Colorado State University Athletics
Photo by: Cris Tiller
RamWire: Nouili Living Out His Ever-Changing Dream
10/1/2019 7:25:00 PM | Football, RamWire
True freshman lineman growing with each start
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Sometimes he wonders.
Those moments always happen in the morning during lifts for Nouredin Nouili. He'd never really lifted before back home in Germany, but the past five months, he's been doing it almost daily. It's tasking, and it hurts.
"I wake up and I kind of hate myself for doing it," he said, grinning ear to ear. "I have to lift in the morning. In the morning, it's, why am I doing this to myself. If you think about it, everybody else has their dreams."
In one year's time, his have most certainly changed.
When he signed up to be an exchange student, he had no idea where he'd land. It was in Firth, Neb. Where he played football and wrestled for Norris High School. He fully expected to be heading home when his year was done.
"I had no clue. If I end up in Minnesota, Florida, I don't care," Nouili said. "I just want to live there. What I thought was going to happen was I would have a fun time for a year and go back and use it on my resume. Show that I lived in America for a year, and my English is better than most everybody else. That was my plan."
Football coaches scout players for years, but through a tip from a friend of offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Dave Johnson, the Rams found tape. Bobo and Johnson watched it, and Bobo even sent it to his father to check out.
And the Rams offered.
That point of the story is fascinating. The rest is mindboggling.
He shows up in Fort Collins, learns to lift, takes accelerated classes in the techniques off offensive line play and appears in the starting lineup for the season opener, becoming CSU's first true freshman offensive lineman to start a game since 1996 when Blaine Saipaia did so the fourth week.
"What surprised me the most is just his limited experience in football and being able to grasp what we're doing," Bobo said. "It tells you he's a good athlete. He's got a good center of gravity about him, and he keeps his feet in the ground, which is what you need to do to play offensive line. He's got girth. He's not as strong as he needs to be yet, but he's got some natural, physical strength. The most surprising thing is his ability to pick it up, having not played football that long."
Nouili is still a bit surprised, too. He was realistic when he signed, with the first question he had for Johnson being if he could redshirt. At the time, nobody figured there would be another option. Back home in Germany, Nouili said the playbook was six plays. His wrist guard for the Rams holds 250 or so, and he still wonders how he's supposed to know all of them.
Starting as a true freshman on the offensive line is not common, anywhere. There were seven the opening week, and Nouili was the only one from a Group of 5 school. If it were not for a concussion the first week, he would have started every game this year, not just four.
"It's, in my opinion, really impressive," center Scott Brooks, a redshirt junior, said. "I remember where I was my true freshman year. I came in with five other guys, and none of us were at that level at all. He's there. He does a lot of things naturally that Coach Johnson likes. He's a really good player.
"It's weird. Sometimes you forget, and it'll be simple things and you've got to remember he's only been in it so long. You have to remind him of stuff, and you have to be patient."
His education continues every practice of every day. He's at least hit the point where he doesn't feel his head is going to explode, and he credits the mentorship of Barry Wesley for seeing him through the rough patches of player-led practices in the summer months. For teaching him while watching film. For showing him the basic task of getting in a proper stance.
"This summer, I was dying. Conditioning, I'd never done anything like that," Nouili said. "Last year in high school, that was the first year where I actually had practice every day. I'd never had that before. Coming in and getting an opportunity like this is just crazy."
He's still raw, but he has a great attitude about it all. Bobo points out he still makes freshman mistakes, which he did Tuesday and Bobo had to yell at him, "he he stuck his lip out," the coach quipped.
"He's always talkative, he's just very, very thankful to be here and be part of the program and contribute," Bobo continued. "He's done a good job, and he's going to continue to get better. He's making freshman mistakes at times, but that's OK. He'll continue to get better and be a good player for us."
Brooks and his mates will help him when necessary, which may be more the case this week with all the action San Diego State's defensive front will come with, Bobo noting you can't just attack, the line has to keep connected and remain at the same level.
See, the first part is what Nouili said he's really enjoyed, and Brooks pointed out two weeks ago the freshman had 10 knockdown blocks, a season-best for any of the group.
Nouili understands contact.
"The part when you pull around a tackle and you just smack somebody you know is a senior, and you just smacked him and you're a freshman, that's the best part," he said. "The moment you just manhandle somebody in front of you who's been doing this for the past whatever years, and you just manhandled him as a true freshman and as a German who has barely played."
Those moments help him get through the early alarm and the weight sessions. When he's waking up, it's now from an entirely different dream.
He knows if he had not stayed in the States, he would be back home in Frankfurt, finishing two more years of school. That, or selling Tupperware with his mother, Melanie Ragaller. No offense to her, but he's glad he stayed.
He has a new plan.
