An exit interview with former UGA assistant Mike Ekeler

Harry · January 13, 2016

On why it was so important to ‘do his own thing.’ …

“I learned a valuable lesson watching Brian Schottenheimer. He came into a situation where he tried to run an offense that was already in place and didn’t run his offense, so to speak. I didn’t want get into a situation like that after watching the difficulties that he had. When you do that – and I watched it happen – as a coordinator, and it’s not really your stamp but it’s your name, that’s not a good gig. That’s why I chose to go to North Texas with a guy I think is a rising star as a head coach and a great friend of mine. I absolutely love him. And I have the opportunity to do exactly what I believe in.”

On settling on North Texas in Dallas as his next destination …

“I had a chance to go to another SEC school, a couple of Big Ten schools, the Pac-12. But it wasn’t as sole coordinator. I want to get out front and lead and do it the way I want to do it and treat kids the way I want to do it, and I want to work with people I want to work with. I don’t want to be in rooms with people I don’t enjoy and don’t have much in common with.”

On what if anything you’d change about college football coaching if you could …

“People talk about hiring great recruiters; I think that’s an absolute joke. If you’re labeled that, 99 percent of the time that means you can’t coach a lick. That’s a fact. There are very few exceptions. Ed Orgeron is a fantastic recruiter and he’s probably the best defensive line coach of them all. The guy is big-time. It’s great to recruit 5-stars, but then they come in and play like 2-stars. It’s too bad that’s how this profession is, but that’s part of the deal now.

“It’s not about recruiting, it’s about evaluating. That’s one of the things I learned from Ed Orgeron. It doesn’t matter if he’s a 2-star or a 5-star, it’s how you evaluate it and what you think you can do with him. That’s what I learned from him. Again, you recruit them. But there’s only about five players in the country that are totally different than everybody else. Everybody else can fall into a similar category. At that point it’s about developing and teaching. It’s about evaluating and developing your talent. And that’s a fact.”

read more: https://www.dawgnation.com/football/team-news/an-exit-interview-with-former-uga-assistant-mike-ekeler

Tyler Maryak · January 13, 2016

I think it'd be fun to start another list alongside our scholly list. It'll be called "Our Caches' Tics." So far we've got:

Littrell: "At the end of the day..."
Ekeler: "And that's a fact..."

Edited January 13, 2016 by Tyler Maryak

NTAlum09 · January 13, 2016

6 minutes ago, Tyler Maryak said:

I think we should start another list alongside our scholly list. It'll be called "our coaches' ticks." So far we've got:

Littrell: "At the end of the day..."
Ekeler: "And that's a fact..."

You my friend need a good kick to the Nutz

Tyler Maryak · January 13, 2016

Just now, NTAlum09 said:

You my friend need a good kick to the Nutz

What do you think I come to this board every day for?

NTAlum09 · January 13, 2016

Just now, Tyler Maryak said:

What do you think I come to this board every day for?

To get sober

Wag Tag · January 13, 2016

1 hour ago, Harry said:

On why it was so important to ‘do his own thing.’ …

“I learned a valuable lesson watching Brian Schottenheimer. He came into a situation where he tried to run an offense that was already in place and didn’t run his offense, so to speak. I didn’t want get into a situation like that after watching the difficulties that he had. When you do that – and I watched it happen – as a coordinator, and it’s not really your stamp but it’s your name, that’s not a good gig. That’s why I chose to go to North Texas with a guy I think is a rising star as a head coach and a great friend of mine. I absolutely love him. And I have the opportunity to do exactly what I believe in.”

On settling on North Texas in Dallas as his next destination …

“I had a chance to go to another SEC school, a couple of Big Ten schools, the Pac-12. But it wasn’t as sole coordinator. I want to get out front and lead and do it the way I want to do it and treat kids the way I want to do it, and I want to work with people I want to work with. I don’t want to be in rooms with people I don’t enjoy and don’t have much in common with.”

On what if anything you’d change about college football coaching if you could …

“People talk about hiring great recruiters; I think that’s an absolute joke. If you’re labeled that, 99 percent of the time that means you can’t coach a lick. That’s a fact. There are very few exceptions. Ed Orgeron is a fantastic recruiter and he’s probably the best defensive line coach of them all. The guy is big-time. It’s great to recruit 5-stars, but then they come in and play like 2-stars. It’s too bad that’s how this profession is, but that’s part of the deal now.

“It’s not about recruiting, it’s about evaluating. That’s one of the things I learned from Ed Orgeron. It doesn’t matter if he’s a 2-star or a 5-star, it’s how you evaluate it and what you think you can do with him. That’s what I learned from him. Again, you recruit them. But there’s only about five players in the country that are totally different than everybody else. Everybody else can fall into a similar category. At that point it’s about developing and teaching. It’s about evaluating and developing your talent. And that’s a fact.”

read more: https://www.dawgnation.com/football/team-news/an-exit-interview-with-former-uga-assistant-mike-ekeler

Congrats to coach Eck! Really excited with the new coaching! It is ~~defiantly~~ definitely a big step up!! GMG

Harry · January 13, 2016

Sounds like he really wants to be here and make this thing his own. Excited to have him.

97and03 · January 13, 2016

Guess that answers a question I had about who the 'real' DC will be.

Christopher Walker · January 14, 2016

4 hours ago, Tyler Maryak said:

What do you think I come to this board every day for?

:Bazinga:

FirefightnRick · January 14, 2016

“People talk about hiring great recruiters; I think that’s an absolute joke. If you’re labeled that, 99 percent of the time that means you can’t coach a lick. That’s a fact. There are very few exceptions. Ed Orgeron is a fantastic recruiter and he’s probably the best defensive line coach of them all. The guy is big-time. It’s great to recruit 5-stars, but then they come in and play like 2-stars. It’s too bad that’s how this profession is, but that’s part of the deal now.

“It’s not about recruiting, it’s about evaluating. That’s one of the things I learned from Ed Orgeron. It doesn’t matter if he’s a 2-star or a 5-star, it’s how you evaluate it and what you think you can do with him. That’s what I learned from him. Again, you recruit them. But there’s only about five players in the country that are totally different than everybody else. Everybody else can fall into a similar category. At that point it’s about developing and teaching. It’s about evaluating and developing your

Another reason why I have never paid much attention to recruiting and recruiting service ratings.

Rick

UNTLifer · January 14, 2016

So, have we now moved to Dallas? Thanks Jackson.

Mean Green 93-98 · October 23, 2016

This article sheds a new light now that he has been here for a little while. Worth a second read.

VideoEagle · October 23, 2016

On 1/14/2016 at 6:50 AM, FirefightnRick said:

Another reason why I have never paid much attention to recruiting and recruiting service ratings.

Rick

Amen! It was shown years ago the ranking services adjust their rankings based on the school's a kid has offers from. Not totally, but some adjustments as their sales in recruiting info go down if traditional football powers are listed as having poor classes.