The visor atop Mike Ekeler’s head has faded to a rust-colored red, comfortably broken in from years of wear on sun-soaked football fields.
“That thing’s pretty old,” Lincoln Riley joked after a spring football practice Friday. “That’s probably older than maybe some of our players.
“It gets a lot of questions and looks until people figure out what it is. But that’s Coach Ek.”
It’s a rescued artifact from Ekeler’s first run with USC football, when he was the Trojans’ linebackers coach in 2013. He’s back again for the 2026 season as the special teams and linebackers coach and his presence, like his visor, already has a lived-in feeling at USC.
“I understand the standard here,” Ekeler told reporters. “That’s why when Lincoln called and offered me an opportunity to come back. I was like, ‘Heck yeah.’ I embrace that standard.”
USC’s special teams ranked 124th out of 200 FBS schools in the 2025 season, according to its 64.6% grade from Pro Football Focus. They allowed an average of 17.17 yards on punt returns and 26.30 yards on kick returns.
Ekeler has been brought on to change that, and his personal experience as a linebacker at Kansas State and as a linebackers coach could help with that.
Tackling is a priority, and Ekeler’s progressive style of teaching starts with the fundamentals.
“It’s not how many times you can tackle somebody and pound and take somebody to the ground,” Ekeler said. “It’s about how many times can you get your body into that position? It’s training yourself to drop your weight, it’s training yourself to take great angles, and training yourself to track the near hit. And all those techniques that go into it.”
The team has started the first three practices of spring with reaction drills. Offensive and defensive players line up on the sideline in groups, testing their get-off speed and leverage against a teammate holding a pad, acting as a blocker.
Ekeler shouted feedback to whoever was near him, even providing instructions to freshman receiver Trent Mosley.
“That’s what really good coaches do – they don’t just come in and impact their own position,” Riley said. “They impact the entire program and he has experience, having a lot of different roles. He’s coached a lot of big-time places, seen a lot. That’s something you want to lean into.”
The energy that Ekeler brings to practices can’t be understated, either.
View this post on Instagram
He’s constantly in motion, rushing up to players whether they’re doing something well or if they need pointers. He’s even been seen dousing himself in water alongside players during water breaks.
“If you’re sleepy in the morning, he’s gonna wake you up,” defensive tackle Floyd Boucard said. “Every day he’s gonna bring that energy and I just feel like everybody in the building feeds off of it because if one person is in this building got that energy, everybody else got it.”
Ekeler didn’t have an explanation for his high-motor personality when asked about it during a press conference in mid-February, claiming that it was just something that’s embedded within him.
He’s approached everything with the thrill-seeking mentality of a professional water skier – which is what he told reporters he would be doing if he weren’t coaching.
“When you’re going through a slalom course, if you get going, you’re going 36 miles per hour behind a MasterCraft. And you’re cutting, you get up to 80 miles per hour,” he said. “And I like that feeling. I like speed. And I like knowing that you’re on the edge of being out of control.”
Related Articles
USC’s defense starts spring speaking a new language USC football starts spring practice early and loaded USC football adds 3 more to its coaching staff Alexander: Readers submit their favorite SoCal sports moments USC DC Gary Patterson finds harmony in football and musicHence then, the article about usc football is feeding off mike ekeler s energy was published today ( ) and is available on The Orange County Register ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( USC football is feeding off Mike Ekeler’s energy )
Also on site :