Cooper and Griffin Benke are used to the attention.
The Highlands junior defensive linemen (and identical twins) don’t mind if someone approaches them – which happens a lot because they stand 6-5 and 6-6.
“A lot of people know us now, because my family’s kind of popular around Fort Thomas,” Griffin Benke said. “… They usually recognize that we’re twins and then they say, ‘How cool it is that we’re twins.
Colleges are starting to notice the Benke brothers, too. Middle Tennessee State University football coaches want them to come to Murfreesboro in 2027.
The Benkes received MTSU’s offer – where older brother Brody is a redshirt freshman tight end – after a one-day camp last Thursday. Their parents, Todd and Erin Benke, Brody and 12-year-old brother Dalton were in the stands when the offer was made.
“It was very unexpected,” Erin Benke said Tuesday. “They don’t give those out to just anyone.”
Cooper and Griffin Benke are mirror twins – identical because a single egg split into two embryos – who have defining features on opposite sides. Cooper, who is seven minutes older, is right-handed with a dimple on the left side of his face, and Griffin is left-handed with a right-side dimple.
“It’s hard to keep it all straight,” Erin Benke said.
“We have the same personalities – very talkative when you get to know us,” Cooper Benke said.
Brody Benke said he might recruit Cooper and Griffin as hard as MTSU coaches have.
“I think playing with them would be really cool, especially if it’s in a college setting,” he said.
According to a July 22, 2024 parents.com article by Pamela Prindle Fierro, (bit.ly/3ZK18MY), about 25% of identical twins have asymmetrical traits.
Todd Benke said Cooper stands about 6-foot-5 and weighs around 230 pounds, while Griffin is 6-foot-6 and around 220.
“I think it’s pretty common during the summer, they tend to lose a little bit of weight as they get back into the fall,” Todd Benke said. “The weather gets colder and the intense workouts kind of end. They tend to start getting weight back.”
NCAA rules prohibit college coaches from contacting high school players until June 15 after their sophomore season. At midnight that day, Power 4 schools Cincinnati (Big 12), Louisville (ACC) and Purdue (Big 10) expressed interest, but MTSU (a Conference USA member) is the only school with a firm offer.
“So there’s not a ton of game film, but they obviously have the measurables that the coaches like,” Todd Benke said. “They have an older brother that plays Division I football already, so they know the work ethics are probably there.”
Cooper and Griffin chose football because of the brotherhood that develops among teammates.
“And I love the physicality of it,” Griffin said. “You have a rough day, you should want to go play football more; other sports, if you have a rough day, you don’t want to play as much.”
Cooper Benke typically at left end, while Griffin is on the right side. They are edge rushers, whose primary job is pressuring quarterbacks and helping contain running plays.
“We don’t really like to go through a man; we go around him a lot,” Cooper said.
Griffin added: “I’m better at speed, Cooper’s good at the bull rush.”
Todd Benke has cautioned Cooper and Griffin that playing at the same college might not happen.
“But nowadays, the major schools, actually most FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) schools are only offering between 12 and 18 or so spots to high-schoolers; some are even less than that,” he said. Typically, you’re not necessarily going to take multiple guys at one position unless it’s offensive line or defensive line.”
The Benkes don’t plan to choose a college until after this season, but Griffin said MTSU is “pretty high up there.”
“Just because they’re my first offer, of course,” Griffin said. “ And my brother went there.”