The Drew Gilmer era is set to get underway at Hoover High School football (Alabama)

The Buccaneers new leader is fresh off an AHSAA Class 6A state championship at Clay-Chalkville

Drew Gilmer, the new head coach at Hoover, coached Clay-Chalkville to a victory Saraland in the 2023 AHSAA Class 6A football state championship game at Bryant Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Friday December 8, 2023. / Mickey Welsh / USA TODAY NETWORK

Hoover high school has a storied football tradition in the state of Alabama, but the Buccaneers have not won a state championship since 2017. In January, the school made a major move which it hopes will change this fact, in a hurry.

Drew Gilmer, who led the Clay-Chalkville Cougars to the 2023 Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) Class 6A state championship, has been hired as Hoover's new head coach. Gilmer spent seven seasons at Clay-Chalkville and compiled a record of 81-12 (.871), including a 14-0 season in 2023 which concluded with a win over 7A powerhouse Thompson and a victory over defending champion Saraland in the 6A state title game. It was the Cougars second state championship in the last three years under Gilmer.

Hoover, on the other hand, dropped to 5-7 last fall and fell in the second round of the state playoffs. In the aftermath Wade Waldrop, who is now the head coach at Orange Beach, resigned and shortly thereafter Gilmer was offered the position.

So, why would someone leave such success to rebuild another program?

"I'm extremely grateful and looking forward to the opportunity. This is a dream come true," said Gilmer at his introductory press conference back in January. "If you just look around this place, it is the standard. We are going to build it to make you proud. Winning is important and we are going to win. We are going to build young men. (It’s a) passion of mine to invest in these players. I want to build relationships with these young men. High character, win in the classroom and the community. Looking forward to the years to come."

Gilmer began his coaching career as an assistant at Pinson Valley, where he played his high school football and graduated in 2003, before moving to Clay-Chalkville as an assistant. He spent seven seasons in that role before he was hired to replace his mentor and friend Jerry Hood. Hood was Clay-Chalkville’s most successful head coach ever, prior to Gilmer’s tenure.

“People invested in me growing up. I’ve got one here in Coach Hood,” Gilmer told the Hoover Sun in January. “People like that is what this is all about. He took me and raised me up, even when I thought I knew everything.”

A new era begins in 2024 for the Hoover Buccaneers as Drew Gilmer takes the helm of the football program. Gilmer has won two Alabama state championships in the last three seasons with Clay-Chalkville and will look to restore glory to a Hoover program which won 11 state titles between 2000 and 2017. / Mickey Welsh / Advertiser / USA TODAY

The 2017 season was the same one in which Hoover completed a run of back-to-back state championships and captured its11th title since 2000. From that point, however, the Bucs took a back seat to Thompson, which defeated Hoover in the state semifinals five consecutive years before last year’s second round post-season exit.

If Gilmer was looking for a challenge, he’s found it. Hoover is in Class 7A, Region 3, along with Thompson, as well as Vestavia Hills, Prattville, Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County, Hewitt-Trussville and Oak Mountain.

RELATED: Alabama high school football teams set to compete under new AHSAA classifications in 2024

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