The Nebraska football team added to its offensive line this off season, recruiting former Alabama offensive tackle Elijah Pritchett from the transfer portal.
Before transferring to Nebraska, Pritchett played for the Crimson Tide for three seasons. He primarily played as a tackle and on special teams.
Although Pritchett has only been at Nebraska for a short amount of time, he said he is enjoying his time here.
“(Coach Matt) Rhule and Donnie (Raiola), they’ve really put everything into me, poured everything into me as much as they could this spring,” Pritchett said.
Coming from Alabama, Pritchett was not very familiar with the Husker way of doing things. He had to familiarize himself with the team and learn more about Nebraska football history.
“Nebraska, we have this thing like o-line pride,” said Pritchett. “So if one person messes up, everybody messes up. If you’re not playing to where the whole unit’s playing, or where we feel like we should be playing, they’re going to bring you along, whether you like it or not. When I first got here, I wasn’t aware of the tradition and everything, but I feel like they’ve brought me along.”
Pritchett has been working extremely hard this offseason to be the best person he can be for his team and himself.
“Just walking in and just giving it everything you’ve got every day,” said Pritchett. “Don’t just show up, OK, I feel bad, I’m not going to go as hard as I can today.’ No matter where you are, if it’s here, if it’s SEC, no matter, you always have to wake up and just give it 100% every day. I feel like I’ve been making strides, just improving myself both on the field and off the field.”
The 6-foot-6, 310-pound lineman provided the fans with a display of his strength at the Huskers Games, winning the tractor pull race alongside teammate Justin Evans.
“I couldn’t even breathe,” Pritchett said. “One of the harnesses broke and it was choking me the whole time. I was not losing no matter what the circumstance was. I just had to see it through.”
Last season, Nebraska had some struggles on the offensive side of the ball. The coaching staff is hoping that the addition of Pritchett along with other transfers to supplement the returners will make a difference as they are all working to help improve the team.
“Going into this year I feel like we have a really, really, really good team,” Pritchett said. “Just excited for it to get started.”
