Reunited on the Field
Alex Semadeni
Early in the fourth quarter against Utah State on Oct. 5, Boise State running back Jambres “Breezy” Dubar found the back of the end zone. It was a great moment for the sophomore running back, who after an explosive freshman season a year ago, had nursed himself back onto the field following an injury he suffered during fall camp.
It also marked an extremely special moment for brothers Jake and Jason Steele, who both are on the offensive line for the Broncos. For the first time since high school, the Steele brothers were in a game together, and Dubar’s touchdown marked the first time they had scored while on the field together since their playing days at Murrieta Valley High School in California.
“It was an amazing moment,” Jason said. “We were in the south end zone, Ben [Dooley] was pulling, I was down blocking and Jake was right next to me down blocking. Kage [Casey] came in and pretty much cut the D-lineman off. I table-topped him over and then Jake came over too and then Breezey got in. It’s funny, we’re both on the ground and you’ll hear everybody just roar and you’re thinking, ‘We did it!’ I’m just on the ground listening to the crowd and then Jake comes over and yells at me. It was pretty sick, getting into the orange with my brother. It’s pretty amazing.”
“You can’t really think about how cool it is in game,” Jake interrupted. “You’re locked in, knowing we have a job to do. That went away after we scored. I ran up and yelled, ‘JASON, JASON, JASON, JASON!’ It was a really special moment.”
BREEZY ?????
— Boise State Football (@BroncoSportsFB) October 6, 2024
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Built-in Best Friend
Jake, a redshirt sophomore who joined the program this fall after spending two years at San Jose State, is 18 months older than Jason, a redshirt freshman. The two have been practically inseparable since the moment the duo could walk, finding ways to compete against each other at nearly everything they do.
“He’s like a built-in best friend,” Jake said. “We definitely got on each other’s nerves sometimes, as all brothers do. I know how to push his buttons and he knows how to push mine.”
The Steele family is an extremely close-knit unit. Jake and Jason are the youngest of three (their oldest brother, Jordan, is three years older than Jake and currently lives in San Diego). The three brothers were raised in a blue-collar lifestyle by their parents, Kenny and Jenni, who encouraged their boys to participate in a variety of activities as kids. Their hobbies were all-encompassing – they played sports, surfed, snowboarded, played video games (mainly Halo Reach with Jordan) – always doing so together.
Their competitiveness was evident at an early age. They first started playing football when Jake was in fifth grade and Jason in fourth, but also competed in basketball and soccer. However, as kids, baseball was by far their favorite sport.
“Our parents just threw us in a bunch of different sports to see what would stick,” Jake said.
“Baseball was the big sport for us,” Jason said. “That was kind of the main sport growing up that we played.”
Though a grade apart, Jake and Jason would hang out all the time outside of school and sports. As they reached driving age, they were known to pack their Chevy Suburban with all their friends and drive everyone down to the beach.
“We would go to the beach a lot,” Jake said. “That Chevy Suburban raised all of us. It got passed down to my older brother when he was 16 and then passed down to me when I was 16. All of our friends would want us to take them to the beach, and since I was one of the first ones in our group to drive we’d go and have a good time. We’d bring all the stuff for a barbecue and the surfboards and just have a good time.”
Once they reached high school age, they tailored their focus on the football field. Their father, Kenny, would drive the duo all around Southern California for specialized football training camps. As they improved at their craft, the camps became a Saturday routine for the family.
“Our parents did a lot for us to get us to where we are,” Jake said. “They both devoted so much time to help us succeed and we’re just really grateful for them.”
That training paid off on the football field. As a freshman at Murrieta Valley High, Jake split his time between center and left tackle, but by the time his brother joined the squad, he was spending all his time as left tackle. Jason meanwhile, also took some snaps at center before sliding over to right tackle.
“It was pretty sick,” Jason said. “We were both on different ends. We were both tackles so we never really got to experience playing right next to each other, but it was pretty sweet. I'd look over to him before plays and we would just kind of give each other a nod and know that we're doing our job.”
The duo meant business on the field. Jake was a three-time All-Southwestern League honoree, and as a senior captain was named the league’s most valuable offensive lineman while leading the Nighthawks to a conference championship. Jason was named first-team all-league as both a junior and a senior.
“It was fun playing together,” Jason said. “We’d go to the sideline and I would be say ‘Dude, I just killed that guy.’ And we had a TV on the sideline so we could look at film directly after the drive. We’d sit down together and say, ‘We just killed those two.’”
Onto the Collegiate Ranks
Both brothers were talented on the field and got plenty of collegiate offers. Jake, a year older, selected to go to San Jose State over Colorado State and Wyoming. A year later, Jason, a three-star recruit according to 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals, selected Boise State.
Jason was instantly bought into the blue-collar culture that the program provided, and was extremely approached with the manner in which offensive line coach Tim Keane carried himself.
