The Nebraska football team has officially added its new special teams coordinator and it paid a pretty penny to get him.
Mike Ekeler got a nice little pay bump to come to Lincoln. As it turns out, the Huskers doled out some pretty nice increases to a couple of assistants that are entering their third seasons with Matt Rhule. It seems as the very least, the Cornhuskers are trying to make sure that they don’t have to worry about position coaches moving onto greener pastures, at least based on what they’re getting paid.
The Nebraska football team released information on not only Mike Ekeler’s salary but also the kind of raises that offensive line coach Donovan Raiola and linebackers coach Rob Dvoracek got after the most successful season for the program in almost a decade.
Nebraska football assistant coaches get their bags
Ekeler will make $625,000 per season, according to the Husker athletic department, which released the salary figure as part of a records request. That’s a pay bump over what he was getting at Tennessee, though it’s not as big as some might expect to leave in what was a lateral move. However, it’s clear that coming home and being closer to family was a bigger deal than what he was getting paid. Ekeler is getting about $75,000 more annually than Ed Foley was, so it’s a significant pay bump for the Husker staff as a whole.
Raiola and Dvoracek are both $150,000 per year richer after their own raises. The offensive line coach is making $650,000 in 2025 after making $500,000 last year. He’s now doubled his starting salary with the Huskers.
Dvoracek was making $300,000 last year and will now make $450,000 and he will almost certainly get another raise after this season. The Nebraska football team’s linebackers coach is considered an up and coming coach as both a recruiter and someone who can develop talent.