RF365 exclusive: man-to-man coverage with Nebraska’s Mike Ekeler

By Marc Hudgens  |   Sunday, March 23, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

Nebraska Cornhuskers
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"As far as the linebacker room in general, our guys know what the expectations are, they know from going through winter conditioning that we're going to work harder than anybody in the country. We're going to outwork people, and we're going to be relentless. And we're going to find the top three guys, whoever they are on our team, to go out and represent the Blackshirts at linebacker. So they know it's open, an open race. I mean, we're going to try a bunch of different combinations, we're going to see what guys go out there and step up, make plays, absorb the system, and who earn their spots." Mike Ekeler

RealFootball365 would like to thank Nebraska linebackers coach Mike Ekeler for taking time with us and sharing his thoughts on his time in Nebraska so far, his goals for his squad, what's going on now, and the "Off The Field" questionnaire segment in this exclusive interview with the first-year Husker coach.

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Q: With a new coaching staff there at Nebraska and the first wave of recruits on the field, what expectations do you have for your linebackers, or do those expectations come after spring practice?

EKELER: No, the expectations, I don't care if you're Peabody State or Nebraska or wherever, I mean they're always the same. You want your guys to play their tails off, play with their hair on fire, and you want them to go out there and execute. We want to do it at the highest level. I mean, that is our expectation, and that's what we're going to get.


Q: How has the transition from being a grad assistant to assistant coach been for you, especially in light of coming from a National championship team to one that is perceived as having fallen out of the elite team category?

EKELER: You know, having worked with Bo for the last four years, I had a ton of responsibility the last four years so for me it's really not that much different. And it's an opportunity to get out and what we try and do every single day, we try and improve ourselves every day, so it's no different in what position you're in, but like I said, I mean, I don't feel any different whatsoever.


Q: Apart from less gumbo and more corn fed beef, what sort of differences jump out between LSU and Nebraska, not just athletic department-wise but the school as a whole?

EKELER: The school, I guess I'd say first and foremost the thing that jumps out at you is obviously the weather's a lot different. When we came down here and we hadn't seen snow in three years in Louisiana obviously and, it's been snowing ever since we got here. It's really been nice though, I mean it's been a nice change and for that part of it, for my kids it's the greatest place on earth. They go out and play in the snow and have a good time. But from everything else I mean, really, you're still engrossed in your job, the X's and the O's and in just getting to know your players, it's all the same.


Q: From watching tape, what differences do you see between last year's linebacker strategy and what you specifically want to do?

EKELER: You know, it's kind of funny because Bo's philosophy is we don't pay any attention or look at what they did last year, if you're talking about schematically on defense. We don't want to have a skewed view of who these guys are or make any prejudgments in our mind. We're just going to let it play itself out in spring practice and in the two-a-days and implement our system and go from there. So as far as any differences I can't even speak to that because I don't even know exactly what they were doing, nor are we real concerned about that.


Q: So far you have [four] linebackers committed, the most in three years. This is a pretty large linebacker class.

EKELER: Yeah, no question. Alonzo Whaley, he's out of Houston, out of Madisonville, Texas, he's a guy we really, really like, and we really feel like he was one of...I don't know if I saw a better fullback in the last few years than Alonzo. So he's got an opportunity, he's such a versatile athlete that he could play a number of positions for us. So we'll have to see how that shakes out with him. I tell you what, he's a hammerhead now.

As far as the other ones...we're really, really, really happy, obviously, with our recruiting class. You know, Will Compton at a MIKE backer, the guy's six-three, two-hundred thirty pounds, can run like a deer, is an all-state receiver as well, just tremendous athleticism, body control. Really really a smart guy. Is about a three-nine student, already got fifteen hours of college credit, and the guy gets it. I mean absolutely gets it. I went in on a recruiting trip and the first time I met him, we started going over our defense and talking about adjustment and the questions he asked, I mean he asked what you wanted to hear. I mean he's just a sharp, sharp guy, and really, really, really excited to have the opportunity to coach him and to get him in our program.

And Sean Fisher, six-five, two-hundred thirty pounds right now, out of Millard North here in Omaha. He is a fantastic, fantastic athlete. Played running back in the state championship game, nearly carried his team to a state championship, played safety, and he can run. Again, another guy, he can run like a deer.

And that's kind of the theme, that's kind of what we look to recruit; guys who are tremendous athletes, and guys who can just flat-out fly. Our whole defense, we're predicated on speed. And those guys, those two guys, those guys bring it right there. And Alonzo Whaley again, I touched on him earlier, he's a guy who is a tremendous athlete. Really, really good speed, really a physical, physical football player, and adds a lot of versatility to our team.

