New Hoover football coach Drew Gilmer will begin his first season with the Bucs at a prestigious national showcase in Florida.

Hoover takes on Western of Davie, Fla., at noon on August 24 as part of the Broward County National Football Showcase.

“Everybody is super excited about it,” Gilmer said. “You don’t get a chance to do something like this much so we’ll put on our shirts and take this trip down there and experience all this and crank up our era here at Hoover.”

Gilmer left Clay-Chalkville for the Hoover job, replacing Wade Waldrop, who resigned in December and was announced as the new head coach at Orange Beach.

Gilmer compiled an 81-12 record in seven years at Clay-Chalkville, leading the Cougars to a 14-0 record and upset win over Class 6A top-ranked Saraland for the 2023 championship. Gilmer’s 2021 team was also undefeated, 15-0, and won the 6A title.

Clay-Chalkville won the last three 6A, Region 6 championships and Gilmer has a 20-5 playoff record, guiding the Cougars to the playoffs all seven seasons with two trips to the semifinal round and twice to the quarterfinals in addition to the two titles.

Gilmer has started the process at Hoover.

“It’s all good,” Gilmer said. “We’ve had a good couple of weeks of work in our offseason training. The kids are doing great and the coaches are doing really good so we’re hard at it.”

The third annual showcase features 12 teams, all ranked in the High School Football America top 300 at some point during the 2023 season.

Broward County National Football Showcase

August 22 – Peachtree Ridge (Ga.) vs. No. 125 Monarch (Fla.), 5 PM at Coconut Creek HS

August 22 – No. 244 Miami Northwestern (Fla.) at No. 101 Coconut Creek (Fla.), 8 PM at Coconut Creek HS

August 23 – No. 195 Lake Mary (Fla.) at No. 118 Cardinal Gibbons (Fla.), 7 PM at Cardinal Gibbons HS

August 23 – No. 5 Bishop Gorman (Nev.) at No. 6 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.), TBD at St. Thomas Aquinas HS

August 24 – No. 2 Chaminade-Madonna (Fla.) vs. No. 3 St. John Bosco (Calif.), 8 PM at St. Thomas Aquinas HS

August 24 – No. 18 Milton (Ga.) vs. No. 48 American Heritage (Fla.), TBD at St. Thomas Aquinas HS

August 24 – Hoover at No. 96 Western (Fla.), Noon at Western HS