This is an opinion piece.

Josh Niblett is in Hoover.

After 14 dominant years at school, Niblett announced his retirement to Alabama on Friday. Reports say he will be announced early next week as the next head coach at Gainesville (Ga.) High.

He did an incredible job after the very successful tenure of Rush Propst.

Propst has won five Class 6A crown titles in nine years with the Bucs, including four in a row from 2002-2005.

It would be difficult for anyone to match.

Niblett not only matched that, but he took Hoover even higher.

He led the Bucs to six crown titles – three in Class 6A and three more when Class 7A was added to the AHSAA in 2014. His teams have reached the semi-finals in every year of his 14-year tenure and have averaged 12 wins per season.

He will continue to be successful in Georgia and will continue to impact the lives of young athletes because of who he is and who he represents.

But who will replace him at Hoover and will that person be able to continue the success that Propst and Niblett have installed, especially with Thompson who has now won three straight 7A titles?

Time will tell us.

It seems like gold rush work. Hoover remains among the best high school coaching jobs in the state. That’s why it’s hard to predict who might be the Bucs’ next head coach.

But you know me. I’ll give it a shot.

Here are some names that might interest you should they have an interest in the work:

Chad Eads, Gardendale Head Coach: Eads spent 11 years coaching the offensive line at Hoover before taking over at Gardendale. He’s 33-16 in four years with the Rockets, who were 10-3 last season.

Chad McGehee, Head Coach of James Clemens: McGhee spent three years as Hoover’s defensive coordinator before leaving last year for James Clemens. He led the Jets to a 10-0 regular season before losing to Oak Mountain 38-35 in the first round of the 7A Playoffs.

Hoover Assistant Coach Tad Niblett: Josh’s brother returned to Hoover in 2020 as an assistant coach after spending five years as a head coach at Foley. He went 17-34 with the Lions.

John Grass, Former Jacksonville State Head Coach: Grass resigned from JSU earlier this fall after winning 72 games and six conference championships at his alma mater. He spent 16 years as a high school head coach earlier in his career, most notably at Oxford (41-17) and Spain Park (19-6).

Chip Lindsey, Former Troy Head Coach: Lindsey was fired after three seasons at Troy last month. Like Grass, he is also a former Spain Park head coach and also spent time as an offensive coordinator at Auburn, Southern Miss and Arizona State.

Steve Mask, former head coach of St. Paul: The Hall of Fame recently resigned after a dominant run at St. Paul’s in Mobile. He has won 110 games and four state championships with the Saints in 10 years. He has also coached at Colbert County, Buckhorn and Bradshaw. After resigning, he told AL.com he is not done coaching.

Caleb Ross, Director of Personnel and High School Relations in Troy: Ross made the jump from middle school to high school with the Lindsey staff a year ago. He won a Class 7A state title at McGill-Toolen and was also a head coach at perennial powers Opelika and Prattville.

Rush Propst, Former Hoover Coach: I know I know. Not likely, I’m sure. But he started that Bucs domination streak and also won multiple state titles in Colquitt County, Georgia.

Steve Smith, Piedmont Head Coach: In 16 years, Smith has made Piedmont one of the state’s most recognizable football powers. Last week he led the Bulldogs to the Class 3A State title – their fifth of his tenure. He won 186 games there and is 48-11 in the playoffs.

Keith Etheredge, Auburn High Head Coach: Etheredge is another of the state’s most successful high school head coaches over the past two decades. He won four state titles at Leeds and another at Oxford. His Tigers went 10-2 in his freshman year, losing twice to 7A runner-up Central-Phenix City.

Paul Benefield, Fyffe head coach: Has anyone had more success than this guy? He won 277 games and five state titles in 25 years at school. His team had the longest winning streak in the country with 51 games before losing to Geraldine earlier this year.

Patrick Nix, Head Coach of Central-Phenix City: Nix led Central-Phenix City to the Class 7A Championship game in his second season with the Red Devils. There is a 21-6 record in two years. He also won two Class 6A state titles in three years at Pinson Valley and won 28 games in four years at Scottsboro. He was previously the varsity offensive coordinator at Georgia Tech and Miami.

Bryan Moore, Hartselle Head Coach: Moore, a longtime Opelika assistant, was successful wherever he went. He is 17-5 in his current position, which included a 10-1 record this season. He went 22-3 in Jasper and 26-9 in three years at Eufaula.

Ben Blackmon, Head Coach of the Spanish Fort: Blackmon won 77 games and a state championship as the head coach of the Toros. He has also coached in Greenville and Gulf Shores.

Aryvia Holmes, McAdory Head Coach: Another former Hoover assistant, Holmes led McAdory to five consecutive wins in his first season as head coach in 2021. An injury to quarterback Cam Shepherd has likely slowed an even better season. The Yellow Jackets finished 7-4.

Darrell LeBeaux, Pleasant Grove: LeBeaux has led the Spartans to the Class 5A Championship game each of the past three seasons. He won 45 games in four years as a Pleasant Grove coach.

Todd Watson, Alabama Special Assistant to Head Coach: The former Hoover defensive coordinator went 80-36 in 10 seasons as a head coach at Foley. His star players included NFL wide receiver Julio Jones. He was also on the Troy and Tennessee staff before joining the Alabama staff under Nick Saban.

There are many other names that obviously could and can be considered. So much in fact that I added four more per day after this column was published.

I was just thinking of helping Hoover athletic director Andy Urban find a place to start.

Urban told AL.com on Friday that the goal will be to have a new coach ready for approval at the January board meeting.

Editor’s note: Four more potential candidates were added at 7:20 a.m. on December 11, 2021.