Nose For the Ball / Versatile East senior now playing defensive tackle

Two years ago, Julian Greenwell broke into the Columbus East defensive rotation as a sophomore at outside linebacker.

Last year, Greenwell moved to strong safety and helped the Olympians win a Class 5A state championship.

When his senior season began, Greenwell was back at outside linebacker. After two games, he moved to defensive end.

Now, as Greenwell wraps up his football career with what he hopes will be a third consecutive trip to the state finals, he is playing his fourth completely different position in three years — nose tackle.

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"It’s pretty crazy," Greenwell said. "It’s definitely not what I was expecting. If you would have taken me back to my sophomore year, and you would have told me my senior year, I’d be starting nose guard, it definitely would have surprised me."

Greenwell’s move to the defensive line was precipitated when senior defensive end Matt Romig tore an ACL two weeks into the season. Greenwell was dealing with a knee injury at the time, but when he returned, it was at defensive end.

Two weeks ago, Greenwell moved inside to nose tackle.

"I’ve had trouble with my knee, so they thought I could excel there a lot better," Greenwell said. "It only takes about a week to get used to it. It’s been a pretty good fit. I think those were all good changes for our defense. We’ve been on a roll after the first two weeks of the year."

Greenwell, who ranks fifth on the team with 70 tackles and second with two sacks, also plays some at tight end in East’s two tight end sets. He caught a pass for one yard in a 58-48 win at Bedford North Lawrence to close the regular season.

The 5-foot-10, 190-pound Greenwell also plays on the Olympians’ punt block, extra point block and kick return teams.

"He’s a really versatile athlete," East coach Bob Gaddis said. "The good thing is, he’ll do whatever we have to have him do. If we needed to stand him up on the outside, we can do that, and he can put his hand down (as a defensive tackle). He brings a lot of passion and energy to the defense. He’s a great leader for us."

Greenwell grew up playing running back and linebacker and occasionally played some defensive end. He said linebacker is probably his favorite since it’s somewhere inbetween the defensive line and the defensive backfield.

"Nose is with all the big guys, and safety is with the slim, fast guys," Greenwell said. "I’d say I’m right inbetween all that. From safety to nose, it is a lot different, but really, I just try to do whatever I can for the team. Our coaches are good enough to where they simplify everything, and it’s all easy enough. They stress that the heart of our defense is team, so that’s basically what I focus on. I don’t really focus about ‘me.’ I focus on ‘we.’"

Greenwell’s future is in baseball. He verbally committed to Indiana University in August 2017, but decommitted when Hoosiers coach Chris Lemonis left for Mississippi State following the 2018 season. He then committed to Wright State in late July.

But Greenwell isn’t finished with football. He hopes to help the 5A co-No. 3 Olympians beat 5A No. 2 Decatur Central Friday night, which would send East back to Lucas Oil Stadium to play for another state title.

"We’ve made it this far," Greenwell said. "We’re too deep now to quit, so we might as well finish it off."

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Name: Julian Greenwell

School: Columbus East

Year: Senior

Height: 5-foot-10

Weight: 190

Position: Nose tackle

Key stats: 70 tackles, two sacks

Other sport: Baseball

College choice: Wright State (for baseball)

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