Tony Vitello, who won a national title in 2024, on Ekeler: “Really fiery. Really intense. Really competitive. And very consistent.”
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New Huskers assistant Mike Ekeler found a kindred spirit at Tennessee in Tony Vitello
By
Mitch Sherman
Tony Vitello learned early in his time around Mike Ekeler at Tennessee that to match Ekeler’s intensity, Vitello had to bring his best.
They met after Ekeler arrived in 2021 as the special teams coordinator for football coach Josh Heupel. Vitello, the Volunteers baseball coach known for his intense manner on the diamond, noticed the enthusiasm that Ekeler —
selected last week to run special teams in 2025 at Nebraska — brought to the sideline at Neyland Stadium.
“It’s very visible,” Vitello said.
They forged a friendship. Ekeler had an affinity for baseball. He shared wisdom with Vitello and his coaching staff. The football coach took batting practice a few times, no surprise to any of Ekeler’s associates from the past 30-plus years who know him as
a man eager to tackle any challenge.
If it meant busting the wedge in kickoff coverage, nurturing a piranha or trying to run a marathon without training, Ekeler was up for it.
On football Saturdays at Tennessee, Ekeler’s intensity jumped. When he sprinted from the tunnel before kickoff, anyone in his way ran the risk of getting pushed or punched by the coach.
“I had to take the brunt force of that a few times,” said Vitello, who entertains baseball recruits at football games and is often on the field before the game.
So last season after their relationship grew and Vitello led Tennessee baseball to its first national championship, he decided it was time to go on the offensive in his pregame meetings on the gridiron with Ekeler.
“I think I got him pretty good a couple times,” Vitello said, “about as good as I can get a guy who’s built like that. But the thing I’ve learned is that physique, that energy level, that presence is not fake. It’s an all-the-time thing with him.”
Vitello’s team finished 60-13 in 2024. It won the SEC regular-season title and SEC tournament. He earned a National Coach of the Year honor for the third time at age 45.
In managing athletes, Vitello said, consistency rates among the most important traits for a coach.
“It’s very important, because you’re looking for them to be consistent, which is hard at their age,” Vitello said. “So you have to do it yourself. Call it leadership by example. But with a guy who’s got a fiery, almost volatile personality and energy level, you’d expect to see some extreme ups and downs.”
Not Ekeler.
“He’s very consistent,” Vitello said. “Really fiery. Really intense. Really competitive. And very consistent.”
THANK YOU VOL Nation, players & staff. It’s been an amazing 4 years filled with incredible memories! My family doesn’t have words to express our gratitude. I’m proud of the INCREDIBLE specialist & OLB rooms we’ve built for a bright future
@Vol_Football 💯❤️Mike & Barbie 🌶️🔥
pic.twitter.com/ebOKEJsB0C
— Mike Ekeler (@CoachEkelerUT)
February 9, 2025
Ekeler worked at Nebraska from 2008 through 2010 as linebackers coach under Bo Pelini. A Nebraska native and former special teams standout at Kansas State, Ekeler, 53, returns to Lincoln to direct a special teams unit that needs to find consistency.
A case can be made that if Nebraska had performed at an average level on special teams over the past two seasons, it would have won three to four additional games. Under coach Matt Rhule in 25 games, Nebraska is 3-10 in outcomes decided by eight points or fewer.
The Huskers’ opponent-adjusted special teams efficiency in 2024, according to the
FEI ratings, was 86th. Tennessee ranked eighth in the same metric as it finished 10-3 and lost in the opening round of the College Football Playoff at Ohio State.
The average ranking for Tennessee in that category over four seasons with Ekeler in charge of special teams: 14.5. Nebraska in the same period finished on average at 81.5.
Rhule reassigned Ed Foley, the Huskers special teams coordinator of the past two years, in early January, promising an overhaul of special teams after Nebraska nearly blew an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter of its 20-15 victory against Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl.
The Eagles blocked a punt, returned a blocked PAT for two points and stopped a fake field goal attempt by Nebraska.
The Huskers signed a long snapper, Kevin Gallic from New Hampshire, and a punter, Jack McCallister from Washington, among a 16-player transfer class this winter that rated No. 5 nationally by 247Sports.
Ekeler is presumably the final piece sought by Rhule to fix special teams.
“The fun stuff aside, the biggest business part of his coaching style that I picked up on is that he loves and excels at the group thing,” Vitello said. “On a baseball team, there’s a pitching staff, there’s a defense, there’s an offense. In football, it’s segmented in bigger groups.
“He would share ideas or stories and things he would do to get that group to formulate their own personality and mentality — to where they stood out from everybody else in the country.”
Ekeler at Tennessee produced numerous special teams stars.
Velus Jones, a 2022 third-round NFL Draft pick, was named the SEC co-Special Teams Player of the Year in 2021. He led the conference in 2021 in punt and kickoff return yardage.
Dee Williams, undrafted out of Tennessee in 2024, made the roster in Seattle and later with the New York Giants as a special teams contributor. Alontae Taylor, a 2022 second-round pick, thrived under Ekeler and first made his first mark with the Saints on special teams.
“I played for him for two years, and it was the most amazing two years,” former Tennessee kicker Chase McGrath said. “He was so awesome, so positive. He brought such big energy into our meetings. A lot of times in college football, special teams meetings can get a little boring. But not with coach Ek.”
Ekeler instilled confidence in the Vols, McGrath said, and made clear his investment in their production. He told players in a meeting that he’d put a “For Sale” sign in his own front yard if Tennessee special teams didn’t hit specific benchmarks.
Before McGrath hit a game-winning, 40-yard field goal in 2022 that snapped Tennessee’s 15-year losing streak against Alabama, he said the sideline was filled with positivity before he walked onto the field to kick — because of the energy that Ekeler delivered.
“Coach Ek is very good at getting an individual to attack his assignments, so he doesn’t let the group down that he’s become proud to be a part of,” Vitello said. “Attack is a word that comes to mind when it comes to a closer (in baseball) or someone that he’s got on a specific assignment in special teams.
If there’s any sport where you’ve gotta go all in or you get exposed, it’s football. He gets individuals to do that within the group.”
Ekeler connected Vitello with “Bussin’ With the Boys” hosts Will Compton and Taylor Lewan before they interviewed the baseball coach for an episode of their popular podcast in April 2022. Ekeler factored heavily in recruiting Compton to Nebraska, where he played linebacker before nine seasons in the NFL.
The appearance boosted visibility for Vitello’s program, he said.
“Putting me in front of those guys was the biggest compliment (Ekeler) could pay,” Vitello said. “It just kind of stimulated everything.”
Vitello and Ekeler shared a farewell last week as Tennessee colleagues. Vitello said he expects to see Ekeler soon. Nebraska and Tennessee are scheduled to play in Knoxville in 2027 after a game in Lincoln in 2026.
Vitello, of course, would like to finish the baseball season again this year in Omaha. The site of the College World Series is a short trip from Lincoln for Ekeler in June.
In getting close to Ekeler, Vitello valued the opportunity simply to learn from a great coach, he said, as Ekeler did in playing for Bill Snyder and coaching with the likes of Bob Stoops, Mike Stoops, Brent Venables, Kevin Wilson, Pelini, Jimbo Fisher, Les Miles, Lane Kiffin, Ed Orgeron, Mark Richt, Brian Schottenheimer and Heupel.
“Great coaches become great coaches by being around other great coaches,” Vitello said. “He should be a great coach, based on all those people.”
