Hoover High School made it official Thursday night, approving Drew Gilmer as the next head football coach of the perennial Class 7A power.

Gilmer leaves Clay-Chalkville, a school he led to two of the last three Class 6A state championships.

He takes over the reigns of the Bucs program for Wade Waldrop, who resigned in early December after two years and is now the head coach at Orange Beach.

Gilmer went 81-12 in seven seasons as Clay’s head coach, including 15-0 in 2021 and 14-0 in 2023. The Cougars’ 2023 season ended with a dramatic win over then-No. 1 Saraland in the title game at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

Under Gilmer, Clay-Chalkville was 37-5 in region play and 20-5 in the playoffs. In addition to their two recent state titles, the Cougars made the semifinals twice and the quarterfinals two other times.

“A few weeks ago, we were given the news that we were going to need to secure a new football coach,” Hoover AD Harley Lamey said. “We started the search, started putting our feelers out and talking to people, and we brought in people from the community — youth coaches, parents, school employees and a good cross-section of people that a had a vested interest in the program – and got their input and it surprisingly lined up with what we wanted.”

“As we went through it, we found there was one guy,” Lamey added. “I’m very happy we were able to come to this. This is the flagship program in the state and I’m not just talking about football. I’m talking about athletics, the high school, community — this is it. This is the best place to live in Alabama and the best high school in Alabama and we have the best athletics in Alabama. Hoover High School is the standard. That being said, we had to get somebody that could uphold the standard and take care of business on the field.”

Gilmer, a longtime Clay-Chalkville assistant, took over for Jerry Hood in 2017. He spent seven years at Clay in several different roles before taking over as head coach. He also worked at Pinson Valley, his alma mater, before joining the Cougars staff.

Gilmer takes over a Hoover program that won a combined 11 state titles under former coaches Rush Propst and Josh Niblett between 2000 and 2017 and became the state’s most recognized high school football program.

“This is a tremendous, tremendous honor,” Gilmer said. I am extremely grateful and looking forward to that opportunity. It’s a dream come true. You just look around this place and you look at all this. It is the standard, there’s no doubt about it. We’re going to continue that and we’re going to build it. We’re going to do everything that we can, everything in my power, to make you guys proud. Don’t get me wrong, we’re going to win, but we’re here to build young men. It’s a passion of mine man, which is why I got into it. This is for no other reason than that.

“People invested in me as a young child growing up and I got one up here (Hood). He took me and raised me up and when I thought I knew everything, I didn’t know nothing. That’s what we want to do, I want to build relationships with these young men, with the community, and if we do those things we create high-character young men. We’re going to win on the field, I promise you that. And not only are they going to win on the field, they’re going to win in the classroom and they’re going to win in the community.”

“Looking forward to the years to come and I’ll be here as long as y’all have me. So, we’re not going anywhere.”

Despite the success under Propst and Niblett, the Bucs haven’t reached the 7A title game since that 2017 championship as Region 3 rival Thompson has dominated the classification, winning four consecutive state titles at one point. Gilmer’s Clay-Chalkville team defeated Thompson 36-33 this past season.

Waldrop’s final Hoover team started 1-5 before rallying to make the playoffs. The Bucs lost to another region rival, Hewitt-Trussville, 40-7 in the second round to finish 5-7.

“We’re looking forward to it,” Gilmer said of competing in Region 3. “We talk about all the time, this can be one of the toughest regions in the state. That’s what high school football is all about — those big-time matchups you get to play every Friday night. Monday through Thursday, that’s where we put in the work. Then on Friday, this is payday, let’s go out there and have fun and execute at a high level. I’ll be honest with you, we have no rivals because we’re our own rivals.”