1 of 4
Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney
Hoover head coach Drew Gilmer speaks to players, parents and members of the community after being named the new head football coach for the Bucs at Hoover High School on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024.
2 of 4
Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Drew Gilmer, former head coach at Clay-Chalkville, speaks to the media after being named Hoover’s new head coach for the Bucs football program during a press conference at the Hoover Met Stadium on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
3 of 4
Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Hoover High School Harley Lamey introduces Drew Gilmer, former head coach at Clay-Chalkville, as Hoover’s new head coach for the Bucs football program during a press conference at the Hoover Met Stadium on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
4 of 4
Still shot from a video of a Hoover High School football practice on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024.
Drew Gilmer came into the Hoover High School head football coach job with high praise in January.
He had secured two 6A state championships in the previous three years at Clay-Chalkville High School in eastern Jefferson County, including a 14-0 2023 season and a win over 7A powerhouse Thompson.
The hope was that Gilmer would be the one to bring Hoover back to the 7A state championship game — something Hoover hasn’t accomplished since 2017 — and bring home the blue trophy again for the once-mighty Bucs. But that wasn’t to be.
Gilmer never got to coach a single official game for the Bucs. The Gilmer coaching reign crumbled in August after a video circulated nationally showing Gilmer pulling a player’s head to his groin and thrusting his hips toward the player’s face during a practice drill. Another video showed a coach identified as Gilmer charging across the field, grabbing a player’s helmet by the facemask and ripping the helmet off the player as the player fell to the ground.
The two incidents led to Gilmer and defensive coordinator Adam Helms being placed on administrative leave. The two coaches then quickly resigned. In a situation reminiscent of Mike Price at Alabama in 2003, it was the shortest football coaching tenure ever at Hoover High.
The incidents also prompted the families of two former Hoover football players to file a $30 million lawsuit against Gilmer, Helms, Superintendent Kevin Maddox, Athletic Director Harley Lamey and the Hoover Board of Education on Dec. 16, claiming physical and sexual assault, emotional distress and mental anguish.
All of the above combined to make Gilmer Hoover’s 2024 Newsmaker of the Year.
