Alabama
Two Alabama high school football coaches resign after staff is caught thrusting hips in player’s face, ripping off helmets during practice
Two Alabama high school football coaches have resigned from their positions over inappropriate behavior that circulated across social media, which included staffers thrusting their hips in players’ faces during practices.
Head coach Drew Gilmer and defensive coordinator Adam Helms left their roles with the Hoover High School football team after they were initially placed on administrative leave, the school district announced during a Board of Education special meeting on Thursday.
In one of the videos, obtained by WBRC, a coach was caught thrusting his hips into the face of a player on the ground as another coach ripped a different player’s helmet off following a tackle in practice.
The second video showed a coach sprinting across the field and ripping another player’s helmet off their head as the high schooler fell to the ground during a drill.
“This has nothing to do with him being a good coach on the field of play. It has everything to do with what was depicted on the video in an instance that left pause and concern again throughout, not just Alabama, but throughout the sports industry as a whole,” said Alabama state Rep. Juandalyn Givan according to the outlet.
The school district has not confirmed who the coaches in the videos were, according to the outlet.
“The past few days have been extremely unsettling for many of our varsity football players, coaches, and the overall Hoover Community,” Hoover Schools Superintendent Kevin Maddox said in release obtained by WBRC. “The safety and well-being of our students and staff continue to be our top priorities.
“We maintain high expectations for our employees and students. At this time, our focus is dedicated to supporting our football players and coaching staff.”
Givan, representing the players in the videos, alleges that the 17-year-old player was “subjected to an experience no child should ever go through regardless if it’s on the field of play,” AL.com reported.
On Wednesday, the school district announced offensive coordinator Chip English as the interim head coach for the team, which opens up its season on Aug. 24 in Miami, Florida.
The Hoover Police Department said it is investigating the incidents in the videos.
Some student-athletes on the team shared their support for the coaches after they were placed on administrative leave.
“We love Coach Gilmer and Coach Helms! Ask any player on the roster. They’ve done a lot for us and the Hoover program,” one student said on social media. “If the players want him as our coach, we should be able to keep him! He might coach a little differently, but that’s why he wins!”
Gilmer was hired as the new head coach in January after his tenure at Clay-Chalkville High School in Pinson, Alabama — where he went 81-12.
Helms followed Gilmer to Hoover High School from Clay-Chalkville.
The Hoover High School varsity football program was featured in the MTV reality series “Two-A-Days.”
The show had 19 episodes between two seasons which ran from Aug. 2006 to April 2007.
Alabama
Southern 88-85 Alabama A&M (Mar 5, 2026) Game Recap – ESPN
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — — Terrance Dixon Jr.’s 19 points helped Southern defeat Alabama A&M 88-85 on Thursday.
Dixon shot 7 of 10 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line for the Jaguars (15-16, 11-7 Southwestern Athletic Conference). Michael Jacobs scored 15 points while going 4 of 11 and 7 of 9 from the free-throw line, and added five rebounds. AJ Barnes shot 3 for 7 (1 for 3 from 3-point range) and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line to finish with 14 points, while adding six rebounds.
Koron Davis finished with 23 points for the Bulldogs (17-14, 10-8). James Graham added 19 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals for Alabama A&M. Kintavious Dozier also had 12 points.
The Jaguars led by 10 points with 59 seconds to go, before the Bulldogs executed a three-point play from Bilal Abdur-Rahim then got a 3-pointer from Dozier in the span of nine seconds, cutting the deficit to four. A free throw battle closed out the result for the Jaguars.
——
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Alabama
Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama
Jaxon Richardson, the No. 27 overall recruit in the 2026 class per the Rivals Industry Ranking, has committed to Alabama.
The 6-foot-6 four-star small forward out of Southeastern Prep (FL) ultimately chose the Crimson Tide over USC, Creighton, and Ole Miss. He also received offers from Miami, Cincinnati, Michigan, Florida, Villanova, and others.
Richardson, a McDonald’s All-American, becomes the Crimson Tide’s third commitment of the 2026 cycle. He joins four-star shooting guard Qayden Samuels (No. 28 NATL) and four-star small forward Tarris Bouie (No. 54 NATL).
He’s the son of NBA veteran and two-time NBA Dunk Contest champion Jason Richardson. His older brother, Jase, played for Michigan State last season before being selected 25th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic.
More on Richardson
Rivals’ National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw says Richardson is one of the most explosive players in the 2026 class:
Jaxon Richardson is able to combine fluid athleticism with explosive burst in a way no other player in this class can. He uses his athleticism to his advantage on the floor. He fills the outside channels with a purpose in transition, he is aggressive in the passing lanes, and he plays as a vertical floor spacer in the dunker spots and lob plays. Last summer, playing with the Florida Rebels on Nike’s EYBL Circuit, the 6-foot-6 wing averaged 12.8 points on 54.0 percent shooting and 10.5 attempts per game. Last high school season, he averaged 12.9 points on 61.0 percent shooting on 8.9 attempts per game. He is a highly efficient player, as 84.4 percent of his makes last high school season were at the rim.
Alabama
Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets
Alabama baseball cruised to a win over Alabama State on Wednesday night, beating the Hornets 13-4 to complete the season sweep. The Crimson Tide tied a program record with nine stolen bases in one of the stranger contests that will be played this season.
The tone was set for a tumultuous night on the basepaths in the opening minutes of the game. Leadoff batter Bryce Fowler, who exited Tuesday’s game after getting beaned in the head, was walked, and promptly took second base. He advanced to third on a wild pitch in Justin Lebron’s at-bat, paving the way for Lebron to steal second when he was ultimately walked as well.
The successful baserunning instantly paid off, as Brady Neal drove both in with a double to left-center field before John Lemm walked two at-bats later. Both runners stole their respective bases on the same pitch in Jason Torres’ plate appearance, meaning that four of the first five batters of the game stole a base.
Alabama has been exceptional on the basepaths, sitting at 30-for-30 on the season. Lebron, who swiped two bags on Wednesday, leads the team with 12. The junior had an up-and-down night, hitting his eighth home run of the season, but also committing an error at shortstop for the fourth consecutive game.
“Get those things out of there now, baby. The dude is unbelievable,” an unconcerned Rob Vaughn said on Tuesday of Lebron’s errors. “We’re going to look up at the end of the year, and that guy is going to have five or six errors, which one he’s got right now, and we’ll be like, ‘Man, that guy is the best of all time to do it.’”
Wednesday’s game was a very prototypical midweek contest with no shortage of quirks and oddities throughout its nearly four-hour runtime. Fifteen Alabama batters were walked, falling just one shy of the program record, and the hit by pitch record was tied as seven batters were plunked.
The game was never competitive from an on-field standpoint. After barely escaping with a 2-1 win in the first matchup with the Hornets two weeks ago, this was a far more accurate representation of what these games typically look like, as Alabama now leads the all-time series 15-0.
Freshman Joe Chiarodo made his first career start, allowing two hits and one walk over two scoreless innings. He was named the winning pitcher. Luke Smyers, Connor Lehman, Anthony Pesci and Tate Robertson were the other pitchers to take the mound. Lehman allowed a three-run blast in the sixth inning, and those were the only runs until the incredibly-named Skywalker Mann drove in a run off Robertson in the ninth.
Perhaps the most shocking figure from the game was that Alabama had 19 runners left on base. The Crimson Tide left the bases loaded in four different innings. As stated, this was just a bizarre baseball game across the board. With the midweeks out of the way, the Crimson Tide gets to prepare for its final weekend tune-up before SEC play as North Florida heads into Tuscaloosa on Friday.
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