Jessica Carnivale is a student journalist at the Walter Cronkite school at Arizona State University assigned to cover the South Mountain football team.

It’s not common to see two head coaches on one team but South Mountain High School has it down to a science. Co-head coaches Mark Carter and Marcus Carter are not just teachers and coaches, but also twins.

Since the brothers teach and coach at the same school, they spend large amounts of time together. “We live literally two blocks away from each other," Mark Carter said. "We ride to school together, ride home every day together.

"I see him at lunch every day, see him at church on the weekends, on Saturday mornings when we are doing film. We see each other every single day."

Seeing someone every day can get a little tiring, but both brothers would not have it any other way. Marcus compared their relationship to wearing a watch. “We just belong together," he said. "It’s like having a watch, you always have to have your watch on and stuff like that. It’s just like a security thing.”

The Carters have been coaching South Mountain football for four seasons, but have been together almost their entire lives. Mark is a mere two minutes older than Marcus, but Marcus shared how he still follows his older brother's lead.

“I never had someone who could finish my sentences and stuff like that. He’s two minutes older than I am, but I look up to him like an older brother," Marcus said. "We got started coaching together and then he moved and started coaching high school and we had a bet. So, our bet was whoever’s team did better that (other) person would go there. In 2005 his team went on to win the state championship, and I was there for it.

"Then January 1, I moved here with him, and we’ve been together ever since. Him taking a lead and getting our foot in the door was a big step for us."

While it might have been a bet that brought them together, in this instance, it seems that something stronger has kept them so close. “We’ve been doing everything together since we were nine months in the womb. It’s just a way of life now,” Mark said.  

While the duo is very thankful to have each other, they are also thankful for their coaching staff. “The end all and be all is not Marcus and I," Mark said. "Our coaching staff is a really good group; We don’t micromanage them. It’s very rare someone will give us a suggestion or let us know how they want to do something, and we say ‘no.’ It’s very, very rare.

"There’s a lot of talk about Marcus and I, which is cool, but we have 13 coaches, and every coach serves a purpose and serves something.”

While some may think it is tough to have two head coaches on one team the Carters use it to their advantage. The coaches split the roles into offense and defense. Marcus gets to take point on the defense and Mark gets to run the offense. They inspire the young athletes by example. Mark shared that their team “is a family, just starts from the top and goes all the way down.

"It’s not 'Do as I say, not as do as I do,’ it is ‘Do as I say, and do as I do.’ We are really sticklers on that.”

While both coaches work with different aspects of the team, they often come together to best serve the players. Mark explained this by saying, “We can come together, and get these ideas that different people or players are having and find a medium that serves the whole team.”

Since coming to South Mountain, the Carters have begun to "change the culture." This is a motto that they have introduced to the football program to help make the team more successful and intense. Junior Ricado Lugo has played for the twin head coaches for multiple seasons and sees those strong ties trickle down to the team every day.

"They are like my brothers, my family," he said on his teammates. "We go out to eat after the games. It’s like my family."