Steve Belles (born November 21, 1966) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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who played for the

Arizona Rattlers The Arizona Rattlers are a professional indoor American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Rattlers were founded in 1992 as an expansion team in the Arena Football League ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL). He subsequently became a high school football coach in Arizona, amassing five state championships at

Hamilton High School Hamilton High School may refer to: United States Alabama * Hamilton High School (Alabama) in Hamilton Arizona * Hamilton High School (Chandler, Arizona) in Chandler Arkansas * Lake Hamilton High School in Pearcy California * Hamilton High Sc ...

in Chandler. He played

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at Notre Dame.

Playing career

Belles attended St. Mary's High School in Phoenix, where in 1984 he won a state championship and was named Arizona High School Player of the Year. He played

at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

. After college he played one season with the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League. He was also offensive coordinator of the Rattlers in 1993 and played in Europe for the in 1991.

Coaching career

Belles has been a head coach at three Arizona high schools: Desert Mountain High School in Scottsdale, Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale, and most recently

in Chandler. He was at Desert Mountain from 1995 to 2000 with a 26-25 record. At Mountain Ridge, where he was head coach from 2000 to 2006 with a 47-13 record, his team advanced to the state finals in 2004 against his future team, Hamilton High School, losing 37–7. Belles became the head football coach at Hamilton in 2006 after John Wrenn left to become

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

's running backs coach. He was instantly successful there with a 13–1 record, Fiesta Region Title, and an Arizona State Championship in his first season. Belles amassed a 131–18 record as coach, including five State Championships at Hamilton, and Arizona's big school state record 53-game win streak. During his tenure, Hamilton was ranked as high as fourth in the nation by the ''

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'' Super 25. As a head coach, Belles has a 204–56 record. As a result of a hazing scandal at Hamilton becoming public in 2017, Chandler Unified School District suspended Belles as coach before the start of the football season. He remained at the school as a teacher until September, when he was reassigned to the district offices, and in December the head coach position was advertised with the

Arizona Interscholastic Association The Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) is one of two regulatory bodies for high school athletics and activities in the state of Arizona. It comprises all of the state's public district high schools (except Ajo High School, Beaver Dam High ...

. On June 25, 2018, Belles announced he would become an assistant coach at Juan Diego Catholic High School in

Draper, Utah Draper is a city in Salt Lake and Utah counties in the U.S. state of Utah, about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. As of the 2020 census, the population is 51,017, up from 7,143 in 1990. Draper is part of two metropolitan area ...

responsible for the quarterbacks and defensive back positions.

References

External links

Stats Crew profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belles, Steve Living people 1966 births American football quarterbacks Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Arizona Rattlers players Arizona Rattlers coaches High school football coaches in Arizona Players of American football from Phoenix, Arizona