| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 1957 (age 67) Ohatchee, Alabama |
| Playing career | |
| 1977–1978 | Jacksonville State |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1989–1993 | Ashville HS (AL) |
| 1994–1996 | Eufaula HS (AL) |
| 1997 | Alba HS (AL) |
| 1998 | Alma Bryant HS (AL) |
| 1999–2007 | Hoover HS (AL) |
| 2008–2018 | Colquitt County HS (GA) |
| 2019 | UAB (volunteer consultant) |
| 2020 | Valdosta HS (GA) |
| 2023 | Coosa Christian School (AL) (associate) |
| 2023 | Pell City HS (AL) |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 2023 | Coosa Christian School (AL) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 296-117 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1 National championship (2015) 5AHSAA Class 6A (2000, 2002–2005) 2GHSA Class 6A (2014–2015) | |
Thomas Rush Propst (born December 1957) is the former head football coach atPell City High School inPell City, Alabama.[1] He formerly served as athletic director and associate football coach at Coosa Christian School inGadsden, Alabama.[2] He is also the former head coach atValdosta High School inValdosta, Georgia,Colquitt County High School inMoultrie, Georgia, andHoover High School inHoover, Alabama. Propst gained national notoriety through theMTV seriesTwo-A-Days, which chronicled the 2005 and 2006 seasons of his Hoover teams.
He has helped over 250 players receive college scholarships, including players such asChad Jackson (Florida),John Parker Wilson (Alabama),Ryan Pugh (Auburn) andCornelius Williams (Troy). At the conclusion of the 2023 season, his 32–year head coaching record stood at 296–117 (.717 win percentage).[3]
Propst, who is ofGerman descent, is a native ofOhatchee, Alabama where he graduated from Ohatchee High School in 1976. Propst played high school football for Coach Ragan Clark, whose sonBill was later the head coach at Prattville High School, a Hoover rival, for many years. Ohatchee was 27–5–1 in Propst's three years as a starter atwide receiver anddefensive back, with Propst earning All-County recognition as a senior. In addition to football, he was a two-year starter on the basketball team and even though Ohatchee did not have a track program, he checked out of school one afternoon and won the District 100-yard dash his senior year.
Propst attended college atJacksonville State University (JSU) where he was a non-scholarship member of the JSU football team in 1976–1977. He graduated from Jacksonville State in 1981 with a degree in Physical Education. In 1990, he married Tammy Cox, his high school sweetheart, with whom he had three children. Propst divorced Tammy in 2008 and married his current wife, Stefnie, with whom he has four children.[4][5]
Ralph Clyde "Shorty" Propst, who was born in 1924 and played for the Alabama Crimson Tide, is his uncle.
Propst took his first coaching position as a student assistant at Ohatchee in 1977, the year they won their only state championship. His brother, Philip was a star on that team. He also served as an assistant coach for eight years at Cleburne County High School inHeflin, Alabama,Cherokee High School inCanton, Georgia, and Ashville High School inAshville, Alabama. Propst was eventually promoted to head football coach at Ashville High, serving from 1989 to 1993. He then moved on toEufaula High School inEufaula, Alabama from 1994 to 1996 before being hired by Alba High School inBayou La Batre, Alabama in 1997. In 1998, Propst coachedAlma Bryant High School, the school that resulted from Alba's merger with the high school inGrand Bay, Alabama. At Alma Bryant he amassed a 12–2 record.
