Rush Propst under investigation for alleged misconduct in Georgia, reports say

Updated Feb 24, 2021; Posted Feb 23, 2021

Controversial high school football coach Rush Propst is in the news again, and not in a good way.

Propst, the highly successful former coach at Hoover High School and several other schools in Alabama, was at the center of a 64-page deposition made public in Georgia on Tuesday. Propst is now head coach at Valdosta High School, historically among the more successful programs in the country.

According to multiple reports out of south Georgia, Valdosta City Schools Superintendent Todd Cason said the school is investigating the claims made in the deposition. Reached for comment by AL.com on Tuesday, Propst said he had no comment on the allegations.

In the deposition, Valdosta Touchdown Club director Michael Nelson accuses Propst of, among other things, taking funds meant to pay for stadium advertising for personal use, instructing Nelson to raise money to pay rent for a pair of high-profile quarterback transfers and interfering in the school's coaching search. The deposition is part of a lawsuit brought by former Valdosta coach Alan Rodemaker, who is suing the school board for wrongful termination.

One of the two quarterbacks named in the deposition is Jake Garcia, who transferred to Valdosta from a California school but was later declared ineligible (Garcia landed at Grayson High School in Loganville and signed with Miami in December). The other is Amari Jones, a Class of 2022 prospect who transferred to Valdosta from Atlanta's Carver High School.

Propst, was dismissed at Colquitt County High School in nearby Moultrie in early 2019, after being accused of various ethical violations. Propst briefly took a job at upstart USA Academy in Coosada, Ala., but was hired at Valdosta last March (Ironically, Rodemaker wound up as defensive coordinator at Colquitt County in 2020.)

Propst, an Ohatchee native, coached at Ashville, Eufaula, Alba and Alma Bryant before rising to prominence at Hoover, where he won five state championships in nine years before he resigned under pressure amid numerous allegations of wrongdoing in 2007. He was hired the following year at Colquitt County, where he won 119 games in 11 seasons, including back-to-back state championships in 2014 and 2015.

Valdosta went 7-5 under Propst in 2020, reaching the state semifinals. He recorded his 300th career victory when Valdosta beat Lovejoy 52-14 in the first round of the state playoffs.

You can read the full deposition HERE.

AL.com's Ben Thomas contributed to this report.

Sent from my iPhone