A Rush To Resign

Rush Propst stepped down last week after just one season at Pell City.Photo byITG Sports

Pell City, AL - The tumultuous career of high school football coaching legend Rush Propst has taken yet another controversial turn.

I’ll pause for dramatic effect.

This is what Rush Propst does. This is what Rush Propst is. In like a lion. Out like a thundering herd of rabid elephants. Always under a cloud of accusation and suspicion. One salacious scandal after another. At Hoover, it was grade fixing, ineligible players and that “other family,” that brought Propst House of Cards tumbling down.

In a revealing interview for E:60 in a 2015 piece titled “Friday Night Light’s,” Propst was asked what its like to have two families. “It’s just like having one,” Propst replied.

In 2016 at Colquitt Co. in Moultrie, Ga. Propst head-butted a player and was suspended for the entire season. Eventually, it was reduced to a reprimand and Propst returned to the sideline. Three years later, he was fired for numerous undisclosed ethics violations.

Rush Propst can’t get out of his own way. Nobody can beat Rush Propst, except Rush Propst. And he does so with stunning regularity.

In 2020, he resurfaced at So. Georgia powerhouse, Valdosta where he lasted all of one season. He was fired after allegedly soliciting money to entice players and their families to join his program.

No matter where Rush Propst goes, there he is. Brash, bold and rarely apologetic, his greatest strengths often double as his most glaring weaknesses. From Ashville to Eufaula and Alba to Alma Bryant, Rush Propst, always leaves a mark. You can run if you’re Hoover, Colquitt Co. Valdosta or Pell City, but you can’t hide from the man with the slow hand and the easy touch.

Along the way, he’s won a lot of games. But he’s lost so much of himself.

Propst’s ascent into the public eye began during a star-crossed eight year run as head coach at Hoover High School, a bustling suburb of Birmingham, AL. When Propst arrived in 1999, he was a little-known head coach at a school that hadn’t made the playoffs in three years.

When he was forced out, eight years later, he left as the most recognizable high school football coach in America. Propst won five Class 6A state titles in his first 6 seasons as the Buccaneers head coach, posting a 96-7 overall record. No one in the storied history of Alabama high school football had ever dominated the sport the way in which Propst and Hoover did at the turn of the century.

As his football team collected more hardware, as his players signed more scholarships, the attention surrounding Rush Propst, specifically, and his Hoover football kingdom in general, grew exponentially.

From “Two-A-Days” to “Titletown,” and all spots in between, Rush Propst is can’t-miss TV. His volcanic temper. His memorable one-liners, “See Ya Sundy.” His uncanny ability to motivate. His legendary work ethic.

Rush Propst has never met a camera he didn’t like. Regardless of what that camera may have revealed about him. For Propst, the spotlight has been equal parts good and evil; serving as his greatest ally and his most despised rival.

Last season at Pell City notwithstanding, Propst is 307-96 in 31 seasons as a head coach. He’s won 7 state championships in two different states in their largest classifications. He’s coached more than 250 players who received football scholarships. His programs, are mainstays in the national polls.

As a football coach, Rush Propst has no peers. As a man, Rush Propst, in the eyes of many, leaves a lot to be desired.

He’s brash, he’s bold. He’s loved and he’s loathed. Everywhere Rush Propst goes, there he is. His trademark visor, his legendary intensity. His unmatched football acumen, his questionable morals.

When Rush Propst comes to town, he’s sure to burn it down. It’s not a matter of if, just a matter of when. Along the way, he’s touched a lot of lives. He’s also burned, check that, torched his share of bridges. An impenetrable force, reduced to a menial pile of smoldering lumber. He’s made a few friends, some of which are sworn enemies. No matter where Rush Propst goes, there he is. For better or worse.