Controversial high school football coach Rush Propst is the new head football coach at Pell City High School in Alabama. The school made the announcement Friday, just a couple of months after Coosa Christian (Alabama) announced that Propst was hired as the school’s associate head coach and athletic director.
The school board voted 3-2 in favor of hiring Propst, who has seven high school football state titles in Alabama and Georgia on his resume.
“We all know that Rush Propst made mistakes in his life, and I appreciate you, and I will be loyal to you because you’re giving me this opportunity,” Propst said in a story in the St. Clair Times. “I, we, have asked for forgiveness a lot in our life. And these last couple years being a dad and being a husband and being a parent has given me a different perspective on life. It really has.
“So I think going forward we can all know from my perspective I will ponder every decision. I will search for wisdom. I will ask the good Lord for guidance, and then I try to make the best decision for our school system. I think the only thing I can ask is let the good Lord keep guiding me in the right way, and I can make y’all proud.”
Success and controversy have followed Propst during his last three stops at Hoover (Alabama), Colquitt County (Georgia) and Valdosta (Georgia). He won five Alabama state titles at Hoover and two Georgia crowns at Colquitt County, including the 2015 High School Football America national championship.
Propst was fired from Valdosta in 2021 after just one season (2020) at the helm of America’s winningest high school football program. An investigation by the Georgia High School Association led to the Valdosta High School football program being fined $7,500 and being banned from the ’21 Georgia high school playoffs for “rules violations relating to recruiting and a lack of administrative control.” In addition, the school was placed probation for the 2021 season and was forced to forfeit seven 2020 wins in which ineligible players were used.
Propst takes over the Panthers at a time when the program hasn’t had much success. The program has only won 11 games in 48 tries in the last five years.
Pell City fans are hoping that Propst can deliver a state championship, which is something that the Panthers have never done.
