Wednesday marked the first day of spring practices for the Iowa State football team, meaning one of Iowa State’s valuable position groups — the running backs — were back in action.

Head coach Matt Campbell, newly-appointed running backs coach Nate Scheelhaase, junior running back David Montgomery and redshirt sophomore Kene Nwangwu discussed the first day of practice with the media.

Nwangwu’s return

After watching Nwangwu breakout as a freshman in the kick returner role, Cyclone fans were deprived of seeing the Frisco, Texas, native follow up his performance in his sophomore season.

In February 2017, Nwangwu suffered an Achilles injury, forcing him to use his medical redshirt last season.

“Kene’s kind of limited till we get him ready to rock and roll,” Campbell said. “He’ll play this spring for sure, and [running back] Johnnie [Lang] will play this spring for sure too.”

Nwangwu said he was cleared after nine months, but he didn’t feel fully comfortable until around the bowl game practices in December.

“I take pride in [being the fastest on the team],” Nwangwu said. “We haven’t ran 40 [yard dashes], but I still feel [like I’m the fastest].”

Nwangwu mentioned freshman quarterback Re-al Mitchell as a potential challenger, but Nwangwu still thinks he has the edge.

The speedster claims to have maintained his speed through the injury, but Nwangwu has improved elsewhere in the offseason, too.

“Obviously, everyone that’s watched Kene two years ago knows how fast he is,” Scheelhaase said. “I think the thing he’s really grown in is he’s really, really strong now and really physical.”

The injury set Nwangwu back because it prevented him from seeing the field, but the redshirt sophomore also utilized the time off the field.

“I knew the schematics of [kick returning],” Nwangwu said. “Last year I really studied it, when I was off the field seeing how blocks developed.”

Versatile backfield

“We all have different abilities,” Montgomery said. “Kene’s our speed guy… Johnnie’s shifty, very shifty. He can make you miss in a phone booth. Mike [Warren is] more strong, firm. Sheldon [Croney], he’s a patient guy, he can make people miss. I just do, I guess, what I do.”

With the diversified skillset in the backfield, the offense has options.

The speed of multiple running backs opens up a possibility of getting them out of the backfield and into receiving positions.

“A lot,” Scheelhasse said when asked about what the running backs can do. “I think that’s what we’re all excited about is to get multiple guys out there at a time. Two or three of those guys running out there that can all do different things.”

Scheelhasse specifically mentioned Lang as “being able to do a multitude of things”. Scheelhasse talked about moving Lang into different spots such as: the backfield, the slot and in motion.

Nwangwu also is envisioned as a possible slot option for the Cyclone offense in Scheelhaase’s mind.

“Kene can catch it too,” Scheelhaase said. “He’s different than Johnnie because Kene, if he lines up in the slot and there’s a mike linebacker over him, my guess is that there’s not a mike [linebacker] in the country that’s faster than Kene.”