This is an opinion piece.

So, who’s the next head football coach at Hoover High?

Wade Waldrop resigned Tuesday after just two years leading the Bucs.

Waldrop, who was hired after one year at Florence, went 16-9 overall. His 2022 team went 11-2 and defeated Thompson to win the Class 7A, Region 3 title but lost to the Warriors in the state semifinals a few weeks later.

The Bucs started just 1-5 this season but rallied to reach the Class 7A quarterfinals before losing to Hewitt-Trussville. They finished 5-7.

Waldrop’s brief tenure followed highly successful runs by Rush Propst and Josh Niblett, who combined to win 11 state titles. So, again I ask, who is next?

Who is the right man to try to compete with Mark Freeman and the nearby Thompson dynasty along with always competitive Hewitt-Trussville, resurgent Vestavia Hills and the other Region 3 rivals?

Here are a few names I might look at if I were on a Hoover search committee:

Richie Busby, Helena

Busby has been head coach at two schools. He’s been successful at both. He went 40-17 in five years at Fultondale, including an 11-1 season in 2017. He is 44-22 in his sixth year at Helena, including a 9-3 record this fall.

Bill Clark, former UAB coach

Would he want to get back into coaching and, if so, would he want to do it at the high school level? He retired as the head coach at UAB in June 2022, needing spinal fusion surgery to mend his ailing back. He spent eight years and six seasons at UAB, winning 49 games and a pair of CUSA championships. Before that, he turned Prattville High into a 6A dynasty, winning back-to-back Class 6A state titles in 2006 and 2007.

Jamey DuBose, former Orange Beach coach

Another former Prattville head coach, DuBose has been successful at every stop. He followed Clark at Prattville and won state titles in 2008 and 2011. He also won a Class 7A state title at Central-Phenix City in 2018. He spent the last two years at Orange Beach before stepping down last month.

Chad Eads, Gardendale head coach

Eads spent 11 years as the offensive line coach at Hoover before taking over at Gardendale. He has a 45-28 record in six years with the Rockets. Gardendale slipped to 3-8 in 2023, Eads led the team to nine wins in 2020 and 2022 and 10 in 2021.

Jake Ganus, Moody

One of the rising young coaching stars in the state, Ganus has had a pair of 10- win seasons in his first two years at Moody. This year’s team went 10-3 and reached the Class 5A quarterfinals. Ganus, a Chelsea graduate, was a star player at both UAB and the University of Georgia and also spent time on Mark Freeman’s staff at Thompson.

Zach Golson, Mary G. Montgomery

Another rising young star, Golson has resurrected a doormat program at Mary G. Montgomery. The former McGill-Toolen and Daphne offensive coordinator has won 18 of his 24 games in two years with the Vikings and taken them to the postseason in both seasons – a place the team hadn’t been in two decades. This year’s team won its first 12 games before losing to eventual state champ Central-Phenix City in the Class 7A semifinals.

Aryvia Holmes, McAdory

A former Hoover assistant, Holmes has led McAdory to 19 wins in his three years as head coach. The Yellow Jackets have made the playoffs each season, though they’ve yet to win a postseason game during that span.

Mark Hudspeth, Gulf Shores

The former college coach led Gulf Shores to its first state championship last week. The Dolphins finished a 15-0 season with a 21-14 win over Ramsay in the Class 5A title game. Hudspeth also has been a head coach at North Alabama, Louisiana-Lafayette and Austin Peay. He is 32-6 in three seasons at Gulf Shores.

Kirk Johnson, Montgomery Catholic

Few coaches in the state have been more successful than Johnson over the course of the last three seasons. Since taking over for Aubrey Blackwell at Catholic, Johnson is 41-2 with the only two losses coming in state semifinal games. He led this year’s team to a 15-0 record and a Class 4A state title. He will coach the South in Friday’s North-South All-Star Game in Mobile.

Darrell LeBeaux, Pleasant Grove

Another coach who likely hasn’t gotten the accolades he deserves is LeBeaux. In six years at Pleasant Grove, he has led the Spartans to 66 victories and three state championship games. His teams have reached at least the quarterfinals in every season except his first at the school.

Jamie Mitchell, Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa

Mitchell has won 34 games in three years at Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa, including a run to the state semifinals in 2021 and the Class 6A quarterfinals in 2023. He spent one year at Shades Valley before taking the job at Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa.

Bryan Moore, Hartselle

Moore, a longtime Opelika assistant, has been successful everywhere he has been. He is 38-9 at his current job, which includes a 6A quarterfinal run in 2022. He went 22-3 at Jasper and 26-9 in three years at Eufaula.

Chad McGehee, James Clemens

McGhee spent three years as Hoover’s defensive coordinator before leaving for James Clemens. He led the Jets to a 10-0 regular season in 2021 before they lost to Oak Mountain 38-35 in the first round of the 7A playoffs. The team went 4-6 in 2022 before bouncing back with a 7-4 record this fall.

Josh Niblett, Gainesville, Ga.

Niblett retired from Alabama coaching two years ago and has quickly built a contender at Gainesville, Ga. His Red Elephants went 14-1 in 2022 and played for a state title and followed that with a 12-1 year this season. He won six state titles in 14 previous years as the Hoover head coach.

Patrick Nix, Central-Phenix City

There always seems to be rumors about Patrick Nix moving, likely because of his track record of success. His Central team just finished a 13-0 season by beating Thompson and winning the Class 7A state title. He also won a pair of Class 6A state titles at Pinson Valley with son Bo as the quarterback and has been a college assistant.

Jeremy Pruitt, former Tennessee coach

Could it be? The former Tennessee head coach and Alabama and Florida State defensive coordinator worked with his father Dale at Plainview High this fall. He spent three years under Rush Propst as an assistant at Hoover, including two as defensive coordinator.

Rush Propst, Pell City

And speaking of Propst, could the highly successful but often controversial coach return to the scene of his greatest successes? He won 110 games and five state titles as the Bucs head coach from 1999-2007. He made his return to the Alabama sidelines this past fall as the coach at Pell City.

Caleb Ross, Troy University

The former high school head coach has been on Troy University’s off-the-field staff for the past three seasons. Jon Sumrall’s departure to Tulane could leave Ross in limbo. He led McGill-Toolen to the Class 7A state title 2015, part of a three-year tenure as head coach there. He’s also been a head coach at Thompson, Opelika and Prattville.

Clifford Story, former Lanett coach

With two sons playing major college football, Story stepped down at Lanett following the 2022 season. In 14 years as the coach, he went 114-50 and won state titles in 2017 and 2019.

Ben Thomas is the high school sportswriter at AL.com. He has been named one of the 50 legends of the Alabama Sports Writers Association. Follow him on twitter at @BenThomasPreps or email him at [email protected]. He can be heard weekly on “Inside High School Sports” on SportsTalk 99.5 FM in Mobile or on the free IHeart Radio App at 2 p.m. Wednesdays.