Nebraska running backs coach EJ Barthel met with members of the media on Friday following the team’s fall practice. Barthel talked about the most important qualities of a running back, the running back room overall and maturity. He also touched on what he looks for in a starter.
“I think you look for three traits,” he said. “You look for the ability to make big plays. You look for a guy who can throw the ball four yards through a cloud of dust. The third part of that would be protection. Whether that’s one person or three different people, that’s about what you need in that room for those 1, 2 and 3. Every football team these days typically has one to two guys. Most average ones probably have three. That’s where we are. We’ll see who that person is. We want to make sure that whoever that is, whether it’s one person or three people, all of those elements are covered.”
Barthel then talked about where he wants the running back room to be.
“My goal right now as a running backs coach is to make sure we have three guys that can win the game for us and I think that’s what we’re doing right now. We’re going to have three to four guys that can play and win the game for us. That’s where we need to get to. Let me rephrase it – guys that we can win the game with. I think that’s what we have right now, that’s what we’re working toward. We’re really trying to push the back end of the room with Kwinten (Ives) and Dante (Dowdell) and really get those guys strong. They’ve responded, especially Dante, he’s really shown a lot of positive things in camp so far. I think it’s about getting to game six and what that room looks like and now making sure we have a solid 1, 2 and 3 in the first half of the season.”
Barthel also spoke about the maturity of the group.
“I was fortunate enough to be an assistant running backs coach with the Carolina (Panthers), and I’ve had a chance to work with (Christian) McCaffrey and Coach McCaffrey a lot,” he said. “The maturity of the group, especially the guys that were with me, we’re at the point now where last year as a team and as an offense we tried to establish how we run the ball. Our DNA of running. They had to learn that last year. I think the maturity has taken us up a gear, they know the standard of how we run the ball. They understand the running schemes. They know what to put their eyes on. Now it’s about the details and focusing on those second-level reads and harping on missing guys in open space, how do we cut right? The first year you’ve got to get the base down. This year, you can see in practice with Emmett (Johnson) and Rahmir (Johnson) how they focus on missing guys at the second level.”
The Huskers will play a scrimmage on Saturday. Head coach Matt Rhule will have additional media presence after practice.