And then you have Micah Kreikemeier, out of West Point, Nebraska...I told Micah, it's kind of a funny story, told him that he put more pressure on me than any coach in the history of the game. Because if he doesn't turn out good, I'm probably going to lose my job. That was coach Osborne's last...coach Osborne offered him right before we got here. And so technically he's coach Osborne's final recruit. And so, we're having fun with that, Micah and his parents and myself. I just keep on ribbing him on that, that he better bring your lunchpail, because we got to get to work and get you ready to roll. We got to make coach Osborne right on his last recruit. But again you look at Sean Fisher, and Micah as well, they're two four-point-O students, actually greater than four-point-O, and just fantastic, fantastic kids. Great character, these guys are going to come in and just work their tails off.

And then on top of that, we've got some guys who turned down major, major scholarships and walked on here. We got a number of guys who I'm just unbelievably fired up about. I can't comment on those guys right now due to NCAA rules, I guess I can comment on them, saying it in general terms, but I can't mention their names, because technically they're still recruitable athletes until school starts and they're enrolled. But I'm telling you what, we just, Barney Cotton and Jeff Jamrog, our director of football operations, did a fantastic job of just scouring the state, and really, really, really happy.


Q: I guess that kind of covers my next question, "Any new recruiting prospects you have your eye on?"

EKELER: You mean as far as this year? I can't mention specific names, but we're only going to go after, we're only going to take two linebackers in this class. The guys that we pick, or the guys that we go after, we're going to go after the top two backers in the country. Probably a WILL and BUCK type guy, and then a MIKE type guy. And we're going to go, whoever those top two guys are in the country, those are the guys we're going after and we're going to recruit them every Saturday, every time we take the field. We're going to get after it on defense. Nothing's going to change, we're going to play the same style defense we played at LSU, we're going to attack people, we're going to get after them, again, they're going to be able to turn on the TV and that's going to help our recruiting.

Q: Growing up a native Nebraskan, what's it like to work with Tom Osborne?

EKELER: It's a dream come true. If there's a classier individual on the face of this earth I'd like to meet him. There are very few individuals that you ever run into in life that have such peer...his motivation is just very singular, and that's to come in and help the University of Nebraska in any way he can, to help re-establish the tradition and to lay a great foundation for the future. And in my opinion, the man took this job just out of the goodness of his heart, and because he's so passionate about the state and the people and the university, and it's just who he is. He is an amazing, amazing person, and I just, I'm honored to work [with him].


"Off The Field" with Mike Ekeler, a questionnaire concept derived from French television personality Bernard Pivot and the Proust Questionnaire.

What revs you up?
Having a challenge. Having something that you can, a carrot dangling in front of you, you can go after, just always trying to get better every single day, and it sounds corny but you're either getting better or you're getting worse. There's only one way to coast and that's downhill. It inspires me to try and be a better father, be a better husband, be a better coach. And again I know it sounds corny but that's kind of how I kick I guess.

What turns you off?
I don't like "frontrunners". People who, when the going's good they're great. You know, they're on fire, they're all fired up, they're ready to roll, and then the moment you hit some adversity, they shut it down. That's what I despise.

What is the loudest stadium you've ever been in?
As a player, probably any of the domed stadiums we played in. I remember those are really, really loud stadiums. The University of Colorado back in the day was pretty loud. There are a lot of loud ones, but probably the loudest environment I've been in was the National championship this season. That was fairly electric down there in the Superdome, and it was a pretty neat atmosphere.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Probably a Chippendale dancer. Nah, I'm kidding. My wife sitting right here and she's smiling. No, if I didn't do this, I don't know. I just love coaching. I really love it, enjoy coaching, enjoy teaching, maybe something in sales. I already did that; I owned a business in sales, and it was real, real successful. This is kind of a second career for me. So I had a chance to do something in the business world, and then into coaching, so I kind of took the backdoor route. I enjoyed the business I had, but this is a lot more fulfilling because you're actually dealing with people and there's no strings attached. You're not trying to sell something, you're trying to teach people, trying to mold and motivate, so I enjoy that aspect of it.

What profession would you not like to do?
Probably wouldn't enjoy selling insurance, something like that. Life insurance or something like that. I think that would be at the top of my list of things I wouldn't really enjoy doing.

What is your favorite food and drink?
Mexican food. And my favorite drink, probably, lemonade.

Who is your all-time favorite coach (any sport)?
Coach-K at Duke. I just got a lot of respect for him.

Who is your all-time favorite recording artist?
Bruce Springsteen. Just saw him in concert last week and he was awesome.

What is your all-time favorite movie?
Caddyshack. I memorized every line Bill Murray had in the movie.

What historical character do you most revere?
There's a lot of them. Boy, that's a tough question, there's so many great people in history. I'm going to pass on that because I got too many.

What historical character do you most despise?
Hitler.

Where would you like to live when you retire?
I don't think I'm ever going to retire. I'm going to pull a Joe-Pa.

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The writer would also like to thank Bart Wright, Sports Editor of The Greenville (SC) News, for his assistance in preparing this interview.
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About Marc Hudgens

Marc Hudgens has been with RealFootball365 since 2007, covering college football, specifically Clemson and Oregon. He also writes for SouthernPigskin.com covering the ACC. He enjoys the acidic wit of Hunter S. Thompson, is a freelance graphic designer and has written several screenplays. He ...
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