Dallas twins keep family a priority in committing to Georgia Southern
SHARPSBURG, Ga. (BVM) — For Josh and David Dallas, football is all about family. They grew up watching their father Kenny coach high school football, then played for him at Trinity Christian School. They will get to continue that family bond as they both signed to play for Georgia Southern and coach Clay Helton.
According to David, his family from his parents to his siblings and his twin is a huge part of his life.
“Growing up in a big family, I feel like big families are very similar in the fact that family comes first,” David said. “My parents, first off, just have been unbelievably amazing to me. I have five siblings, so us six kids are about the tightest kids you’d ever come across.”
Josh and David both credit being around their father for their love for football.
“I got into playing football from the start,” Josh said. “My dad is a high school football coach so I was born into it. I’ve loved it my entire life and had a twin brother right there with me to push me to be great. My dad never forced me into loving the game, I just had the desire from his introduction to the sport!”
“Growing up a coach’s kid, you love it no matter what,” David said. “The way our relationship has been, it’s been phenomenal. I will tell you this, though. Being a coach’s son, you either get all the daddy ball stuff or you get the crazy, crazy discipline. My dad has balanced it incredibly well. Completely there for us, but we’re the first ones to get a butt-chewing when we need it, which I love. He’s incredibly hard on us, which is awesome. He’s pushed me to be the best player I can be, but he’s also pushed me to be a great man one day.”
The love of football and the incredible family bonds of the Dallas family helped Josh and David thrive on the football field together. With David at quarterback and Josh playing wide receiver, their bonds led to the success that culminated in a phenomenal senior year for both of them. David posted 4,033 yards passing and 49 passing touchdowns to five interceptions while also contributing 350 yards rushing and seven touchdowns on the ground. Josh had 62 catches for 1,168 yards and 16 touchdowns at wide receiver while also adding 34 tackles and eight interceptions playing as a defensive back.
For Josh, having his twin brother play quarterback helped him be successful as a wide receiver.
“He pushes me to be great,” Josh said. “When it comes down to the scheme of each play, we kind of know each other and how we both think. So it gives us an advantage because he always knows where I’m going to be at, and I know what he’s going to end up doing most of the time! We love each other so much and that drives us to play at the best of our ability constantly for each other.”
Their father, Kenny, watched as they grew up on his sidelines and then played together under him. While David detailed his ability to be supportive and hard whenever it was needed, Kenny was full of nothing but praise for his sons.
“Those two are pretty special,” Kenny said. “They most definitely have that special twin’ bond. … I have never seen two young men enjoy playing high school football (from training to practice to games) as much as these two. They love each other and they love the game.”
The brotherly love that Josh and David share meant that their dream to play college football meant playing college football together. The process may have been crazy due to outside circumstances, but it ended up working out well for them in the end.
“To be honest it was crazy,” Josh said. “The COVID recruiting world was nuts. We weren’t even able to be in person with coaches until the summer going into our senior year. We thought we were going to have to go separate ways but thanks to Coach Helton at Georgia Southern, he made it possible for us to stay together and continue our dream.”
“At times we were committed to different schools,” David said. “A lot of that had to do with just the way things were going post-COVID with scholarship counts and transfer portal. … Definitely was the goal the whole time was to go in and play together. It working out was just such a blessing, and being in our own state, playing for Coach Helton and Coach Ellis… It was a win-win. It was tough flipping to Georgia Southern from Western Michigan because of the loyalty of me being committed up there for so long, but I knew it was the right decision.”
While Georgia Southern may be known as a triple-option offense, with Coach Helton at the helm, Josh and David will have opportunities that suit their game. Now they get to continue their football careers together, not far from home and family.
