Evan Gerike is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Canyon View for AZPreps365.com.

Mo Oliver didn’t know an announcement was coming when Canyon View flag football coach Cory Beal called a meeting in November 2025.

Beal had just led the Jaguars to an 11-7 season, a year that didn’t quite match up to the highs of the program’s 2024 5A state championship or 2023 5A runner-up. He had also been battling polycythemia vera, a rare blood disease, since he was diagnosed after a stroke in 2022.

Still, Oliver, then the defensive coordinator for the Jaguars, wasn’t ready for the news – Beal would be stepping down from the program he founded.

“I was like, whoa, whoa, wait a minute,” Oliver said. “I'm not the kind of coach that can coach with anybody. I'm very selective.”

Oliver had conversations with athletic director Andrea Hudson about his future at Canyon View. The Jaguars, thanks to a recommendation from Beal, decided Oliver wouldn’t be on anybody’s coaching staff but his own.

Now in his first year in command, with a roster of nine underclassmen and just seven seniors, Oliver’s Jaguars are sitting 10-3, 5-0 in region play and ranked No. 3 in 5A.

“You see the light come on when you see the growth,” Oliver said of his young team. “You see the talent level, and you just start matching what these girls would be able to do in the future… Trust me, in two years, this will be a very, very, very good football team.”

The players didn’t know what to expect on a post-Beal team, only that it would be different.

“We’re definitely going to be growing a lot over the next few years,” sophomore Nataley Laing said. “From the beginning (of the year) until now, we’ve grown already so much.”

Beal said his decision wasn’t easy, but one he needed to make for his health. The stress of the sideline had affected him throughout the 2025 season. PV is an overproduction of red blood cells, and his red blood cell count would skyrocket. He’d get vertigo, was at a higher risk of heat stroke and would throw up after games were over.

Beal and Oliver decided a clean split would be better for the team, so Beal stepped away entirely. He didn’t come to practices or help out with coaching.

“I wanted the girls to never look over their shoulder as he’s talking and be like, ‘Is that OK, coach?’” Beal said.

He did, however, attend the team’s first game of the season. He tried to stay incognito in the corner of the stands, but a bad call brought out the coach in him, and he let the referee hear it.

“I lost my mind,” Beal said. “All the girls went like, ‘I know that voice,’ and turned around.”

Beal said his stroke actually saved his life, because it was the only way he would have found out about his disease.

“PV is one of those silent killers that you don't typically find out that you have PV until there’s an autopsy,” Beal said.

He lost the ability to move his left arm and left leg, and he said he had to create new neural pathways to communicate movement.

Each and every one of his 30 stairs felt like a 20-foot drop. Going down was like skydiving. Multiple times, Beal said, he’d bawl at the bottom step.

His team was supportive every step of the way. Senior Amara May said on one occasion the team passed out red ribbons around the school to wear in support of blood cancer awareness. Tears were shed, she said.

After 11 months away, Beal went to his doctor in October. She told him his numbers were the best they’ve ever looked.

“I know you made a big change,” she told him. “If there’s any consolation, it made a difference.”

It was easier for Beal to step away because of how young Canyon View’s team is. There are more underclassmen on the roster than seniors, and many of the key contributors are freshmen. Canyon View is utilizing two quarterbacks – Laing, who started for Beal last season, and freshman Leila McInnis.

“We're definitely going to be growing a lot over the next few years,” Laing said. “Obviously, from the beginning (of the season) to now, we've grown already so much.”

Now leading those young players, Oliver, a four-year NFL veteran who appeared in 21 career games, said there’s a lot about flag football he’s still learning. But if he has questions, he’ll call up Beal, and the two rarely talk for less than half an hour.

Years of growth are still to come under Oliver as the current roster of underclassmen mature into seniors. The foundation is being laid now.

“We're still building our culture,” Oliver said. “We're still building our program under new leadership. But I think we're doing pretty good so far.”