He was hired at Hoover in 1999, where he coached for nine years, winning 110 games and five state championships. Propst's Hoover team was one of the top-ranked teams in theUnited States over much of the first decade of the new millennium, winningAlabama High School Athletic Association Class 6A state championships in five of the first six seasons including four consecutive titles from 2002 to 2005 (missing out on 6 straight after losses in the championship game toDaphne in 2001 andPrattville in 2006).[6] During Propst's tenure, Hoover was repeatedly ranked in the nation's top-25 polls, finishing as the #16 team in the nation in 2003,[7] #4 in the nation in 2004,[8] #8 in the nation in 2005,[9] and ranked #1 entering the 2006 season bySports Illustrated,USA Today[10] and theNational Prep Football Poll.[11] Propst's base salary at Hoover was$100,678.[12]
On January 30, 2008, Propst was named head coach at Colquitt County High School.[12] WhenLes Koenning left theUniversity of South Alabama in January 2009, head coachJoey Jones interviewed Propst to fill the vacant position as theoffensive coordinator.[13] After community uproar over the interview, Propst decided to stay at Colquitt County.[14]
In just his second year of coaching at Colquitt County, Propst took a team that had finished 2–8 in 2007 to an 11–3 season and the state semifinals in 2009.[15][16] In 2010, he led Colquitt County to the GHSA Class 5A State Championship Game.[17] In 2011, Colquitt finished 11–3 after losing 35–31 to the eventual state champions,Grayson High School, in the state semifinal game.[18] In 2012, Colquitt finished 10–4 after losing 41–27 to the eventual state champions,Norcross High School, in the state semifinal game.[19][20] In 2013, Colquitt finished 11–3 after losing 14–9 to the eventual state champions,Norcross High School, in the state semifinal game.[21][22] In 2014, Rush Propst led his Colquitt County Packer football team to their second undefeated season (15–0) and a second state title (first one came in 1994), by defeating Archer High School 28–24 on December 13, 2014, to claim the 2014 1-AAAAAA State Championship and his first state title within Georgia. In 2015, Colquitt County completed another 15–0 season with a 30–13 victory over the Roswell Hornets to claim their second consecutive Georgia AAAAAA State Championship. Propst was relieved of coaching duties following the 2018 season. He spent a year as a volunteer assistant coach atUAB.
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During his tenure at Hoover, Propst was a frequent target of critics. But in June 2007, the criticism became more vocal and more formal when HHSathletic director Jerry Browning, Propst's immediate superior, resigned over numerous differences between himself and principal Richard Bishop, who was a teammate of Propst on the football team atJacksonville State University. Browning expressed concerns over reports that grades for certain athletes had been altered to make them eligible forcollege play, and made those concerns known to Hoover City Schools Superintendent Andy Craig in a meeting in April.[23] Bishop originally announced that there was nothing to be concerned about, but Craig overruled Bishop and announced that a full investigation would be carried out, to be headed by former federal judgeSam C. Pointer, Jr.[24][25]
Propst also faced charges having to do with his personal life, specifically that he engaged inextramarital affairs. The topic was the focus of considerable discussion on thePaul Finebaumsyndicatedsports talkradio show, where Hunter Ford, a reporter forThe Hoover Gazette newspaper, reported the rumors. During those discussions, Ford was fired, live and on the air, byGazette general manager John Junkin. (Ironically, Ford had previously advocated in aGazette column that Propst be hired to fill the then-vacant head coach position at theUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham). TheGazette went out of business about five weeks later.
Ford, was then hired by editor Dale Jones ofThe Western Star in nearbyBessemer, after his firing fromThe Hoover Gazette. In his column in the edition of July 4, 2007, ofThe Western Star, Ford reported that a number of sources, none of which would allow their name to be used, said that Propst's alleged affair also included a child born out of wedlock. The following week, Tribble Publications inWarm Springs, Georgia, the parent company who ownsThe Western Star, printed an apology for allowing Ford to print these allegations in their paper, though it did not specifically retract the charges. Jones insisted that the apology was unwarranted, saying that Ford's story was solid and that the evidence was irrefutable. Propst continued to deny the allegations.
But on July 28, 2007,The Birmingham News went public with the allegations when it published a letter from attorneys for Bishop to the Hoover Board of Education.[26] The letter was a result of the board voting to not renew Bishop's contract as principal, an act which garnered widespread coverage by local news media. In the letter by Bishop's attorneys, whichThe News obtained through a public-records request, the attorneys state that Browning told Bishop that Propst "had a separate family and led a completely separate life," and that Bishop was told by Craig not to investigate the matter.
