SAM MCKEWON
WorldHerald Sports Editor
LINCOLN -- Nebraska special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler is two weeks into his second coaching stint at NU, and he wasn't ready to make any broad assessments of key returning or incoming Husker specialists.
"It's truly a day-to-day (situation)," Ekeler said, for example, of the battle between placekickers John Hohl and Tristan Alvano, the 2024 and 2023 starters. "I've got to get a feel for them, get a feel for their skillset."
Ekeler said Husker players have a "clean slate" because he's new. While Nebraska signed senior long snapper Kevin Gallic (New Hampshire) and punter Jack McCallister (Washington) before Ekeler's arrival, and both are expected to start, Ekeler demurred on making any evaluation of the position.
"We're seeing what they can do and, as we go through spring ball, we'll make all those decisions," Ekeler said.
Several Husker skill players are "banging down my door" to be the top returner, Ekeler said, since several of his returners at Tennessee progressed to the NFL. The Volunteers amassed 1,320 return yards over the last four seasons under Ekeler's watch.
"It's a culture," Ekeler said of Tennessee's success on returns. "We have a saying -- ABT, all about technique -- for ABM, all about money. Our guys are starting to understand, already, it makes them a complete football player. It's all transferable football skills."
DBs coach will earn trust
Addison Williams will be Nebraska's fourth defensive backs coach since 2022, so he knows he must earn trust with the current roster of players, who have learned different techniques from different personalities.
"I'm not naïve to knowing that's the situation," Williams said. "It goes back to relationships, which is one of my core values."
Williams, recently the defensive coordinator at Central Florida, said he likes the physical attributes of the defensive backs.
"It's a talented group -- we've got a lot of guys with size and length in the room," Williams said. "It's not a 'very small room,' which is good, especially when you're playing man coverage and trying to defense the 'go' ball a lot. A lot of speed in that room."
At 6-foot-4, 190 pounds, cornerback Blye Hill is one of the longest and tallest players in the secondary. Hill was slated to start last season before sustaining a spring game knee injury on Nebraska's soon-to-be-torn-up FieldTurf. The knee pain limited Hill to a redshirt season in 2024 after appearing in two games.
"He actually moves around pretty well, especially for being a longer guy," Williams said. "Most long guys, they do have some stiffness, but Blye's been moving around really well, and I'm excited to see him remain healthy and go through spring ball."
A corner who emerged in the Pinstripe Bowl, Omaha North graduate Donovan Jones, was a player "a lot of people were high on," Williams said, even before Jones logged tons of snaps against Boston College.
"He had good practices that I watched," Williams said of the 6-foot-1, 195-pound Jones' work before the bowl game. "Good game in the Pinstripe Bowl. He's another one where he's big, he's physical, he can run and he can play multiple positions in the secondary."
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