Tommy Steele

Inducted Class of 2025

After playing football at Bowling Green in the mid 1970s, Tommy Steele went to training camp with the Houston Oilers and New York Giants before playing one season with the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger Cats.
After his football career, he moved to Tucson and was hired to teach special education and coach at Rincon High School, where he associated daily with well-respected and successful coaches such as Art Acosta, Bill Mehle, Dick King and Andy Rumic. It was a good start to a remarkable career that has spanned close to 50 years.
In 1983, Steele made the move of his life, to Canyon del Oro High School, where he became a teacher, strength and conditioning coach and assistant football coach. He was CDO’s head football coach in 1989, but Tommy left his mark and legacy mentoring athletes and students as a strength and conditioning coach. He filled that role for 37 years before retiring from CDO and moving to Pusch Ridge Academy to be an assistant coach as well as working in strength and conditioning.
Steele’s reputation spread. He spoke at Little League meetings, PTA conferences, PE classes, you name it. His goal was to help student-athletes and he excelled at it.
In 2000, he was a finalist for the National High School Association’s strength and conditioning coach of the year. In 2007, Steele was named the Arizona Football Coaches Association assistant coach of the year.
“I lived to coach and associate with the young men and women and the other coaches,’’ said Steele. “I’ve been gifted to have so many top coaches in my life, from Pat Nugent, Dusty Peace and Kent Middleton to long-ago UA athlete Bill Kemmeries. I’ve seen so much success. CDO went 27-1 when Ka’Deem Carey was a running back there. I’ve been a part of state championships, but also felt a reward for working with all teams.’’