Just days after leading the Coosa Christian Conquerors to the Alabama high school football Class 2A state championship, head coach Rush Propst is basking in the joy that winning a state title brings. He’s also pondering his coaching future, wherever that may be.
On Dec. 5, Propst led Coosa Christian to the school’s first ever state championship in an exciting, come-from-behind, 29-22 victory over Lanett High School at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama.
Playing with a roster of only 15 to 17 players, about half the number of players of Lanett, Propst said he had to get the most out of stopping the clock whenever possible, and even then it almost wasn’t enough.
“They (Lanett) tried to tempo us (run no-huddle offense) so that we couldn’t substitute, and that’s good strategy on their part, but it almost got to us with our lack of depth,” Propst said, repeating an earlier concern he had shared with us in an interview prior to the championship game. “But we took advantage of the extra TV timeouts that you get in the big games like this, and that really saved us, I thought. But we tried to prepare for that, and we were able to keep our players as fresh as possible.”
The Conquerors overcame an 8-point deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the game, then won it after forcing Lanett to punt, getting the ball back, and scoring with less than 30 seconds left in the game to win it, despite not having their best player.
“Kylen Johnson went out late in the fourth quarter, so we didn’t have our go-to guy, but we did have Mac Long, and he came up big,” Propst said of his quarterback, who also played defensive back for most of the game.
Propst talked about what winning this state championship means to him and how it has rejuvenated his desire to keep doing what he loves and what he does best.
“This season with this team and this state title has really rejuvenated my career,” Propst said. “This shows that I’m not ready to retire. I’m a football coach, and this is what I love and what I want to keep doing as long as possible.”
The Coosa Christian state championship is Propst’s eighth career state title. It has proven that the man can win and win big, no matter the size of the school or the roster. He has won state championships with rosters of 100 or more players at larger schools like Hoover in Alabama and Colquitt County in Georgia and now with a roster of about 20 players at Coosa Christian.
Two of his state championships and a national championship were achieved with the Colquitt County Packers.
As Propst reflected on where he has been and where he wants to go from here, he thought back to being in Birmingham last week and spending time at Hoover, where he launched a career that turned both Hoover High School and Propst himself into nationally known brands.
“It brought back a lot of emotions and a lot of memories of what we started here (at Hoover) and what we carried over to Colquitt County after that,” Propst said. “We were able to take both of those programs and build them into a national brand.”
Those reflections have given insight into what Propst would like to do next.
“I want to go build a national brand.”
Where Propost winds up next could range from remaining with the Coosa Christian Conquerors to heading to the bright lights that come with building a national brand. It could be in Alabama or Georgia. After all, Propst has been there before.
“I’d very much like to go to a place and build a national brand,” Propst said. “I built Hoover and then Colquitt County into state powerhouse programs, as well as a national brand at both schools.”
Propst acknowledged one other stop he has made.
“I coached at Valdosta, but they were already a national brand when I got there,” Propst said.
He also said that he is open to remaining at Coosa Christian.
“I’m wide open as far as my future is concerned, but I know this: I’m not done coaching,” he said.
Propst said he wants to continue to see the players he coaches get opportunities to go on to play college football.
“I’ve had 263 kids sign college scholarships, and there will probably be at least three or four off this (Coosa Christian) team who will sign with someone as well,” Propst said. “That’s just as important to me as anything.”
Propst said he had a reminder of how much that means to him when he sees players from his earliest days of coaching.
“I had a player that I coached at Alma Bryant over 25 years ago who came to see me this past weekend at our state championship game,” Propst said. “He drove about an hour from Wetumpka (Alabama) to Birmingham to see me. I have not seen this player in over 20 years, but he became a pastor and has done really well with his life.
“That’s the stuff that I love and that I never talk about and that no one sees. But I can tell you that it is a very rewarding feeling when you see a player that you coached years ago and they come up to tell you the difference you made in their life. It’s a great feeling.”
So is a Rush Propst championship, and this one may not be his last.
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