Since they were in the womb, Cedar Hill triplets Isaiah, Devin and Jordan Coleman have been a package deal.
Lookalikes Devin and Jordan are identical twins, and Isaiah is their fraternal triplet. Isaiah, at 6-2, 260 pounds, is the oldest. Then came Devin, now 6-4 and 340 pounds. Jordan entered the world last.
“It went from smallest to biggest,” said Jordan, who is 6-5 and 350 pounds. “You know they’ve always got to save the best for last.”
In the U.S., the birth rate of triplets or more is 78.9 per 100,000 live births, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The triplets, already a rarity at birth, have also beaten the odds by becoming Division I football prospects.
All three brothers, who are in their senior seasons at Cedar Hill, have committed to Texas. Three-star offensive linemen Devin and Jordan will be on scholarship, while Isaiah, a defensive tackle, will join the team as a preferred walk-on.
The Colemans are a unit and proud of it. But each member of the trio is also his own person and athlete, a fact that may get lost because of their status as triplets. To their mother, Ashley Rolen, the boys are her greatest testimony.
“I sit back and I smile because I know that it hasn’t been easy,” said Rolen, who is a third-grade teacher in Mansfield ISD. “When I first found out I was pregnant, I didn’t think that we were going to make it.”
A big surprise
It wasn’t an ideal time for Rolen, who already had a young son and was trying to return to school. About two weeks later, she learned she was having twins.
“At this point I’m like, ‘Twins? Oh my God, no Lord,’” Rolen said. “‘I can’t be having twins. This is too much.‘”
Rolen eventually accepted she would be having two babies. Then, she got a call from her doctor asking her to come in for another sonogram. The doctor noticed on the previous sonogram that one of the babies was bigger than the other.
“She did the sonogram and she said, ‘Oh, my God,’ ” Rolen said. “She looked for a minute and said, ‘There are three.’ ”
One of the embryos had split. “The first thing that came out of my mouth was, ‘Is there going to be any more splits?’ ” said Rolen, who later discovered that multiple births run in her family.
Raising three little boys with distinct needs and personalities was tough, “but with the support of the community and my family, it made it a lot easier,” their mother said.
Sticking together
Rolen has pictures of the triplets as babies that show them holding hands in their bed.
Their attachment runs deep and influenced their vow to be on the same college team. The brothers picked up their first offer, from Texas Tech, as freshmen.
“Since then, we were like, ‘We know we can do this,’ ” Devin said. “Let’s stick together because [it’s rare for] two brothers or three brothers to get to play together for as long as we have.”
But the brothers didn’t receive the same amount of attention from Division I programs. Jordan, ranked 31st in The Dallas Morning News’ Top 100 recruits in the Class of 2025, holds 19 offers, and Devin, ranked 45th on the list, has 13, according to 247Sports. Isaiah has at least two offers from Texas Tech and UTSA.
Rolen said Isaiah is determined, Devin isn’t afraid to speak his mind and Jordan is charming. While the boys have distinct personalities, even their mother has trouble not grouping them together sometimes.
“[They] have their own path to go down,” Rolen said. “Graduating and getting into life, they have to find their place.”
But at least through college, the trio will remain a unit after committing to the Longhorns in May.
“Texas is amazing. To me, it’s one of the best,” Isaiah said. “Who doesn’t want to go where the best is? I feel like Texas offers stuff that you can’t really resist.”
It was a surreal moment for their mom.
“‘God, you proved yourself,’” Rolen said. “It was just a blessing.”
Becoming who they are today
It took the brothers time to develop into Division I prospects. They detested youth football and had a plan in place each season to tell their coach, who happened to be their cousin, that they wouldn’t be coming back the next year.
The Colemans said Rolen and their cousin pushed them to continue.
“Now I love it,” Devin said. “It’s getting me places where I want to go. It’s making my dreams come true.”
On this journey, the boys needed plenty of fuel.
Rolen frequents Costco and Sam’s Club, where she can buy food in bulk. She purchases 10-pound packages of meat for $35 to $40, and 60-count cartons of eggs.
“We spend a lot on groceries, and I am so ready for them to go off to college so that I can get a break,” Rolen said. “I cook every day. It’s never going to be a small meal.”
Life doesn’t completely revolve around food and football in their household, however. The triplets and their older brother, Jaydon Rolen, love watching TV shows together.
Some nights, they build a pallet in the living room and watch movies for hours. They also went fishing once, but the brothers didn’t reel in anything that could compete with their production on the football field.
“We didn’t catch anything,” Devin said. " I don’t think I’m going back out there.”
