Former Hoover HS head coach gets new job

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Ex-Hoover coach to take over at Colquitt Co.

Propst, star of MTV reality show, left Alabama power amid controversy

 

By TODD HOLCOMB

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

 

Published on: 01/29/08

 

Rush Propst, the hard-driving football coach from the MTV series "Two-A-Days: Hoover High," will be named the head coach of Colquitt County High in Moultrie today.

 

Propst won five Alabama state titles in nine seasons at Hoover, a school outside of Birmingham.

The MTV reality show made celebrities of Hoover players and supporters and especially Propst, known for his salty pep talks and Southern drawl.

 

Propst resigned from Hoover on Oct. 31 amid controversy but finished the season, which ended in a second-round playoff loss.

 

"There's nothing more we could've done at Hoover," Propst said. "We took the school to the pinnacle of high school sports in this country. ... I wanted to get back to my country roots. I'm a country boy from Alabama, and I've coached and lived in rural areas most of my life."

 

Propst said he liked the challenge of Region 1-AAAAA, which he called "one of the toughest this country has.

 

"When you talk about Valdosta, Lowndes, Colquitt County, Northside, Warner Robins, they know where that is. That's what excites me about this job — the traditions of these South Georgia towns."

[trublue 939]

Rush Propst: Hoover, MTV-style fame 'abnormal' for me

Colquitt coach discusses scandals, bigtime exposure and why Georgia was on his mind

 

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

 

Published on: 01/30/08

 

The Southern-fried — and sometimes hot-tempered — football coach made famous by MTV's reality series "Two-A-Days: Hoover High" is coming to Georgia.

 

Russ Propst, who won five state championships at Hoover, a Birmingham, Ala., suburb, before resigning amid controversy in October, was named coach at Colquitt County in Moultrie today. Propst talked with staff writer Todd Holcomb on Tuesday night about the new job, "Two-A-Days" and the maelstrom he left behind.

 

 

Associated Press

(ENLARGE)

'I don't regret at all the MTV,' former Hoover (Ala.) coach Rush Propst (center, with former Hoover players in 2006) says of the 'Two-A-Days' series. 'I may regret the perception of what people thought about in that show, but we did the right things there.'

 

 

 

Q: Why Colquitt County?

 

A: I'd flirted in this area a few times, the Valdosta job a few years ago. I talked to those guys. Bainbridge last year. It seems every time I turn around, something attracts me to this area, and I wanted to get back to my county roots. I'm a country boy from Alabama. I've lived and coached most of life in rural areas.

 

 

Q: Are you the person we saw on MTV? What are the misconceptions?

 

A: The win-at-all-costs, maybe the [coarse] language type deal. There were 6,000 hours of recorded material, and when you break it down into two seasons of 15-16 episodes that are 30 minutes, 19 per show after commercials, obviously they showed the most intense, passionate times, when I was the most mad. I want to change that image. That's not what we're all about. We're about compassion and helping kids and loving children. I'm not sure people took that from the show. I've talked to kids from California to the Midwest states to New York, Chicago and Dallas and got thousands and thousands of cards, e-mails, inquiries, and most of the kids really like the show. The ratings were good. I wish they [MTV] could've showed all the good sides.

 

 

Q: Controversy dogged your final year at Hoover. You acknowledged an extramarital affair. You denied involvement in a grade-fixing scandal involving athletes. There was an ineligible player that led to four forfeits in 2007, and years of charges about recruiting players, nothing that was proven. Do you expect those questions about your past to follow you?

 

A: I don't mind answering them. I don't have anything to hide. We didn't do anything wrong. I've made some personal mistakes in my life, but I have not been involved in any grade-changing and or done anything wrong that has anything to do with money. The grade-changing had nothing to do with me. It had to do with counselors. It had nothing to do with Hoover High School football, I'll assure you. As for the forfeits, I still feel the player was eligible. It was a rule interpretation. At Hoover, it was nothing more than a political nightmare. We won so much and made so many enemies.

 

 

Q: What were some of the politics you're talking about?

 

A: You had a board of education that was pro the other school. [The Hoover city school system has two high schools — Hoover and Spain Park.] When I first took over in Hoover, that was not the case. We lost that side of town, and that's just part of the political game. It's tough to function like that, two schools in one city, one wants to win, the other's been winning. That's the way it was. I'm glad it's over with. ... I wanted to get back to a single-school town, where there's one high school in a community and a county, and everybody's a Packer fan.

 

 

Q: So that was another appeal to Colquitt?

 

A: Colquitt County High School is very important to the citizens of this county. It's more who I am. I'm not a Hoover kind of guy. That was abnormal for me. I'm not somebody who spent a large part of my life in a metro area. I'm glad to be out of a media market, where there's not a camera at every practice. To be honest, I'm ready for that to be over.

 

 

Q: So you won't miss the TV and the limelight?

 

A: Perception a lot of times is not reality when comes to my MTV fame. I don't care about all the fame. I just want to coach football and want to be involved in kids' lives and this community. I want to live and be a regular person. ... These people here [in Moultrie] are just good people. They are sincere. They want to win and are willing to do things to accomplish those things. That's what caught my attention. I don't see anybody who's fake. They're straight-forward, good people I could trust.

 

 

Q: You say you won't miss MTV, but do you regret MTV?

 

A: Although I don't disagree with the format [of the TV series], some people took it wrong. The idea was good because any time you can promote high school football, I think it's important for us to do that. When you look at kids across the country, the 70 million-plus who viewed that show, there have been tons more pro than con, but MTV and the stigma that MTV has, the perception that we were so hard on kids, I want to change that image because we had lot more positive that could've been shown. And they did show some of it. Year Two was more controversial. They look for those kinds of things because it's made for TV. I don't regret at all the MTV. I may regret the perception of what people thought about in that show, but we did the right things there. All I can do is prove to people in the state of Georgia and most importantly to the people of Moultrie that we're for helping kids and being part of the community.

 

 

Q: You said after leaving Hoover that you had become bored. What did you mean?

 

A: I was asked that in the interview here [with Colquitt County]. I wasn't bored with football. I was bored with Hoover. There's nothing more we could've done at Hoover. We took the school to the pinnacle of high school sports in this country. ... What excites me most about Georgia is that it's a new beginning, a new challenge, a new school. It's probably one of the toughest regions this country has. You talk about Valdosta, Lowndes, Colquitt County, Warner Robins, Northside, all these people in this area, they know where that is. That's what excites me lot about this job — the traditions of these Southern football towns.

 

 

Q: Colquitt is coming off a 2-8 seasons and has been pretty average since the 1990s. Will turning things around be tough?

 

A: That's when it's best for me. Hoover was that way — 4-6, 3-7, 3-7 — when I took over. I enjoy building programs. This is one that's had tradition in a very good region where football is highly important, where on a Friday night a thief could get away with anything because everybody's at the football game.

 

 

Q: In South Georgia, football isn't life or death. It's more important than that. What was it like in Alabama?

 

A: For the last several years of football in the state of Alabama, there's been Auburn, Alabama and Hoover, and not necessarily in that order. Hoover's been a focal point of that state. The nation got to capture that every Tuesday or Wednesday night [on MTV]. It embraced a lot of people. The die-hard football fans loved [the MTV series and the celebrity of Hoover], but the people that don't understand football were somewhat critical. You mean this goes on in high school football? Well, yes it does. ... For the normal person who doesn't understand football who sees the emotion, the passion, the toughness, that can turn people against the game of football or a coach who's passionate about what he does. But in a town that believes in football and understands it, in the state of Alabama or like in Georgia, they understand.