"Now it's get through these four years, have a little fun and then have more fun," he said. "And get paid for it."
Those moments always happen in the morning during lifts for Nouredin Nouili. He'd never really lifted before back home in Germany, but the past five months, he's been doing it almost daily. It's tasking, and it hurts.
"I wake up and I kind of hate myself for doing it," he said, grinning ear to ear. "I have to lift in the morning. In the morning, it's, why am I doing this to myself. If you think about it, everybody else has their dreams."
In one year's time, his have most certainly changed.
When he signed up to be an exchange student, he had no idea where he'd land. It was in Firth, Neb. Where he played football and wrestled for Norris High School. He fully expected to be heading home when his year was done.
"I had no clue. If I end up in Minnesota, Florida, I don't care," Nouili said. "I just want to live there. What I thought was going to happen was I would have a fun time for a year and go back and use it on my resume. Show that I lived in America for a year, and my English is better than most everybody else. That was my plan."
Football coaches scout players for years, but through a tip from a friend of offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Dave Johnson, the Rams found tape. Bobo and Johnson watched it, and Bobo even sent it to his father to check out.
And the Rams offered.
That point of the story is fascinating. The rest is mindboggling.
He shows up in Fort Collins, learns to lift, takes accelerated classes in the techniques off offensive line play and appears in the starting lineup for the season opener, becoming CSU's first true freshman offensive lineman to start a game since 1996 when Blaine Saipaia did so the fourth week.
"What surprised me the most is just his limited experience in football and being able to grasp what we're doing," Bobo said. "It tells you he's a good athlete. He's got a good center of gravity about him, and he keeps his feet in the ground, which is what you need to do to play offensive line. He's got girth. He's not as strong as he needs to be yet, but he's got some natural, physical strength. The most surprising thing is his ability to pick it up, having not played football that long."
Nouili is still a bit surprised, too. He was realistic when he signed, with the first question he had for Johnson being if he could redshirt. At the time, nobody figured there would be another option. Back home in Germany, Nouili said the playbook was six plays. His wrist guard for the Rams holds 250 or so, and he still wonders how he's supposed to know all of them.
Starting as a true freshman on the offensive line is not common, anywhere. There were seven the opening week, and Nouili was the only one from a Group of 5 school. If it were not for a concussion the first week, he would have started every game this year, not just four.
"It's, in my opinion, really impressive," center Scott Brooks, a redshirt junior, said. "I remember where I was my true freshman year. I came in with five other guys, and none of us were at that level at all. He's there. He does a lot of things naturally that Coach Johnson likes. He's a really good player.
"It's weird. Sometimes you forget, and it'll be simple things and you've got to remember he's only been in it so long. You have to remind him of stuff, and you have to be patient."
His education continues every practice of every day. He's at least hit the point where he doesn't feel his head is going to explode, and he credits the mentorship of Barry Wesley for seeing him through the rough patches of player-led practices in the summer months. For teaching him while watching film. For showing him the basic task of getting in a proper stance.
"This summer, I was dying. Conditioning, I'd never done anything like that," Nouili said. "Last year in high school, that was the first year where I actually had practice every day. I'd never had that before. Coming in and getting an opportunity like this is just crazy."
He's still raw, but he has a great attitude about it all. Bobo points out he still makes freshman mistakes, which he did Tuesday and Bobo had to yell at him, "he he stuck his lip out," the coach quipped.
"He's always talkative, he's just very, very thankful to be here and be part of the program and contribute," Bobo continued. "He's done a good job, and he's going to continue to get better. He's making freshman mistakes at times, but that's OK. He'll continue to get better and be a good player for us."
Brooks and his mates will help him when necessary, which may be more the case this week with all the action San Diego State's defensive front will come with, Bobo noting you can't just attack, the line has to keep connected and remain at the same level.
See, the first part is what Nouili said he's really enjoyed, and Brooks pointed out two weeks ago the freshman had 10 knockdown blocks, a season-best for any of the group.
Nouili understands contact.
"The part when you pull around a tackle and you just smack somebody you know is a senior, and you just smacked him and you're a freshman, that's the best part," he said. "The moment you just manhandle somebody in front of you who's been doing this for the past whatever years, and you just manhandled him as a true freshman and as a German who has barely played."
Those moments help him get through the early alarm and the weight sessions. When he's waking up, it's now from an entirely different dream.
He knows if he had not stayed in the States, he would be back home in Frankfurt, finishing two more years of school. That, or selling Tupperware with his mother, Melanie Ragaller. No offense to her, but he's glad he stayed.
He has a new plan.
"Now it's get through these four years, have a little fun and then have more fun," he said. "And get paid for it."
Players Mentioned
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Wednesday, April 17
Thursday, April 20
Thursday, December 15