Allen Wallace  —  USC has made a lot of additions to their team this year, whether it’s from the transfer portal or through the high school ranks. The only coaching staff move so far this offseason has been the departure of defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, who remains unreplaced.

Now, the Trojans are clearly closing in on making their first addition to the coaching staff of the offseason with Nebraska Cornhuskers special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler being hired for the same position at USC.

Assuming this hiring becomes official, it would mean Ekeler leaves after just one season in Lincoln — but it was a really impactful one. In 2025, Nebraska’s special teams took a massive step forward under his watch. The unit went from being near the bottom nationally, around 112th, to ranking in the top 12 in several special teams metrics, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index.

The return game in particular was a huge strength. Nebraska ranked 9th in punt return yards and 4th in kick return yards, with production that topped what the program had put together over the last several seasons combined. They also did a much better job limiting opponent return yardage and were more reliable in the field goal game.

A Return To Los Angeles

It is clear that Mike Ekeler can flat out coach. Ekeler has already been a special teams coordinator for five other programs. He’s been a special teams coordinator at Georgia, Kansas, North Texas, Tennessee, and Nebraska. It would also be a return to Los Angeles for Ekeler, who spent one season as the Trojans’ linebacker coach in 2013 under Lane Kiffin and Ed Orgeron.

Ekeler would be the second special teams coordinator to be hired after Ryan Dougherty was promoted up from analyst to the position in 2024. Connor Morrissette of 247Sports has reported that Dougherty is expected to be retained by the Trojans as an analyst/assistant special teams coach.

The History Of Special Teams Coordinators Under Riley

Riley has had a controversial thought process when it comes to hiring a special teams coordinator. During an interview with Trojans Live in 2023, he explained why he didn’t see the need to hire a special teams coordinator at that time.

“Offensive guys are doing offense, and defensive guys are doing defense. Special teams is typically somewhere between one to three periods a day, and there’s that one time where everybody is working on special teams,” Riley said. “The thing that I never liked about a special teams coordinator is that what’s he doing the other 75 percent of practice?”

Current State Of Trojans’ Special Teams Unit