Meet the Davies Backers
The Early Years:
Growing up, most people just called us “the twins.” We’re about 12 and a half months apart and only one grade level apart, but no matter how many times we told people we weren’t actually twins, the nickname stuck. Eventually we stopped correcting everyone and just rolled with it.
We get it. We looked alike, played the same position, and we were always together. Same schools, same friends, same weekends, and for almost every season since second grade, the same team.
Football was a family thing from the beginning. Our dad coached every team we played on up through middle school, and with that came a standard that never changed: extreme work, real discipline, and no shortcuts. Brysen even played up every other year so our parents didn’t have to juggle two schedules, which meant the expectations stayed high for both of us all the time.
During COVID, when football got postponed and gyms shut down, we built our own training space inside a storage unit. We called it Bravo 252 Barbell Club. It gave us an outlet, a routine, and a place to keep getting better when everything else felt like it was on pause.
Before high school, we found a trainer who helped change the trajectory of our game: Coach Jamaine Edge at ATL Football. He taught us the linebacker position at a deeper level: how to watch film, how to think, how to lead, and how to live in the details. Playing side by side, we learned how to play complementary football. We always knew where the other was, trusted each other completely, and worked to set the standard for the defense on and off the field.
Our last year of high school, we combined for 235 tackles. Brysen broke the single season school record with 179 tackles and finished with 465 varsity tackles, the school’s all time record. But the numbers were never the point. The standard was.
One phrase we heard constantly growing up was the “4 P’s”: Plan, Prepare, Practice, Perform. It became how we lived then, and it’s still how we live now, at UAB and Marshall, two brothers, two programs, one standard.
The Standard
Discipline
Discipline is our foundation. It is choosing the work when no one is watching and doing the small things the right way every day. It shows up in how we train, how we study film, how we take care of our bodies, and how we carry ourselves on campus and in the community.
Leadership
Leadership is action, not a title. It is communication, effort, and setting the tone when the moment gets hard. We lead by being prepared, being dependable, and holding ourselves to the same standard we ask from the people around us.
Community
We are proud of where we come from and grateful for the people who helped us get here. Community means giving back with our time and our presence, supporting youth sports, and using our platform to encourage the next group coming up behind us. It also means embracing the places we represent now. In Birmingham and at UAB, and in Huntington and at Marshall, we want to show love to the people who support us every week and be a positive presence in both communities. We are especially excited to partner with local nonprofits and charities in both cities through events, service projects, and fundraising efforts that make a real impact.
Consistency
Consistency is what makes everything else real. Anybody can have a good day, but we believe in stacking days and showing up with the same mindset every week. The goal is steady progress, steady habits, and steady effort from season to season.
Accountability
Accountability means we own it, all of it. When we do well, we stay humble and keep working. When we fall short, we take responsibility, fix it, and move forward. We hold each other to the standard and we do not make excuses.