No small talent

Ventura County Star, CA
Sept 8 2004

Nick Noroian is comfortable with his height — and the ribbing from
teammates — because he’s proven he can stand tall on the football
field

By Joe Curley, jcurley@VenturaCountyStar.com
September 8, 2004

The Stump. The Load. The Cinderblock with Feet. Nick Noroian has
heard plenty of ’em throughout his football career.

But it is the nickname that his Cal Lutheran University football
teammates and coaches have given him that he admits to being his
favorite.

” ‘4×4’ has to be the best,” said Noroian. “Everyone just seems to
get a kick out of it.”

Like many Kingsmen football players, 4×4 — nicknamed so because he’s
“4 feet tall and 4 feet wide” –is a former two-way prep football
star with an affinity for both the game and his studies.

It’s that he happens to be a 5-foot-4, 230-pound starting defensive
tackle that has him on his way to being a cult hero on the Thousand
Oaks campus.

“It’s been something I’ve had to deal with my whole life,” said
Noroian. “It’s no big deal for me.”

Such dimensions don’t fit the stereotype of an athlete, but Noroian
is fit as a fiddle. He can bench press 340 pounds and he can squat
press 550 pounds. CLU coaches say he’s one of the quickest players on
the team over 10 yards.

And his ability to take a little ribbing from teammates is world
class. He understands that his height just happens to be in the cards
that he’s been dealt, it doesn’t have to be the hand that he plays.

“I’m a big guy, but I’m short,” said Noroian. “I embrace it.

“I don’t have any regrets at all. I can’t. I’m too busy in my life to
worry about being taller.”

Noroian is the shortest member of his Armenian and Swiss family,
including his two sisters, Nicole and Noel. He hasn’t grown since
middle school, when he took a turn as the center on the basketball
team.

“But his size has always been something he’s been able to tackle,”
said Noroian’s father, Chuck, who is 5-8, 280 pounds.

This “4×4” is multipurpose. In his final high school game in Salinas,
the 2001 CIF-Central Coast Section Division I championship game, he
ran for 142 yards and a touchdown as a halfback while piling up eight
tackles, two sacks and an interception at linebacker.

“That was the best game I’ve ever played,” said Noroian.

Listening to Jeff Carnazzo, Noroian’s high school coach at Palmas
High in Salinas, it sounds like Noroian was the smallest, yet biggest
piece of a developing prep football dynasty on the Central Coast.

“He’s a surprise, because when you look at him physically, you don’t
expect what you get out of him,” said Jeff Carnazzo, Noroian’s high
school coach. “But, simply put, I would say he’s the most gutsy
player to come out of this area, the Central Coast, in ages.”

Salinas is a place known for John Steinbeck and the agricultural
industry, but lately it’s become a hotbed for prep football. Palmas
won its first two Division I sectional titles when Noroian was a
junior and senior. The Chieftains won it again this past year, making
it three titles in five seasons.

They even scheduled Bay Area power Concord-De La Salle this season,
in hopes of becoming the team to break the national-record 12-year
winning streak, which ended last weekend in Washington.

“Nick was the player who took his team and carried it on his
shoulders,” said Carnazzo. “He’s set the tone for this program. We
won it again last year and I attribute it a lot to him.”

His highlight film is a classic. It includes plays like “The Mole
Pass,” Noroian’s halfback pass, and games like the time against
Gilroy when he missed the first half with an sprained ankle and came
off the bench to rush for 150 yards in the second half.

“It’s some of the most amazing video that you’ll ever see,” said
Carnazzo. “It’s filled with him bowling over kids (on offense) and
stopping kids behind the line of scrimmage (on defense).

“I stick that tape in and watch it when we’ve got our kids in here. I
say, ‘Watch Nick, this is what we want out of you.’ ”

Carnazzo used it to sell programs like UC Davis, Sacramento State and
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on his star. But when it came time to put
pen to paper, the assistant coaches retreated, saying they couldn’t
make a scholarship commitment to a 5-foot-4 football player. Several
Division III teams, including local school Menlo College, recruited
Noroian, who chose CLU because of his interest in social sciences. He
plans on becoming a teacher and coach.

“He’s got a place in my heart,” said Carnazzo, “I’ll tell you this,
someday he’s going to take over for me here as the head coach. But I
wouldn’t be surprised to see him coach at a higher level.”

Rehabilitation from a knee injury slowed him as a freshman at CLU. As
a reserve linebacker last year, he scored one of CLU’s two defensive
touchdowns on a fumble recovery.

One of the first phone calls new defensive line coach Damon Tomeo,
formerly a graduate assistant at Arizona, made when he was hired
during the summer was to Noroian. As coaches are likely to do at a
fresh job, Tomeo had been scouting his own team and had a glimpse
into the future. He knew he needed a veteran defensive tackle.

“We had a hole and we wanted it filled by a veteran,” said Tomeo.
“Nick is a natural football player. He’s the epitome of what we’ve
got here. Guys that want to play hard, want to win games and do well
in school at the same time. It’s just all rolled in a smaller package
than we normally have.”

Tomeo asked Noroian if he was willing to make a move towards the line
of scrimmage, from linebacker to the defensive line.

“I just told him it was something I was willing to do,” said Noroian.
“Anything to help the team.”

The CLU defensive line has been an important part of the program in
recent years. The Kingsmen led the SCIAC in sacks last season (30)
and defensive end Quinn Longhurst led the conference individually
with 11.

“It’s an honor. We have some guys that are really good on this line,”
said Noroian. “The toughest thing about the transition has just been
putting my hand on the ground and getting out of my stance. It’s been
a change for me.”

But there was no concern on the coaching staff that a 5-foot-4 body
wouldn’t hold up at the point of attack? The undersized defensive
tackle on film must look like a giant bullseye for opposing coaches
to target.

“He’s an athlete. You’d be amazed at the plays he’s capable of
making,” said Tomeo. “He understands body positioning and leverage.
He maximizes his (size) and effort on every play. His tenacity and
relentlessness is off the charts. He just won’t quit.”

CLU tailback Charlie Brown, who has gone up against Noroian in plenty
of drills during training camp, can attest to his ability to get the
job done.

“I’ll be in a hole and I’ll just get blindsided by him,” said Brown.
“He’ll come out of nowhere.”

Brown’s words serve fair warning to CLU’s opponents — overlook this
“4×4” and prepare to be blindsided.

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