Max Hall and Todd Heap both went their own way after carving out their championship chapters with Mesa Mountain View High School's football program.
Hall flirted with an NFL career as a quarterback after starring at BYU, before helping American Leadership Academy Queen Creek football as the offensive coordinator.
Heap starred at tight end in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens, before helping out at Mesa Red Mountain High, where he had two sons playing at the time.
Now, both are back with their high school alma mater, helping Andy Litten's Toros' football program.
Hall is the varsity quarterbacks coach at Mountain View. Heap is part of Mountain View's freshman football coaching staff.
"I couldn't be happier being here," Hall said. "Coach Litten does
a great job. It's great coming back to see if there's still tradition, that there are still those old Toro ethics that are that I value. I'm grateful that I'm part of it and get to help out with the QBs. It feels like home."
Hall led Mountain View to a 14-0 record and a big-school state championship in 2002 as a junior. The following season, he got the Toros back to the state final, only to fall to Chandler Hamilton 35-28 in triple overtime, still one of the greatest state championship games in Arizona Interscholastic Association history.
Heap starred on Bernie Busken's two 14-0 state championship teams in 1996 and '97 at tight end. He went on to star at Arizona State before playing in the NFL. Heap's son Cade is a receiver on the 3-0 freshman team.
"I'm sure there's a lot of change (at Mountain View) but it's been good change over the past so many years," Heap said. "It's exciting to see (principal) Dr. (Mike) Oliver and the spirit that he's brought to the school.
"On top of that, coach Litten has done a fantastic job the last couple of years. It's exciting to be part of. We have a certain culture at Mountain View, and it's been there for a long time. And you want to bring that back. We kind of lost it for a little bit. And we want to bring that back. I feel like that's the direction they're working toward."
The Toros have had state championship players help out before. Joe Germaine, the quarterback on Mountain View's 1993 title team, led the program for a while. But he left after three seasons (2021-23) to be the head coach and athletic director at ALA Mesa North, where, this year, he's reunited with his former Queen Creek offensive line coach Travis Schureman, another former Toro state champion.
Mountain View has won eight state titles and been to the final 14 times in its history. Two years ago, the Toros reached the 6A final, before losing to Peoria Centennial. Fifth-ranked Centennial (2-0) plays host to seventh-ranked Mountain View on Friday night, Sept. 11. Last year the teams met in the first round of the Open state playoffs, with Mountain View winning that game.
It was the first time Mountain View won an Open playoff game.
It's something that the Toros strive for every year now under Litten, who had success at Phoenix Horizon, before following Germaine at Mountain View.
"We're going to play with the ingredients we've got," Litten said. "We have multiple tight ends. We're going to play the best skill kids that we have. We play with three tight end sets, which is a lot of fun. Having Max on here and having the ability to work with somebody who has been a coordinator and mix his stuff with ours has been really good."
Junior quarterback Brayden Merwin, in his first year starting on varsity, feels he's learned a lot from Hall. Merwin has passed for 359 yards and five touchdowns after two games. He has totaled 182 yards running and a TD in 24 carries after a 63-0 rout of Las Vegas High and a 26-15 win over Phoenix Pinnacle.
The Toros have leaned on a strong offensive line, led by Washington commit Tye Kennedy.
"We put in a lot more running plays to attack," Merwin said. "We've got a good line, so I think we're going to be a really good running team.
"(Hall) has been tremendous. Everything is easier. All the reads. Everything is a lot more easier with Max Hall here."
Litten sees a lot of alumni coming back to Mountain View on Friday nights, filling up with pride to see the program return to success.
"We're a community-based school," Litten said. "I think that everything that we involve and bring back our alumni, and bring back our traditions is important to Mountain View.
"To me it shows the program is in the right direction because the alumni want to bring their kids here. They want to come back. They want their school to be great. It shows how strong our community is. They care about football. It's got a real Texas vibe to me. You'll see guys in lettermen's jackets when it cools down on the sideline. It's a really cool place with a great history."
Heap said it's up to the players every year to write their own chapter of Mountain View lore.
"Ultimately, what it comes down to is the boys," Heap said. "The boys have to decide. It comes down to those guys banding together as a team, as a group of young men to write their own stories."
Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. Catch the best high school sports coverage in the state. Sign up for Azcentral Preps Now. And be sure to subscribe to our daily sports newsletters so you don't miss a thing. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mountain View football legends Max Hall, Todd Heap return to program