Pointer completed his investigation in late September, and after considerable debate over several sessions (and public pressure from numerous public figures, including Hoover MayorTony Petelos), the Hoover Board of Education voted 4–1 to release the report through several sources.[27] Among the findings were that Propst's bank records indicated support for a "second family" inPell City, Alabama, but the incidents regarding grade-changing were largely caused by an assistant principal and an administrator.[28]
Propst came under further scrutiny whenHanceville High School complained to theAlabama High School Athletic Association that a former player of theirs,Tristan Purifoy, did not transfer properly to Hoover High and was therefore ineligible. On October 23, 2007, the AHSAA ruled that Purifoy was indeed ineligible, and that the Bucs would have to forfeit all games in which Purifoy played. The investigation resulted in the forfeiture of four games, including a 1–0 loss to crosstown rivalSpain Park High School, the first loss to the Jaguars in the history of the teams' rivalry. Purifoy was reinstated by the AHSAA during the playoffs that same year.[29][30] Despite the forfeits, the Bucs finished the regular season with a 4–5 record and qualified for the AHSAA 6A playoffs. However, in Propst's last game as Hoover's head coach, they lost in the third round to another crosstown rival, Vestavia Hills, 21–17, a game considered by many Alabama sportswriters to be the biggest rivalry in the state. His team finished the season with an on-field record of 10–2 (6–6 including the four forfeit losses).[31]
At a special meeting of the Hoover Board of Education on October 30, 2007, Propst announced that he would resign, but would continue to coach the team as far as they progress in the 2007 playoffs. In a 30-minute address to the board and a large crowd inside the board chambers, Propst tearfully admitted to a relationship outside his marriage and a child as a result of that relationship, but no other wrongdoing. "I am remorseful for what I have done. I have failed you as a community. I have failed you as a board, and especially I have failed you (Superintendent) Andy (Craig)," Propst said. "I made mistakes. I could have done things differently, but I don't admit wrongdoing inside the walls of Hoover High School."[32][33]
In June 2016, the Georgia Professional Standards Commission announced that Propst would be suspended for the entire 2016 season after head-butting one of his players (and bloodying himself) during a December 4, 2015 playoff game.[34] He appealed[35] and was instead given a reprimand.[36]
On March 14, 2019, Propst was relieved of his duties as the high school's head football coach in a unanimous vote by the Colquitt County Board of Education.[37] His dismissal followed an investigation that determined he had violated the Code of Ethics for Educators for (1) legal compliance, (2) conduct with students, (3) honesty, and (4) public funds and property, including givingAleve pills to students "on more than one occasion" and owing nearly $450,000 in delinquent federal and state taxes.[38] The PSC investigation into Propst (case February 19, 1025) was settled with a 131-day suspension.[39] In In March 2020, Rush Propst was cleared of all the accusations of wrongdoing advanced by the Colquitt County Superintendent Doug Howell and had his Georgia teaching certificate reinstated. Howell announced his resignation in the months ahead.[40]
On April 8, 2021, the Valdosta High School football team was sanctioned due to recruiting and undue influence committed by Propst and the Valdosta booster club. Five players were declared ineligible for the athletic year, along with $5,000 in fines. The Valdosta football team was also placed on probation for the 2021 football season, therefore preventing them from participating in any playoff games. Any games that the five players played in were forfeited.[41][42]
On April 24, 2024, the Pell City Board of Education called a special meeting to vote on terminating Propst's contract. However, no vote was taken as no member of the board seconded the motion.[43]On May 3, 2024, Rush Propst announced his resignation as Pell City's head football coach.[44]
During the 2019 football season, Propst co-hostedTennessee Two-A-Days, a radio show on Fox Sports Knoxville.