little while. When he addressed the issue, he said that he absolutely wanted Ekeler to stay, but he wasn't sure that would happen. He also went out of his way to say that Ekeler was offered a rather large extension.
The unspoken but obvious part in Rhule's comments was that the assistant didn't sign the extension, despite it being something that would have made him one of, if not the highest paid, special teams coordinators in the sport.
It's not clear what's driving Ekeler's decision if he does head to the Trojans. There's been talk that he'd like to go back to coaching a position on defense. Ekeler was Tennessee's outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator for four seasons before going to Nebraska.
However, all indicators are that USC is only looking at him to coach special teams.
In his comments on Wednesday, Rhule also indicated that Ekeler was interested in the Nebraska defensive coordinator job when John Butler was fired. It's possible the hiring of Rob Aurich was enough to push the assistant to another Big Ten program.