Ex-Husker assistant Ekeler envisions fast climb at Indiana

[n.e.husker]

He traveled to Nebraska this week to visit friends and family and was stopped by a highway patrolman.

 

Mike Ekeler is high-energy, seemingly always moving quickly.

 

The patrolman noticed Ekeler's Indiana University license-plate holders.

 

"He said, 'You guys must be hoops fans,'" said Ekeler, the former Nebraska linebackers coach who in December took over as co-defensive coordinator at Indiana.

 

"I told the patrolman, 'You know what, I ought to write you a damned ticket for insulting me,'" Ekeler cracked.

 

Make no mistake, Ekeler understands the patrolman's sentiment. Indiana fans are passionate about basketball, the Hoosiers' recent hardcourt struggles notwithstanding. Football passion on the IU campus? Not so much.

 

Gerry DiNardo, Indiana's head football coach from 2002 to 2004, this week recalled Joe Paterno once saying that playing in the

 

Hoosiers' stadium was difficult. Paterno's comment struck DiNardo somewhat odd because Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind., seats only 52,929, and last season's average attendance was 41,953.

 

Perhaps Paterno meant that it can be difficult for players to stay awake during games in Bloomington.

 

This much is certain: The intensity and aura surrounding Indiana football is just a tad different than what Ekeler experienced at Nebraska.

 

"Shoot, in Nebraska, everybody knows who the secondary coach is," Ekeler said. "In Indiana, maybe 30 to 40 percent of the people in the whole state know who the head coach is."

 

http://huskerextra.com/sports/football/article_34c00d20-2930-5ff1-8d7d-2c72425e8898.html

[Landlord]

I miss Ekeler.

[Husker from Kansas]

indiana also got a good pick up with jeff sims. he was the coach at fort scott community college and now he is the head recruiting corodinator at indiana and the guy has an eye for talent

[95huskers]

I miss Ekeler.

 

probably won't be seeing and coaches chest bumping players as they walk off the field anymore