News Article: Hoover High Football Coaches Placed on Leave -- Coaches Have Now Resigned

[CB4]

Hoover High School has placed its Head Coach Drew Gilmer and Defensive Coordinator Adam Helms on administrative leave pending a full investigation.

Gilmer was hired by Hoover back in January to replace Wade Waldrop.

***Mods feel free to move/remove if this isn’t appropriate place/forum for this.

Hoover football coach Drew Gilmer placed on administrative leave

Hoover’s Drew Gilmer and defensive coordinator Adam Helms placed on leave as practice videos surface.

www.al.com

 

[jthomas666]

Can Hoover hire a normal coach? Just curious.

 

[CB4]

Can Hoover hire a normal coach? Just curious.

They made a good decision with Niblett after getting rid of Propst. Waldrop left after a year because, well, he didn’t win

Enter Gilmer. Just came off a championship at Clay-Chalkville. Hoover under the gun given the recent success of Thompson High down the road.

 

[davefrat]

Not related to this story, and nothing to do with any allegations of wrongdoing by the coaches, but one of the players on our local high school team died at practice two days ago. Something to do with an undiagnosed heart issue.

He was a really good student and nice kid. I knew him from volunteering with the local schools.

Really awful situation.

 

[dtgreg]

Not related to this story, and nothing to do with any allegations of wrongdoing by the coaches, but one of the players on our local high school team died at practice two days ago. Something to do with an undiagnosed heart issue.

He was a really good student and nice kid. I knew him from volunteering with the local schools.

Really awful situation.

That IS awful. Life can be so cruel.

 

[CB4]

Let me add that stuff like in the videos was commonplace 45 years ago when I played football. Not saying it was right. Coaches “jacking you up” by the face mask, tossing players around, laying you out, etc. Coaches encouraged player fights. The humiliation was seen as part of toughening up process.

But this goes way overboard. You simply can’t do crap like this anymore. There are better ways to develop discipline and toughness.

 

[CB4]

Not related to this story, and nothing to do with any allegations of wrongdoing by the coaches, but one of the players on our local high school team died at practice two days ago. Something to do with an undiagnosed heart issue.

He was a really good student and nice kid. I knew him from volunteering with the local schools.

Really awful situation.

The combination of undiagnosed medical situations and congenital heart defects in conjunction with the stress of practice/workouts in extreme conditions like heat are terrible. Sometimes even the most extensive preseason physicals and evaluations still miss things.

This is so sad. My prayers for the family and friends of this young man.

 

[lowend]

The combination of undiagnosed medical situations and congenital heart defects in conjunction with the stress of practice/workouts in extreme conditions like heat are terrible. Sometimes even the most extensive preseason physicals and evaluations still miss things.

Most high school athletic physicals are a joke. Athletes need real physical with an EKG where a doctor takes time to examine them.....not a cattle call where they run the entire team through as quickly as possible.

 

[davefrat]

Most high school athletic physicals are a joke. Athletes need real physical with an EKG where a doctor takes time to examine them.....not a cattle call where they run the entire team through as quickly as possible.

For sure.

The one my son had last year for soccer was like blood pressure, balance test, check your eyes and ears and you're good to go.

Pretty much totally useless.

 

[CrimsonBloodn62]

For sure.

The one my son had last year for soccer was like blood pressure, balance test, check your eyes and ears and you're good to go.

Pretty much totally useless.

I bet the doctor's office had no problem taking your money for that useless physical. Making you cough must not be part of the physicals now. Lol

 

[N.al-tider]

Back to the original topic, both of those coaches will likely never coach again if there is any justice in the world today. Seriously? Humping the head of a kid? Knocking another player to the ground while at the same time yanking his helmet off? Totally out of line.

 

[Cruloc]

I imagine these two coaches are now rationalizing to their families and friends what they did, instead of just telling them....yeah, we screwed up, made a humungous mistake.

 

[gtgilbert]

Back to the original topic, both of those coaches will likely never coach again if there is any justice in the world today. Seriously? Humping the head of a kid? Knocking another player to the ground while at the same time yanking his helmet off? Totally out of line.

maybe, but reading further into the article and it looks like some of the players still support the coaches and want them back on the field.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

maybe, but reading further into the article and it looks like some of the players still support the coaches and want them back on the field.

I wonder if the players who are still in support of the coaches are the ones who've never had their head "humped" or their head almost pulled out between their shoulders while still in the helmet?

 

[CB4]

I wonder if the players who are still in support of the coaches are the ones who've never had their head "humped" or their head almost pulled out between their shoulders while still in the helmet?

I looked a little closer at the video. Some players are saying the coach was grabbing the back his shoulder pads like “take those pads off and get off the field”. And maybe it was that. But regardless of the intent, both of those episodes were about humiliation, not coaching or teaching. Want to get your point across? Tell the player to go park his rear on the sideline and “take his pads off until he decides he wants to practice like he deserves to wear them”.

There is no excuse for anyone to rip a kid’s helmet off or put their hands on a kid like that or rip off a helmet and knock a kid flat on his back.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I looked a little closer at the video. Some players are saying the coach was grabbing the back his shoulder pads like “take those pads off and get off the field”. And maybe it was that. But regardless of the intent, both of those episodes were about humiliation, not coaching or teaching. Want to get your point across? Tell the player to go park his rear on the sideline and “take his pads off until he decides he wants practice like he deserves to wear them”.

There is no excuse for anyone to rip a kid’s helmet off or put their hands on a kid like that or rip off a helmet and knock a kid flat on his back.

In this day and age the moment a faculty member puts their hands on a student they normally do not come out ahead in the situation. It usually doesn't end well for the faculty member. It's been like that for decades now, so I'm somewhat surprised we still have people do it, even coaches.

 

[CB4]

In this day and age the moment a faculty member puts their hands on a student they normally do not come out ahead in the situation. It usually doesn't end well for the faculty member. It's been like that for decades now, so I'm somewhat surprised we still have people do it, even coaches.

I was coaching baseball years ago. We had a particularly bad defensive inning. I had one of my assistant coaches grab a kid coming off the field and he got a little too physical attempting to make his point. I immediately stepped in and told him “you’re the adult. Act like it or get off this field”. He reigned himself him, took a few deep breaths, walked over the kid and apologized to the kid and the rest of the team. THAT made more of impression on those 14 year olds than, as Saban calls it “a butt chewing”.

The funny thing was this guy was absolutely the least emotional, most down to earth person among the guys helping me with the team. He was the last one you would expect to “lose his cool”.

Both of these coaches are in serious trouble. The parents of both players have already retained attorneys. If they coach again, it probably won’t be this year and probably not at Hoover.

 

[davefrat]

I bet the doctor's office had no problem taking your money for that useless physical. Making you cough must not be part of the physicals now. Lol

It was at the “doc in a box“ at a pharmacy…NP works in what looks like the interior of an ambulance inside a Walgreens.

Took like 10 minutes and cost like $50.

Total joke.

 

[81usaf92]

Can Hoover hire a normal coach? Just curious.

Nibblett was pretty normal. This guy was mostly viewed as a stand up winner before this. But Clay Chalkville is alot different than Hoover even if it is one class under Hoover.

 

[gtgilbert]

I wonder if the players who are still in support of the coaches are the ones who've never had their head "humped" or their head almost pulled out between their shoulders while still in the helmet?

I'd have to guess there is some type of rift or division among the players, and that it's a big enough split that one group doesn't really care about these things happening to the other group.