A Will Compton Phone Call Initiated Mike Ekeler's Return to Nebraska Football

Mike Ekeler thanks his return to Nebraska football on one person - a former Blackshirt and National Football League veteran - Will Compton.

Ekeler was hired as an assistant coach to join Matt Rhule's Nebraska Cornhuskers as the special teams coordinator over the offseason.

Despite having an impressive background serving at Indiana, Georgia, North Texas, North Carolina, Kansas, and Tennessee, Ekeler did not have a connection within the new regime of Husker football to return to Lincoln where he had been a linebackers coach from 2008-10.

That changed when Rhule announced he would be seeking out a new special teams coach following the conclusion of the 2024 season after Nebraska's Pinstripe Bowl victory over Boston College.

The Blair native first heard of the opening through a mutual connection to the coach.

"Well it started off with Will Compton," Ekeler said in an interview with Hail Varsity's Ana Bellinghausen at the 2025 Jet Awards last week.

"When coach made the change, literally Will Compton called me like 30 seconds later and said, 'Ek, you need to go home man.'" Compton learned under Ekeler for three seasons, earning the starting inside linebacker job in 2009 as a redshirt freshman through fall camp.

He played in all 14 games, with eight starts.

Compton's first season on the field under Ekeler gave the future NFL linebacker a freshman All-Big 12 nod.

Compton would add four more starts in the 2010 season after missing out in the first five games with an injury.

Following a decade-long stint in the National Football League, Compton continued his passion project of podcasting under his popular "Bussin' With the Boys" brand, giving the former Husker a larger spotlight in the national sports media field.

Compton, paired with former Tennessee Titan teammate and Michigan alum Taylor Lewan, grew the platform to receive exclusive access to Nebraska's facilities and interviews through the past years.

That includes interviews with Rhule, gameday passes and video blogs, and Compton recently earning the exclusive right to lead-off the game day Tunnel Walk tradition at Memorial Stadium for each Nebraska home game.

"He said, 'What are you doing?," Ekeler said.

"I said, 'You know, I'd think about it." "He said, 'I'm calling Coach Rhule.' So that's how it kind of started," Ekeler said.

"It's ironic, because he was the first player I ever recruited as a full-time coach when I was here at Nebraska.

So it kind of came back full-circle." Compton said on his podcast in January when Rhule announced that special teams coach Ed Foley would not return in that position that the Huskers should "go after coach Ekeler." The former Blackshirt has had a strong relationship with Rhule since the coach's hiring, as Rhule has appeared on the podcast twice while also giving Compton inside access to the program the past two seasons.

Ekeler aims to bring more consistency back to Nebraska's special teams unit as the coach aided in ranking Tennesse first or second in the SEC in punt return average in all four seasons in Knoxville.

The Volunteers also led the nation in percentage of punts downed inside the 10 over the past four years.

Ekeler also coached a first-team All-SEC outside linebacker in each of his final three seasons in Knoxville, and aided in guiding the Vols to the 2024 College Football Playoff.

Ekeler's full interview with Hail Varsity can be found below.

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