Rush Propst, the former Colquitt County football coach who was announced last month as the new head coach at USA Academy in Alabama, said Thursday afternoon that he will not be working for the new private school after all. Propst had been introduced as USA Academy’s head coach on Jan. 2.
‘’At the time of the press conference, while I believed we had reached agreement on a majority of terms, we had not and have not entered into an employment contract,’’ Propst said in a statement released Thursday afternoon. “Due to a variety of factors outside of my control, I have informed USA Academy that I will no longer consider a position with USA Academy. I wish those associated with USA Academy much success.’’
USA Academy had put together a 10-game 2020 schedule that includes nationally renowned opponents such as Our Lady of Good Counsel and St. Frances of Maryland, St. Peter’s Prep of New Jersey and IMG Academy of Florida.
Propst told AJC.com that he was concerned with advancing a schedule before other parts of the program were in place. USA Academy, which would offer mostly online courses, doesn’t have educational or athletics facilities yet.
‘’I’ve been told about having a permanent site for six weeks, and as of the 27th of February, there’s been no permanent site confirmed and no construction started,’’ Propst said. “There’s a season starting in less than six months on the 22nd of August, and that’s too ambiguous. I tried to slow it down but just couldn’t get them to understand that it takes time to build a football program. Scheduling when we don’t have the facilities I thought was the wrong way to go about it.’’
Founded by Dusty DeVaughn, USA Academy is in Coosada outside of Montgomery. It is designed to complete with schools such as IMG Academy in Florida that cater to student-athletes looking to play in college and beyond. Tuition was set to be at least $7,500, and most coursework was to be done online, according to DeVaughn.
‘’I don’t think it’s a bad idea ideologically and theoretically,’’ Propst said. “I think there’s room for another IMG or St. Frances. I know people have different opinions and want to criticize, but at the end of the day, we live in a time where kids are wanting to be prepared for college football as fast as possible, and those schools allow you to do that and be graduated in December.’’
Propst was the head coach at Colquitt County from 2008 to 2018, and his record was 119-35 in 11 seasons. His teams won state titles in 2014 and 2015, each time with a 15-0 record, and was the Class AAAAAAA runner-up in his final two seasons.
After the 2018 season, Propst was fired after superintendent Doug Howell led an investigation that led to multiple allegations of misconduct. Propst has denied wrongdoing worthy of a dismissal and called the allegations ‘’misleading half-truths meant to damage my reputation.’’
Propst told AJC.com that he hoped to coach this fall and that it likely would be at a public high school or college. He was a volunteer assistant coach at UAB last season.
‘’I spent the past year in college football and enjoyed it; I thought I fit real well,’’ he said. “Not one day did I feel at was at work, and we were working 5:30 a.m. to midnight. I’ve been in public education for 39 years in two states, and I guess I need to stay in that lane.’’
Prior to coming to Colquitt, Propst won five state titles as the coach of Hoover, Ala., and has 295 career victories in 30 seasons. He became nationally known while at Hoover because of the MTV series ‘’Two-A-Days,’’ which followed Hoover’s 2005 and 2006 seasons.
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