Mike Ekeler's W-T-H message to new punter Archie Wilson

Nebraska special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler has taken his true freshman punter from Australia, Archie Wilson, under his wing.

There have already been many lessons from the coach. Among them is W-T-H.

“Wishing, trying, hoping. Don’t say them,” Wilson said with a smile during an interview Monday night on Huskers Radio Network.

With Nebraska shifting from a traditional punt scheme to a roll-out style, Wilson is a big storyline this offseason.

Growing up in Australia and playing Australian Rules football, there will be challenges for Wilson. He has never played or attended a college football game. He’s been training for it all at Prokick Australia. It’s the organization that’s become a pipeline for sending Aussie footballers to the United States to punt.

For more information on Prokick, click here.

New experiences are certainly heading Wilson’s way. Attempting his first official punt in a packed Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City under the lights are likely among them.

With college football’s punt rules differing from the NFL’s on how many players can cross the line of scrimmage at the snap, Ekeler knows how effective a roll-out punt scheme can be. He used it during his time at Tennessee with Australian punter Jackson Ross, who was quite successful.

“I guess Coach Ek really enjoys the style, it allows us to get down the field early, hold on to the ball for longer and hopefully — not hopefully, we don’t say that word around here — but it should make the special teams a lot better this year,” Wilson said. “We should be able to get the ball down to the other side of the field a lot.”

Said Wilson: “That means that I don’t necessarily have to kick for as much hangtime if I’m able to hold the ball for longer. I can claim more distance, so it’s almost artificial hangtime in the way we hold on to the ball with a longer operation time. It allows us to get down the field more, kick for more distance and we can have a bigger net because our gunners are down there already.”

While Wilson’s new role will have intimidating moments at first, Ekeler will be right there by his side. The coach has his back as he works to turn around Nebraska’s special teams units.

“He’s just an awesome guy, he has all the intensity you want from a coach to get the most out of you,” Wilson said of Ekeler. “But he also has this father aspect where he wants the best for you.”

Wilson grew up kicking footballs, just not the kind college football fans are used to

Simply put, Wilson grew up kicking footballs, though, not the kind college football fans think of.

With so many Aussies using their kicking ability to make an impact on college football teams over the years, Wilson and his family decided that was the route they wanted to take.

“Playing Australian Football, I’d always had a pretty big kick,” Wilson said. “And then, instead of practicing the other aspects of the game, I just practiced trying to kick the ball as far as I could. I had spoken about punting for about a year and a bit, and my dad was eventually like, ‘Hey you gotta try to do something with this,’ and I was like, you know what, I’m going to apply it. Went down and tried out at the program, Prokick, and it went pretty well. I kept developing, practicing, learnt more of the craft and technique side of things instead of just having a big leg. I eventually got set up with Coach Ekeler and now I’m here.”

What makes Australian athletes popular among college special teams coaches is the versatility they provide. They’re comfortable getting a punt off in different situations, whether they’re on the move or in a traditional sense.

Everyone at Prokick is trained to punt both while rolling out and in the traditional spiral style. If there’s ever an instance where Ekeler thinks a traditional scheme would be best, Wilson can do that, too.

“The program’s great, it’s been around for a bit and they just have all the connections, they have great people there,” Wilson said of Prokick. “They’re really able to fine-tune what you need to be able to work on. They don’t just tell everyone the same thing. They see your kick and they’re like, ‘OK, that’s your kick, how can we tinker that to get the best out of you?’ Then they set you up with a program that they know you’ll succeed at.”

Fall camp will be Wilson’s first experience playing American football

Wilson is ready to strap on the pads and play American football for the first time. Fall camp begins July 28 and Wilson can hardly wait.

“Going in to fall camp, there’s a lot of talk about fall camp, this fall camp, but also I’ve never been into one, so I’m quite excited to see what it’s like,” Wilson said. “I hear it’s pads, real football, which I’ve been yearning for for a while.”

Another lesson from Ekeler to go along with W-T-H involves not doing too much. Archie just needs to be Archie, because it’s why he’s here.

“I just want to put my best foot forward,” Wilson said. “I’m here because I’m me, and I can kick how I can kick. I’m not going to try and do anything that I wouldn’t normally do, or what Coach Ek is asking me to do. Just go and do my job and have a bit of fun this year.”

Wilson is one of two punters on the roster, the other being redshirt freshman Kamdyn Koch, who, like Wilson, has never attempted a punt in a college game. Koch is also known as a traditional style punter, though it’s possible he could learn the roll-out style.

There’s also potential for one of the three place kickers on the roster — Tristan Alvano, John Hohl and Cal transfer Kyle Cunanan — could punt in a pinch.

Wilson is the second punter Nebraska has taken from Prokick. The first was Daniel Cerni, who spent 2020 and 2021 with the Huskers. Cerni’s Nebraska career never took off and was injury riddled.