Al Van Hazel (Coach Van) was a charter member of the Arizona Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Coach Van Hazel's Casa Grande Cougars won the State Track Title 11 times in his 22 years as the head coach. Seventy-six youngsters under Coach Van Hazel won individual state championship titles. Four of those 76 athletes became the National Champions in their respective events. In addition, Coach Van Hazel was the head football coach at Casa Grande for 16 years and his teams won another 3 State Championships. Coach Van was also inducted into the Arizona Track Coaches Hall of Fame in 1970, the Phoenix Press Box Hall of Fame in 1991, and received the National Football Foundation's Coaches Award in 1998. Van Hazel served in the military in WW II and attended (and coached) at Arizona State University prior to his coaching career at Casa Grande in 1948.