DES MOINES, Iowa — The 2022 season is a new era for the Hoover High School football program. First-year Head Coach Theo Evans is leading the charge at his old stomping grounds.
He graduated from Hoover a little over a decade ago. Now, he's back to help build the program into what he believes it has the potential to be.
Being out on the field almost wasn't possible for the Hoover football team this fall. They were on the brink of not having a season due to lack of players. But then...
"This job opened up and obviously it was kind of big news and they [weren't going to] play and this and that," Evans said. "So I knew I had to come take this job and not really let anybody have a chance to get this job. I knew this was the time and if I was gonna do it, it had to be this season."
Evans finally got the job he had been wanting for years. In his first year at the helm of the program, he has high expectation for what he wants it to become.
"We can definitely see a future where if we continue doing what we're doing, then we're gonna be up there with the top 4A schools in this state and then eventually we want to get back to playing 5A football," Evans said.
He knows they have a long way to go, but that's not stopping him.
"New Hoover is doing things the right way and doing what it takes to be special in the classroom, in the community and on the football field. So that includes being in class on time, all the time, and learning, putting your phone away, headphones away," Evans said. "That means going to the weight room at least twice or three times a week during football season and again in the offseason. That means running track, playing multiple sports. That means being a good community member in your community and being home at a responsible time and doing responsible things in the community. We kind of preach all that stuff. That's what new Hoover is and what new Hoover will be until. . . I get fired or until I die."