Wade Waldrop approved as new Hoover Bucs football coach

Wade Waldrop knows the challenge ahead of him is great and is ready to take it head on.

He was approved by the Hoover Board of Education on Thursday night as the next Hoover High School head football coach.

“I’m humbled to be able to be a part of the Hoover family and to be tasked with leading the program,” Waldrop said.

Waldrop has been a head coach in Alabama since 2006 and most recently spent a year at Florence, where he led the Falcons to a 5-6 record and first-round playoff appearance in 2021.

“We faithfully followed where God led us,” Waldrop said of his family's recent moves to Florence and now to Hoover. “To say this was planned out, I can’t say that. This is truly a blessing and an honor, and I know it’s a challenge. I’m very excited about the opportunity.”

Between stops at Chelsea, James Clemens and Florence, Waldrop has accumulated an overall record of 100-75. In seven years as head coach at Chelsea, Waldrop compiled a 41-34 record, taking the Hornets to the playoffs in four of those seasons. He then went 54-35 in eight seasons at James Clemens, with the Jets qualifying for the postseason six times. 

At each of those three stops, Waldrop was tasked with leading competitive programs and certainly did so successfully. But this challenge will be different than any of them. Hoover is a program with expectations to be in the conversation for a state championship each year.

“It’s one of those jobs. You go anywhere in the country, and when you say Alabama high school football, the one program that people know is Hoover,” he said.

Waldrop follows Josh Niblett, who took the head coaching position at Gainesville High in Georgia in December. Over 14 years, Niblett’s Bucs posted a 171-26 record, capturing six state championships in that time. Hoover won at least 10 games in 13 of those 14 years and advanced to the semifinals of the playoffs every single season.

A Hartselle native, Waldrop played football at UAB before embarking on a coaching career that included a stop at Fayetteville High before he landed at Chelsea in 2003. 

Waldrop is no stranger to what the Hoover program has done in recent years. In fact, it was one of the main organizations to which he looked when establishing the culture at James Clemens, a fellow Class 7A school. Region 3, which features Hoover, Thompson and other prestigious schools, is widely considered the toughest in Alabama high school football.

“When I went to Madison nine years ago, we went to James Clemens to build a program that looked like it was in Region 3,” he said. “If what we were doing was not meeting the standard of those schools, it wasn’t good enough. To actually be in this region and be a part of it and compete at the highest level every Friday night, that’s exciting.”

Hoover last won the state championship in 2017 and has been beaten by Thompson in the state semifinals in each of the four seasons since. Waldrop is eager to inherit a program that is already operating at a high level.

“Everything I’ve heard about the kids and coaches and players and support staff are top notch,” he said. “The work ethic and commitment is unbelievable. That’s the first step to being a great program.”

Waldrop also praised the work of Hoover Athletic Director Andy Urban for his work throughout the process.

“He’s first class. Everyone I’ve talked to has raved about his work ethic and the job that he does. I’m excited to work with him,” Waldrop said.

Waldrop’s first game as Hoover head coach will be Aug. 19, when the Bucs travel to Montgomery to face Auburn in the AHSAA Kickoff Classic.

“This program is strong and rich in tradition and has amazing people working in it," he said. "I’m going to do the very best I can to take what it is and make it a little bit better."