2024 July InMaricopa Magazine

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Learn more about the Cactus Mine

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NEWS? GOT

offensive coaching stints before he was tapped by ASU as an advance opponent scout and recruiter in 2018. He then moved out of the office and onto the field as an assistant coach from 2019 to 2022 before taking on a teaching and assistant coaching job at DSHS last year. Beard faced a difficult situation last season with no seniors on the team. Consequently, the team was hammered on the grid, losing one game by nearly 50 points. While he wanted to emphasize teambuilding over winning in his first season as the Golden Hawks’ head coach, Beard said the narrative is already turning toward winning football games now during summer workouts. “We’re averaging about 58 to 60 players per day,” he said. “We’re spending the majority of our time in the classroom, where we’re teaching the game. We’re on the field for about half the day.” During his football coaching career, Beard was mentored by some heavyweights in the college and professional football ranks — Antonio Pierce, head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, and Marvin Lewis, Raiders assistant head coach, both of whom he coached alongside.

“I am excited to be a part of the [DSHS] staff and look forward to improving the lives of our youth through education and mentoring,” he said. DSHS Athletic Director James Bradford said it was experience that led to Beard’s hiring. “Coach Beard brings a wealth of knowledge of how to build relationships, both from the perspective of a high school and college player, as well as experience coaching at both the high school and college levels,” Bradford said. “Coach Beard understands the connection between academics and athletics. He has the unique experience of what it takes to get to the next level from the perspective of both a collegiate player and collegiate coach.” Not his first rodeo Beard started his football coaching career in 2013 at Canyon State Academy in Queen Creek, where he managed the offensive coaches and was responsible for daily practices and game-day operations. He went on to Northwest High School in Omaha, Neb., and returned to Canyon State Academy in two similar

Desert Sunrise Head Coach Steven Beard (left) hung up his scouting cleats at Arizona State University in favor of a new challenge — using his 110-pound, female starting safety Hailey Mattson to put together a winning campaign for the first time in school history.

That’s right. A recent economic study found that when in production the Cactus Mine will generate more than more than $15 billion in Western Pinal County. That’s the equivalent of hosting multiple Super Bowls in Casa Grande Super Bowls in Casa Grande and Maricopa every year for 36 years.

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InMaricopa.com | July 2024

July 2024 | InMaricopa.com

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