Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney
Hoover High School offensive coordinator Chip English has been named the interim coach for the Bucs. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
With the turmoil surrounding the Hoover High School football program in recent days, Chip English has been named the Bucs' interim head coach.
Head coach Drew Gilmer and defensive coordinator Adam Helms were placed on administrative leave Tuesday, pending a Hoover City Schools board investigation. Their resignations were accepted Thursday, effective immediately.
English was announced as the interim coach Wednesday morning. Hoover schools confirmed he would serve in that role for the remainder of the 2024 season.
“Coach English brings a wealth of experience and dedication to the team, and we are confident in his ability to lead the Bucs as they prepare for the upcoming season. Practice sessions will continue as scheduled, ensuring the team remains focused and ready for their first game. Our players and coaches appreciate your support during this football season,” Hoover schools said in a Wednesday statement.
So, who is Chip English?
English is in his second year at Hoover, serving as the quarterbacks coach last fall under Wade Waldrop. As Gilmer assembled his staff upon taking the job, he retained English to be the Bucs' offensive coordinator in addition to his responsibility coaching quarterbacks.
English arrived at Hoover ahead of the 2023 season after serving as the Albertville High head coach for two years. Taking over an Albertville program that has won just two playoff games in the last 30 years, the Aggies had a combined 2-18 record over his two years there.
Prior to Albertville, English served as the head coach at Grissom for four years. Grissom is another program that has fallen on hard times in recent seasons. The Tigers went 16-25 over his four years there, going 6-5 in 2020 and making the program's only other playoff appearance since 2004.
Coaching at Grissom was English's introduction to Alabama. English's first coaching stops were in North Carolina, first at A.L. Brown High School in Kannapolis as an assistant, and as the head coach at West Caldwell High School for three years. He turned around the West Caldwell program as well, taking over a team that had won one total game in the three years before he got there. By his third year at West Caldwell, English led the program to a 10-win season in 2016 before accepting the Grissom job.
English and his wife, Heather, have five children. Their son, Trot, is a senior on the football team.
Hoover has limited time to prepare for its first game of the season, which is set for Saturday, Aug. 24, at Western High School in Davie, Florida.
