Rush Propst's Latest State Title Proves He Still Has What It Takes to Win

It’s late in the fourth quarter of the Class 2A state championship game on a cold, gray December afternoon in central Alabama. Coosa Christian has just lost its best football player at the worst possible moment.

Rush Propst Delivers Title No. 8 At Coosa Christian

Kylen Johnson, the do-it-all sophomore superstar, will not return after suffering an injury in the waning moments of the biggest game in school history. The news hits the Conquerors’ sideline like a punch to the gut. If Coosa had designs on winning its first AHSAA state championship, it would have to do so without its best player.

Amid the chaos and uncertainty swirling around his team, Coosa Christian’s 67-year-old interim head coach remains laser-focused. He’s been here before. Thirteen times, actually.

His name is Rush Propst.

You’ve probably heard of him.

Propst in His Element

This is Propst in his element. He has spent more than four decades of his life in this sport. Football has always been more than just a game. It has served as a refuge. A sanctuary of safety. Last August, Propst accepted a one-year head coaching position to lead Coosa Christian while its current head coach Mark O’Bryant served out a one-year suspension.

For Propst, when life has been good, bad or downright ugly, football has always been there — its been the one constant in his life that has stood the test of time.

To say Rush Propst is a student of the game would be an insult. Borderline sacrilege.

There are students and there are teachers. Rush Propst has been both.

Now he is neither.

A Master of the Game

He is a Master of the Game. A spot reserved only for the sports super elite

He knows what to expect. More importantly, he knows what to do. There are no surprises that haven’t been sprung. No strategy he hasn’t seen. Not one tendency has gone unnoticed.

Conquerors quarterback Mac Long sees that experience every day.

“His knowledge of the game — he’s been in every situation you’ll encounter,” Long said. “He knows so much and that adds so much value. And he’s willing to put in that work and the time to win.”

Long, who was named MVP of the class 2A championship game scored with 22 seconds remaining –to seal the biggest win in school history and lift the Conquerors to their first ever AHSAA state championship.,

Against the longest odds, Propst and his Coosa Christian team found a way.

Of course they did.

Pandemonium ensued up and down the Conquerors sideline. Players hugged and high-fived. Some probably even cried.

For their interim head coach — a man who once ruled the state with an iron fist — it was the latest chapter in a book that is still being written.

Why Rush Propst Isn't Ready To Retire

Over the course of a brilliant 44-year career, Propst has won eight state championships and more than 300 games. His influence is deeply rooted in Southern football but stretches far beyond the two states — Alabama and Georgia — where he has spent his life on the sidelines.

He is as accomplished as he is controversial. He is almost universally loved by those who have played for him and equally loathed by an outside world that knows him only by what it sees.

Rush Propst has nothing left to prove. His legacy is secure.

He is a grandfather and a business owner. He has a podcast debuting later this spring — Rush Propst Online, or RPO for short.

Conventional wisdom says most coaches at this stage of life would be content to ride off into the sunset, finally enjoying the life they spent decades sacrificing.

But Rush Propst is not like most coaches.

Conventional wisdom has never applied.

Whether it is installing a new-fangled offense or allowing a film crew to document your program for an entire season, Propst has rarely followed anyone’s lead but his own — for better or worse.

“Retirement is not an option,” he says. “It’s not something I think a lot about. I’ve got the energy to continue to do this. I want to go somewhere and start from the ground level.”

High Schools and Colleges Still Seek His Services

While he does not disclose specifics, Propst says there has been interest — both at the high school and college levels.

“The situation has got to be right.”

He doesn’t want just another job. He wants commitment.

Administrators. Parents. Teachers. The community. And especially the players.

All hands on deck.

He's Not for Everyone

“I’m never going to shut the door on anything, but I’m not going to take just any job,” he says. “I don’t want to put myself in another situation like Pell City. I just don’t. I never want to go back to a place like Pell City. They’ve never experienced winning on a big level. I’m not downgrading the people there. There were some great people there. It just wasn’t in the right spots. And that’s the key to being successful."

Propst spent one dismal season at Pell City, going 1-9 in 2023. Months later, amid growing tension between Propst and Pell City Schools Superintendent James Martin regarding the coach’s personal life, Propst abruptly resigned.

Gone, like he was never meant to stay.

Rush Propst was down.

But he is never out.

