Nebraska running back coach E.J. Barthel talks 2023 RB signee, importance of versatility and more
Nebraska running backs coach E.J. Barthel joined Huskers Radio Network’s live National Signing Day show for his first interview as a part of Head Coach Matt Rhule’s staff. Barthel, a former UConn running backs coach, touched on what the Huskers looked for when recruiting RBs, running in the Big Ten and new Husker signee Kwinten Ives.
Here is what Barthel had to say…
Barthel on the new staff, his philosophy
***Barthel said this staff is process driven and will try its best every day when its goal is that day. He said they didn’t come to Nebraska to win a national championship tomorrow. However, by the end of their journey, they will be competing for championships.
***As for the staff as a whole, Barthel said they are all competitive and passionate about their work and the game of football. He said they push each other to be the best and that will filter down to their GAs and eventually their players.
***Nebraska has a position profile when it comes to recruiting. The running backs coach said they look for a specific skill set, body or measurable but also the right mentality. Barthel also looks for physical dominance.
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He wants his players to “make a statement every time they touch the ball as a unit.” Nebraska’s running backs are going to run with violence, in a good way, he said.
“Making sure we’re finishing and having elite effort every single rep is going to be the standard you’re going to get out of this unit,” Barthel said.
Bringing in versatile players
***Barthel said he worked under Rhule as an offensive assistant with the Carolina Panthers in 2020 and 2021 before becoming UConn’s running backs coach in 2022. He said in the NFL, every running back was a special teams contributor and Nebraska will instill that.
He said being well-rounded as a player — whether that is on special teams, in pass protection, run blocking or catching the ball — is part of putting in “elite effort.”
***Overall, Nebraska wants to bring in players that could help them all over the field. Barthel said sometimes players might grow and change from a safety to a linebacker and their athleticism can help them perform in many ways.
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The Huskers brought in two track athletes as well in the 2023 class. He said that competitiveness is also much appreciated.
***He said Nebraska is the original “Running Back U” and this couldn’t be a better job for him due to the tradition that the Huskers have built off running the ball.
“I’m just so excited for that opportunity to be here and to be the representative of that room,” he said. “I cannot wait to get our guys and work with our guys and get with them in spring and start working.”
Husker RB signee Kwinten Ives
***Nebraska signed 2023 running back Kwinten Ives on Wednesday. Ives is a 6-foot-3, 180-pound back from Beverly, New Jersey.
Barthel said Ives is an under-the-radar player he heard of through his high school coach at Palmyra. Ives is a dual-sport athlete who is closing in on his 1,000th point in basketball as well. Barthel said Ives could do anything he wants, including play college basketball.
Barthel started following Ives a few years ago and was impressed by how versatile and “special he was with a football in his hand.” It is very important to Nebraska to find players with “elite athleticism” that are versatile at multiple things. Barthel said they found that in Ives.
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Ives has great vision, an ability to put his foot in the ground to get vertical and separate himself from the defense and outrun defenders. Barthel said that anyone that can outrun defenders like Ives is going to have a chance in Nebraska’s offense. Ives also has a natural physique that the Huskers can build on, his coach said.
Off the field, Barthel said Ives is very humble. Because he wasn’t highly recruited, he is very grateful to Nebraska and his future coaches for this opportunity.
“It’s very evident when you talk to him how humble he is, and how excited he is to show and prove who he is,” he said.
Barthel said that a big part of the recruiting process is making sure the players are the right type of people with humility like Ives’s.
