Rush Propst is back.
Over a year ago the Pell City Board of Education called a special meeting to terminate the head coach's contract after one season, but no vote was ultimately taken on the matter after the motion was not seconded. Propst resigned from his post leading the Pell City HS (AL) football program just over a week later.
That resignation placed the 67-year old coaching veteran on the free agent market, and with just shy of 300 wins, the controversial head coaching figure was set to head into this fall away from the sidelines for a second straight season.
However, Coosa Christian HS (AL) recently made the decision to suspend head coach Mark O'Bryant for the entire been suspended for the entire 2025 season.
The school had been facing a restrictive probation that would have kept them out of the playoffs this fall, but the decision to suspend Bryant has lifted that discipline the school was facing as a result of inaccurately portraying how many games an ineligible player had participated in. Coosa Christian initially said it was just one game, but an investigation found the ineligible player had actually participated in five contests, sparking the decision for a 2025 playoff ban.
With a season on the horizon, and their head coach suspended, Coosa Christian found themselves in a bind and in need of a head coach.
That's where Propst is stepping in, as the Conquerors interim head coach for the 2025 season.
He inherits a team that went 9-1 last fall, and was a state finalist in 1A in 2023.
This actually mark's Propst's second time at Coosa Christian. He was initially brought on as co-head coach of the program back in 2023, but he never actually coached a game, opting to leave for the Pell City job where he spent that 2023 season.
Ironically enough, Propst had to step down at arguably his most high profile stop, back at Hoover HS (AL) back in 2007 after the program was forced to forfeit multiple games due to its use of an ineligible player.
The controversial coaching figure that has led programs in both Alabama and Georgia, winning a total of five state titles in Alabama and another two in Georgia, has been the subject of controversy since appearing on MTV's hit Two-a-Days show back in 2005 and 2006.
His controversies include a high profile affair and second family outside of his marriage while at Hoover, and a full-season suspension (that was later downgraded to a public reprimand) for head-butting a player during a playoff game in 2016 while at Colquitt County HS (GA). While at Colquitt County, he faced multiple ethics code violations including allegations of misuse of public funds and giving Aleve to players. Propst was cleared of the accusations of wrongdoing, his teaching certificate in the state was then reinstated, and the superintendent of the school later announced his resignation.
Then at Valdosta HS (GA) his team faced sanctions due to recruiting and undue influence violations that put them on probation with a playoff ban during the 2021 season, where they also forfeited games.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.