Tennessee Vols assistant coach details skirting NCAA rules to help out a player
Tennessee Vols linebackers coach/special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler appeared on the "Bussin with the Boys" podcast recently and he told a great story about helping out a former player while skirting NCAA rules. Ekeler was interviewed on the podcast by Tennessee Titans offensive lineman Taylor Lewan and free-agent linebacker Will Compton (who used to play […]
Tennessee Vols linebackers coach/special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler appeared on the "Bussin with the Boys" podcast recently and he told a great story about helping out a former player while skirting NCAA rules.
Ekeler was interviewed on the podcast by Tennessee Titans offensive lineman Taylor Lewan and free-agent linebacker Will Compton (who used to play for the Titans).
Compton's position coach at Nebraska was Ekeler.
At one point during Compton's time at Nebraska, he needed a mattress for his house.
Ekeler happened to have a spare mattress, but because of NCAA rules, he couldn't just give it to Compton.
So Ekeler decided to sell it to Compton….for $1.
"[Ekeler] one time bought a huge RV…it had a Tempurpedic mattress in it," explained Compton. "Ek sells it to me — he can't give it to me because it's against the rules — Ek sells it to me for one dollar."
That's a great story that truly illustrates the absurdity of NCAA rules. Compton was already at Nebraska. A mattress for someone's house isn't the same as offering a kid thousands of dollars to commit. It's just helping a kid out.
Fortunately, Ekeler was able to find a way around the asinine NCAA rules to help out Compton. And it's obviously something that Compton has never forgotten.
At least now with new NIL rules, there's a way for coaches to help players out a little easier.
Featured image via Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel via Imagn Content Services, LLC
