Rush Propst, one of high school football's most flamboyant and controversial coaches, was back on the sideline Friday with
Pell City (Ala.) for the first time in three seasons.
The Panthers, who went 1-9 last season, opened their season with a 28-24 loss against
Moody. Propst was running the triple option and had a 10-7 lead at half before giving up 14 third-quarter points and another score in the fourth quarter. Pell City cut the lead to four points late in the game, but couldn't pull out the victory.
Often a lightning rod of controversy, Friday's game was nothing out of the ordinary as media reports had Propst tossing his headset toward his junior son Propst in order to prevent the wide receiver from escalating a fracas after a late hit.
The loss denies a 296th win for Propst, whose career has seen state titles, reality television appearances and plenty of controversy.
The 65-year-old coach had been hired as an assistant coach and athletic director at Coosa Christian in January 2023, but left the job 10 weeks later for Pell City.
Controversial football coach Rush Propst was back on the sidelines Friday with his new squad Pell City. (File photo: Gary McCullough)
Prior to that, Propst had been out of football and battled a near-deadly bout of COVID after being fired from Valdosta (Ga.) in 2021 amid allegations of illegally recruiting five players, including Californian Jake Garcia. The coach was the subject of a lengthy deposition that alleged he was involved in recruiting, mishandling funds and even interfering in the hiring process that brought him to the program to begin with.
His lone season at Valdosta was chronicled in the Netflix series "Title Town." It wasn't the first time Propst was featured on television or embroiled in controversy. He garnered national attention while at Hoover (Ala.), which was featured on MTV's popular "Two-A-Days" reality show. He resigned there in 2007 and was dismissed at Colquitt County (Norman Park, Ga.) in 2019 after being charged with lack of compliance, improper conduct with students, dishonesty and misuse of public funds and property.
Propst already has returned to his fiery ways as a
story on AL.com reported a verbal altercation with an opposing coach during a summer 7-on-7 session at of all places Hoover High.
He reached 300 career wins at Valdosta but was forced to forfeit seven of those victories leaving him with 295.