Fifteen months later, he resurfaced at Coosa Christian — locked, loaded and chasing another championship.

Why Rush Propst Remains High School Football's Most Polarizing Coach

The desire to coach remains, burning like a white-hot flame deep inside his soul. It is the same fire that turned middling programs like Hoover and Colquitt County into national powerhouses.

He comes. He sees. He conquers.

Then he leaves.

For Rush Propst, the price of fame has come with a significant cost. His private life has often become fodder for public controversy. The triumphant rises and precipitous falls that follow him have played out in full public view.

“I’ve been controversial,” he admits. “I speak my mind and some people don’t agree with it. And I’ve made some mistakes, right?”

Jason Sciavicco, executive director of Blue Eyes Entertainment and producer of the documentaries “Two-A-Days” and “Titletown,” says Propst is often misunderstood.

“I think he is definitely misunderstood,” Sciavicco said. “His problem is that he doesn’t care what people think because he’s confident in his actions. Everybody makes mistakes and decisions they wish they could have back, but that’s life. He passionately cares about these kids and these programs.

“Sometimes that passion comes across as arrogance. If you knew Rush Propst the man, you would have a different thought of who he is and what he stands for.”

Inside Rush Propst's Championship Machine

When he arrived at Hoover in the winter of 1999, Propst was not new to the scene. He had spent his entire life playing and coaching football in Alabama.

Hoover was his fifth school in 11 years as a head coach.

But Hoover offered something his previous stops had not: numbers.

A massive student body meant more players. More players meant more resources. More resources meant more opportunity.

Yet the Buccaneers football program was in disarray. Once a model of consistency under the late Bob Finley, who died in 1994, Hoover had floundered in mediocrity. The program had not posted a winning record in four seasons and had cycled through two coaching staffs before hiring Propst in 1999.

“Hoover was not a good football program,” recalled Jarod Bryant, quarterback of Propst’s only undefeated Hoover team in 2004.

When Propst was hired, Bryant was just an anonymous seventh grader at the nearby middle school.

One afternoon in late January 1999, Bryant joined an overflow crowd at the high school to hear the new coach speak.

“He brought the parents and players into the gym and laid out a vision of where he wanted to take the program — and it was beyond what anyone thought was possible,” Bryant said. “He was the ultimate salesman. He had confidence. He made you believe.”

That belief — in himself and in his system — became the catalyst for a revolution.

“He changed the way high school football is played in Alabama,” said Rick Cleveland, one of the state’s foremost authorities on prep sports and co-host of the popular radio show High School Sports Today.

Cleveland describes Propst as an “offensive genius who was way before his time.”

Propst's Offense Has Been Describer as Basketball on Grass

Propst installed an offense built around tempo, space and quarterback play — what many called basketball on grass.

Scoreboards lit up the night sky. Points came in waves. Championships followed.

The results were staggering: 110 wins, seven consecutive state championship game appearances and five Class 6A state championships at Hoover from 1999 to 2007.

After a messy and public split with Hoover in 2007, Propst headed to south Georgia and transformed Colquitt County into a national power.

The Packers won back-to-back Class AAAAAA state championships in 2014 and 2015. The 2015 team was named national champion by High School Football America.

“We set a standard in Alabama,” Propst said. “We set a standard in Georgia when we did what we did there. In a 10-year period, we won more games than anybody in the largest classification.”

The game had a new face.

The throne had a new king.

The Man Behind The Legend

Propst insists he is a changed man — one who values family above all else.

“Family is so important to me,” he said. “The decisions I make now are based on my family, not on what’s best for Rush Propst.”

To some, he is larger than life — a fire-breathing football dragon. Intense, loud and brash.

To those who played for him, he is something different: deeply compassionate, fiercely loyal and protective to a fault.

“When my dad passed away, he was waiting for me when I was getting back from Annapolis,” Bryant recalled. “My dad literally had minutes to live. Coach Propst was at the gate waiting to pick me up. He got me into a police car and got me to the hospital so I could see my dad before he took his last breath.

“Those are the types of stories that unfortunately get overshadowed. He has a lot more compassion for his players than people realize.”

Propst is not ready to draw the curtain on his storied career just yet.

There are more games to win. More championships to pursue. More programs to build from the ground up.

Most coaches his age are finished.

Rush Propst is still looking for one more challenge.

America’s most famous high school football coach is officially open for business.