“I think it goes without saying, he’s an amazing coach,” Jason said. “He’s a good dude too. He’s always going to keep it genuine with you. He’s always aiming for perfection which is a good thing. We all say that perfection can never be achieved but why not strive for it? He upholds the standard and does an amazing job coaching us. He played the position in college so having an O-line coach that went through the same stuff that you’ve been through is clutch. Getting tips and tricks from him and figuring out how he navigated certain situations, it was a big thing for me and my decision.”
Jake spent two years at San Jose State, and entered the transfer portal following the 2023 season. Throughout his time with the Spartans, he had heard nothing but positivity about the Bronco program and when immediately interested when the coaching staff reached out.
“Jason told me all about the [offensive line] room, and I knew how much he loved it here,” Jason said. “I talked to Coach Keane and saw for myself that he was a great guy, a family guy. I knew Coach D (Spencer Danielson) was the head coach and Jason had nothing but incredible things to say about him.”
When Boise State officially extended an offer, the two brothers called each other and had extensive conversations about if this was something they actually wanted to follow through with.
“It definitely was a little scary at first with all the notions that come with it,” Jake said. “We knew we could be put in a situation where we’d be competing with each other. That weighed on our minds a lot. We both prayed about it and realized it was a surreal situation. I knew Jason was really happy here, and he knew that I would be happy here and we are happy here.”
The Steele family was ecstatic when Jake officially committed and joined the Bronco roster. Last season, their parents – Kenny and Jenni – had to split up to watch their sons’ games. They created an intricate spreadsheet that had a detailed schedule of all their travel plans to ensure they could make as many games as possible.
“I never thought I'd see them play together on the same line again since high school,” Jordan said. “It was really special watching them play together and I was a little sad when they went to different schools. When I learned Jake was going to make the transition to Boise State, I was ecstatic. I know he missed his brother and I'm glad they ended up back in the same place.”
Reunited
The moment Jake arrived on campus, that competitive spirit kicked in. The brothers were perfect fits for the blue-collar nature of the program and pushed each other in every aspect – in the weight room, on the practice field, in the classroom -
“We’re constantly watching each other to see if one of us is slacking or if one us is tired or down at practice,” Jake said. “We give each other constant reminders to push through, or sometimes even talk technique. It’s nice to have someone there that’s always looking at you and having your back.”
Though the stakes are heightened at the collegiate level, and level of maturity between the two has also increased.
“As we’ve grown older, we’ve definitely mellowed a little bit,” Jason said. “We know when to take a break from each other if either of us are in a mood and not wanting to do whatever. We’ve really figured out that balance as we’ve matured. We’re there for each other when things go south. If I see he’s having a bad day, I’ll have him over for some steaks. He’ll do the same thing for me. Being there for each other is the greatest advantage of having a brother here.”
Jake also realized when he stepped foot on campus that all the positive things he had heard about Coach Keane were confirmed.
“He has an incredible amount of knowledge,” Jake said. “If you mess up in practice, you can walk up into his office and tell him you’re having trouble with a technique and he’ll help you fix it. If it’s a mental issue, or stress-related, or you’re just getting your footwork wrong – his door is always open. He’s always pushing you and sets the standard. He’s passed that on to the rest of the offensive line room. The rest of the guys are holding each other accountable for him. That’s something that we have in our room that’s not really common.”
Off the field, the brothers hang out all the time despite not living with each other. On off days, they are routinely over at each other’s house, usually grilling steaks and watching other football games.
“We’re pretty far away from home and we only have one person that we really know out here that is a family friend,” Jason said. “Having somebody in your family, and that person being your brother, it’s really comforting and pretty awesome.”
Jason has played in four games for the Broncos this season. Jake, who battled an injury through the early part of the season, made his official debut as a Bronco against the Aggies on Oct. 5 and took snaps against Hawai’i last Saturday.
Their relationship off the field was what made their touchdown moment against the Aggies all the more special. Their excitement, evident to all those who were surrounded by the Steele brothers when they scored, might be trumped only by their family members.
“It's so much fun,” Jordan said. “The last game they played, Jake was playing right guard and Jason was playing center. It's so cool to see them working together and switching off defensive linemen. It's so cool and honestly surreal to watch stuff like that happen.”
For Jake and Jason? They're just enjoying every moment they get to spend together, and are happy to make their family proud in the process.
“One of our dad’s dream was to see both of us playing next to each other in college,” Jason said. “I’m so happy that we got to make that happen. Just playing next to Jake is super cool.”
“I wanted to come here, like, right when I was in the portal,” Jake said. “Other schools were looking at me, but I made the decision to play with my brother. Not a lot people can say that, especially playing in a position literally right next to each other. I can’t even put into words how much that means to me. There’s no price tag that can compete with that in my mind. It ended up being the greatest place I could have asked for.”Jake Steele
