Success in football has come in two forms for first cousins Drew Dallas and Logan Kopp. But for the past few years, their achievements have been almost identical.
Son of Dave and Kelly (Kiepe) Dallas of Park Hills, Drew is the head coach of Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. The Blue Dragons beat Iowa Western Community College 28-23 to win the National Junior College Athletic Association championship Dec. 18. Dallas also guided “Hutch” to a national title in 2021 and second place in 2022.
Kopp graduated from Lindbergh in 2021 before playing football at North Dakota State University in Fargo. His parents are David and Kari (Kiepe) Kopp of St. Louis.
The Kiepe sisters, Kelly and Kari, are the daughters of Glenn and Mary Jane Kiepe of Festus.
Logan’s grandparents are Paul and Judy Kopp of Crystal City, and Drew’s are Jim and Jane Dallas of Herculaneum.
Dave Dallas was head football coach at Grandview High from 2017 to 2021.
On Jan. 10 in Frisco, Texas, North Dakota State won its 10th Division I Football Championship Subdivision title with a 35-32 victory over Montana State. Logan Kopp, a junior linebacker, led NDSU with 73 tackles this season (36 unassisted) to go with three sacks, three interceptions and a fumble recovery.
The parallel between Drew Dallas and Kopp goes even deeper, with the Bison also winning a national title in 2021 and finishing second in 2022.
Dave and Drew Dallas were traveling in opposite directions Sunday for their jobs, although Drew’s trip was more for fun than work. After leaving Grandview, Dave took a job as a national workforce recruiter for Western Specialty Contractors and took a business trip from St. Louis to Las Vegas to Orange County, Calif. Drew touched down in Charlotte, N.C. for a coaches convention.
Drew’s first coaching job was assisting his dad when Dave was head coach at Kansas Wesleyan University. Drew has been head coach at Hutchinson since 2020, going 49-5 and producing 38 All-American players.
“Drew has done a tremendous job developing young men,” Dave said. “I’m very proud of what he’s done and accomplished,” Dave said. “At the junior college level, you’re developing them to go to the next level, but also as human beings. Being around a college coach all of your life, you pick up things you want to do and things you don’t want to. Put players first and develop them as young men.”
Although there was a big age gap and the cousins lived far apart, football became their common bond. Drew took his son, Cooper, to watch Logan play in the national championship. Several other family members also were there.
“It’s pretty special anytime you can share that success with relatives,” Drew said. “It’s been fun to watch Logan’s career, and see him go to a program like (NDSU) and win. Logan is special and I don’t expect anything different. It goes back to grandpa (Kiepe) and what he stands for and how he lives his life is special, and we all carry that.”
Drew is Glenn Kiepe’s oldest grandson, and Logan his youngest. The family said Kiepe is thrilled they’re both national champions at the same time.
“Our whole Kiepe family is close,” Drew said. “Logan was a toddler when I was in high school. He was always athletic. He had that it-factor. We’ve always had a great relationship.”
Logan has one more season of football eligibility, and he’s majoring in mechanical engineering. Both his father and older brother, Trevor, have engineering degrees.
Logan said at first, it was tough moving a 12-hour drive away from home.
“My brother went to college closer to home,” he said. “There was uncertainty and excitement for sure. I’ve really enjoyed it in Fargo. The people and community have been wonderful. Very early in college, I found a local church to go to and I got baptized there and still to this day I go there.
“Some of my best friends are part of my church community and (those) are friendships I’ll carry my entire life.”
Logan said he learned quickly the success of NDSU football started long before he got there.
“When you have won 10 (national titles), there’s something you’re doing right. To have consistent success for as long as we have is very difficult. One of the reasons is the culture it has created. It starts with the coaches and the way they carry themselves on and off the field. Everything is done with a purpose. We obsess on the little things, like are you sitting up in your chair during a team meeting?
“It was a very good season for (me), but with lots of ups and downs. For me personally, it goes back to when I got here as a freshman. The coaches poured into me, but more so the older players in my position group. From the day I stepped on campus, (they) taught us the drills and the playbook. We emphasize doing your 1/11th. If all 11 guys do their job and are on the same page with communication, we’re going to have a lot of success.”
Football has helped Drew and Logan continue to stay close.
“By the time I was growing up and knew (Drew) more, he was into coaching,” Logan said. “He was able to follow me more through high school and college. How cool it was when I knew I wanted to be a college football player and he had such a high position in (the game). Our connection has grown because of that success.”
Glenn and Mary’s son, the late Kent Kiepe, was a 1980 Festus graduate and in 2017 was elected to the R-VI Hall of Fame. He was active in band, student council and sports at Festus and after graduating from Missouri Western State College in 1985, he joined the Navy and became an officer and fighter pilot. After flying combat missions in the 1990-1991 Gulf War, Lt. Kiepe was killed in a plane crash in California in 1992.
“I know how close our family was and that really hurt,” Drew said. “I was 5 or 6 when it happened and he was a chip off the block of grandpa Kiepe.”