February 5, 2008

Ray Glier
Rivals High

Now, Propst thought, he really had some explaining to do.

Propst's ambition ? not to mention adultery, a violation of Alabama high school rules and unsubstantiated charges of grade-fixing ? had led to his resignation from his $101,000-a-year job as football coach at Hoover (Ala.) High in October. The acrimony there was so thick it didn't matter that he had won five state titles and made Hoover into a nationally known program thanks to a show on MTV.

Starting Over

Rush Propst won 110 games and 5 state titles in his nine seasons at Hoover (AL). He now inherits a Colquitt County (GA) program that is not known for producing Division IA talent, won just two games last season, and shares the division with Georgia power Lowndes County of Valdosta.

The last interview, this one unofficial, was with the minister last week. It was a not a scolding, just assurances that forgiveness was as equal a part of the local faith as condemnation.

What's past is past and sins can be forgiven, he was told.

What went unsaid, of course, is that if you are an ultra-successful high school coach, like Propst, and your new school has been getting beaten up by 5A bullies in south Georgia, second chances are given a little more easily.

"I probably should have held on at Hoover," Propst said in a 30-minute phone interview. "There were five school board members and three of them had kids at Spain Park High School, which is in Hoover's district and is our rival. They were making it tough on me every day, so I felt like I had to resign."

Propst, 50, also made things tough on himself. He cost himself some trust in the Hoover community when he admitted to an extramarital affair that resulted in a child. He also admitted to watching two players suit up and play in a Hoover junior-varsity game when he knew they were ineligible.

Propst will make $95,000 at Colquitt County and has a one-year contract. The senior class he inherits isn't that strong. That is far different than the talent pool at Hoover, which had seven I-A signees in 2007.

Propst is going to have to prove he can coach all over again. In Alabama, there were charges his success was due, at least in part, to luring good players to Hoover from other school districts.

Leonard McCoy, the superintendent of Colquitt County Schools, recommended Propst to the Colquitt County School Board. Asked if he has expended too much political capital to hire a tainted football coach, McCoy said, "I haven't put any political capital on the line; I've just made what I feel is a logical decision for what is best for children in the community."

The school board voted 4-2 to hire Propst, who McCoy said was one of 75 coaches who applied for the job.

"I just didn't think he was a good fit at Colquitt County at this time," said Jimmy Taylor, one of the two school board members who voted against hiring Propst. "I don't want to say anything more than that."

McCoy said he investigated Propst's conduct at Hoover and was comfortable recommending him for the job.

"We researched it," McCoy said. "We talked to people at Hoover High School and parents of children who had played for him. Certainly, we heard negatives. We wouldn't have employed him if the negatives had outweighed the positives.

Gina Dismuke, the mother of sophomore football player Tyler Dismuke, said more parents favored Propst's hiring than opposed it. "I don't think the school administration would put our kids at risk," she said. "I have also heard some parents say we don't need this, we don't need him; then again, I don't know any parent that is without fault. If the man made a mistake, he made a mistake. It doesn't mean he doesn't love kids and he doesn't know football.

"From what I heard, there was one thing proven against him and that was the ineligible JV players. As long as the new coach doesn't go against my morals here, he'll be fine. I expect him to do his job and win some ballgames. If he doesn't, I'll be the first to speak up."

Propst said he did not fix grades or encourage others to fix grades. When asked about two ineligible junior-varsity players who suited up for a game and played, he said it was the JV coaches who put the players in the game, not him.

Propst said when the matter was first brought to the attention of Alabama officials, they downplayed it because it involved JV players. But an investigative report prepared for the City of Hoover Board of Education said that when Alabama High School Association officials learned the school used ineligible players, they demanded an explanation and subsequently found fault with Propst's handling of the matter.

Propst said he was a victim of a witch-hunt and "yellow journalism" and unfairly smeared in Alabama.

"At the end, I felt we were at the Alamo; the whole state was against us and it drove a wedge between the community," Propst said. "I am going to do some things differently at Colquitt County. We are going to take it slow and be deliberate. Sure, I made some mistakes, but I'm not guilty of grade-fixing or recruiting."

POLL: Would you want Rush Propst coaching at your high school?