New Tennessee Assistant Mike Ekeler Once Got a Tattoo of Will Compton's Name to Get Him to Go to Nebraska

New Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel rounded out his coaching staff late Monday night by hiring North Texas special teams coach Mike Ekeler to the same position at UT. News of special teams coaches doesn't usually travel outside of whatever fanbase is hiring or losing the coach, but there is a pretty cool Barstool connection with this guy that makes me love him already.

See, Ekeler was the linebackers coach at Nebraska while Will Compton was in Lincoln. And to hear the two of them tell it, it very well may have been Ekeler's "Compton" skull and crossbones tattoo that got The Boy on campus — definitely listen to Ekeler's interview where he tells the story.

I think I've made my feelings on the hiring of Heupel pretty well known at this point, but I have come around to the point where I am getting fired up for Tennessee football again and I'm ready to give him and his staff a chance. And if we're going to hire awesome coaches like this that care that much about getting kids to come play football at the University of Tennessee and have some fun while doing it, I'm all in. And I of course take Will's endorsement as high praise.

Any guy who is willing to get even a fake tattoo of a recruit's name is somebody I'm sure any player will want to go to battle for. Hopefully Ekeler can get some more NFL-caliber linebackers to Knoxville and get the Vols back where they're supposed to be.