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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. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
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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.
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Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Drew Gilmer, Hoover’s new head football coach, talks with Jerry Hood, a former head coach at Clay-Chalkville and current coach at Leeds High School, as Gilmer is revealed as the Bucs’ head football coach on the Jumbotron during a press conference at the Hoover Met Stadium on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
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Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Clay-Chalkville head coach Drew Gilmer talks to the media after the Cougars defeated Thompson 36-33 at Thompson High School’s Warrior Stadium in Alabaster on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Clay-Chalkville head coach Drew Gilmer talks to the offense during a timeout in the Class 6A state championship game between the Cougars and Saraland at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
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Photo by James Nicholas.
Clay-Chalkville Head coach Drew Gilmer walks the sideline calling out plays during a game against Briarwood on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, at Jerry Hood Stadium in Clay. Photo by James Nicholas.
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Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Clay-Chalkville head coach Drew Gilmer holds up the Class 6A state championship trophy as he brings it over to the Cougars following their 46-42 win over Hueytown in the Class 6A state championship game at Protective Stadium on Friday, Dec. 3, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
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Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Clay-Chalkville head coach Drew Gilmer holds his daughter Georgia as he’s interviewed following the Cougars 31-28 win over Saraland in the Class 6A state championship game at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
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Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Clay-Chalkville head coach Drew Gilmer reacts to a call during a Class 6A quarterfinal game between Clay-Chalkville and Mountain Brook on Friday, Nov. 20, 2020, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook. The Spartans defeated the Cougars 21-10 to advance to the Class 6A semifinal game against Pinson Valley. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
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Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Clay-Chalkville head coach Drew Gilmer accepts the Class 6A state semifinal trophy following the Cougars 38-13 victory over Parker at Cougar Stadium in Clay on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
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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.
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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.
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Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
The Jumbotron displays a graphic of 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
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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 to players, parents and members of the community at Hoover High School on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
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Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Hoover head coach Drew Gilmer fist-bumps members of the Bucs’ cheerleading team after being introduced to players, parents and members of the community at Hoover High School on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
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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.
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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.
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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.
HOOVER – Hoover High School’s football program last reached the state championship game in 2017, and the Bucs believe they have found the man to return the program to those heights.
At a Hoover City Schools board meeting Thursday, Drew Gilmer was approved as the next Hoover football coach. He was formally introduced at a press conference following the meeting.
“We had to get someone to take care of business on the field and uphold the banner, ‘Champions in all we do.’ I think we have somebody that will continue to carry that mantra on into the next several years,” Hoover Athletics Director Harley Lamey said.
Hoover picked someone familiar with the sport’s biggest stage. Gilmer comes from Clay-Chalkville, a team fresh off its second Class 6A state championship in the last three years.
“This is the place, and the program in the state, and the country,” said Gilmer, emphasizing each ‘the’ to indicate his reverence for the Hoover program.
Gilmer has been the head coach at Clay-Chalkville for the last seven seasons, compiling a record of 81-12. The Cougars posted double-digit wins in six of those years, including the 2023 season, in which they went 14-0 in a campaign that included wins over 7A power Thompson and defending state champ Saraland in the 6A championship game.
“It was a fun year,” Gilmer said of Clay-Chalkville’s most recent team. “What was fun was that group of seniors that were phenomenal football players, but they are phenomenal human beings.”
Gilmer will take the reins at Hoover following Wade Waldrop, who resigned in December after two years. Waldrop was recently named the new head coach at Orange Beach.
Hoover posted a 5-7 record in 2023, advancing to the second round of the Class 7A playoffs. In 2022, Waldrop led the Bucs to an 11-2 record, a Region 3 championship and a trip to the semifinals in his first season. Waldrop has a combined record of 116-84 over 18 years as a head coach.
Hoover has won 11 state championships since 2000 but has yet to reach the state championship game since finishing off a second straight state title in 2017. The Bucs advanced to the semifinals in the five successive seasons, each time falling to Thompson, a program that has assumed prominence over the past seven years.
“You can do it again. That’s our goal,” Gilmer said. “That’s what we’re trying to achieve, but that doesn’t define who we are.”
At Clay-Chalkville, Gilmer succeeded Jerry Hood, who was the most successful coach in program history until Gilmer’s recent run. Hood, now the coach at Leeds, was in attendance Thursday to support his former assistant. Gilmer served as an assistant at Clay-Chalkville for seven years before being named Hood’s successor.
“People invested in me growing up. I’ve got one here in Coach Hood. People like that is what this is all about. He took me and raised me up, even when I thought I knew everything,” Gilmer said.
Gilmer graduated from Pinson Valley in 2003, playing on both sides of the ball for the Indians. He returned to his alma mater following a baseball career at Central Alabama Community College and graduating from the University of Alabama.
Gilmer’s first season at Hoover will be his first navigating the rigors of Class 7A, Region 3, which features Thompson, Vestavia Hills, Prattville, Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County, Hewitt-Trussville and Oak Mountain now.
“This can be one of the toughest regions in the state, and that’s fun,” he said. “That’s what high school football is all about, those big time football games.”
