Marshall University Athletics
MCGILL: Dowrey brothers join forces for one season at Marshall
8/30/2018 10:58:00 AM | Football, Word on the Herd
Player-coach dynamic has been an easy adjustment for the pair
By Chuck McGill
HerdZone.com
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A quick glance at Marshall's Jordan Dowrey and assistant strength coach Derek Dowrey would reveal only similarities.
They're both large humans – Jordan, a senior offensive lineman with the Herd, is listed at 292 pounds. The 2016 roster for Penn State's football program, where Derek also played on the offensive line, lists the older brother at 323 pounds. Some of that weight might be in their facial hair alone; both sport big, bushy beards.
Even the honors the Dowreys have collected sound similar. After the 2016 season with the Nittany Lions, one in which Derek played in all 14 games with six starts while blocking for Saquon Barkley, Penn State awarded the older Dowrey the Iron Lion Award for his performance in strength and conditioning. Following last season, Jordan was named the Herd's Offensive Gridiron Gladiator, which is given to the player who is the most relentless and gives everything all of the time.
That is where the likenesses fade away. Their mother, Glendora Dowrey, can more easily name the differences.
"There were times when they were growing up that they were like oil and water," she said.
The Dowrey brothers are getting acclimated to living under the same roof again. Jordan, who has more career starts (36) than any current Herd player, is preparing to begin his final season this Saturday when Marshall travels to Miami (Ohio) for the 2018 opener. He'll have his roommate and older brother, Derek, with him on the sidelines for the first time since the two starred at Handley High School in Winchester, Virginia, in 2011. They played two seasons together in high school before Derek headed to Penn State. This offseason, Marshall added Derek to the football strength staff.
"I was a little worried because the last time we lived together, I was in high school," Jordan said. "But it's been really nice. We hang out all of the time."
Derek, 25, called it a "fun" situation living together in Huntington.
"Our dynamic has changed a lot," he said. "We're not just brothers. We're not just football players. We have a coach-player relationship, which hasn't been an issue at all. I just like to give him a hard time."
Jordan said the brothers are similar because of their love of football and the weight room. They lift and embrace their role on the offensive line. Jordan is Marshall's starting left guard, while Derek played in 47 games (12 starts) during his Penn State career. He shifted from the defensive line to offense for the 2014 season and remained there for the rest of his collegiate career.
They would text on the Friday before game days to check on each other and make sure the other was focused and prepared. That relationship has evolved from when they were competitive, rambunctious boys being raised under the same roof.
"They're very different," Glendora said. "Jordan is much more of an extrovert. He's more talkative and social. Derek is more reserved. They did a lot of the same things athletically. They both started wrestling really young. But Derek started playing basketball and stuck with that through high school, while Jordan kept wrestling and won two state championships."
Athletically, she said, the Dowreys have had the same interests. Derek, who feels he has found a career in coaching and strength training, was destined for a life in sports. He enjoys television and movies, while Jordan is drawn to camping and reading. Those differences, sometimes, were on full display.
"As parents of two boys in that household growing up, they would tell you not everything was perfect and smooth and we weren't always best of friends," Derek said. "Our parents are happy that we're close now that we're adults. Now that this has all happened, it's an awesome situation."
That evolution tickles Glendora and her husband, who is also named Derek. Now, she said, "they're more than brothers," and the parents don't have to juggle two children playing major college football on different campus. They get one fall together again as one big, happy family.
"This is what I wanted," Derek said of being at Marshall with his brother. "He, more than anything, is the reason I came here. I wanted to spend this year with him because it's his last in college football. I'm excited, and it has worked really well."
Chuck McGill is the Assistant Athletic Director for Fan/Donor Engagement and Communications at Marshall University and a six-time winner of the National Sports Media Association West Virginia Sportswriter of the Year award. In addition to HerdZone.com's Word on the Herd, McGill is the editor of Thundering Herd Illustrated, Marshall's official athletics publication. Follow him on Twitter (@chuckmcgill) and Instagram (wordontheherd).
