Valdosta City Schools on Friday morning canceled Monday’s called school board meeting that would have revisited the firing of football coach Rush Propst. Without further comment, the school system posted on its Facebook page: “This called meeting has been CANCELLED.”
That suggests that the votes to overturn last month’s board decision to fire Propst were not there.
On Tuesday, school board member Warren Lee made a motion at a regularly scheduled board meeting to revisit Propst’s contract, leading to speculation that Lee had persuaded at least a couple of board members to reconsider. Propst was ousted by a 5-3 vote, with Lee in support of retaining Propst, on April 27.
Propst was let go in the wake of a recruiting scandal that resulted in the Georgia High School Association fining the South Georgia school $7,500 and banning the football team from the 2021 playoffs. Five players, alleged to have been recruited to transfer illegally by Propst, were declared ineligible at any GHSA school. Valdosta’s seven 2020 victories were forfeited.
Propst is one of the nation’s best-known high school coaches. An Alabama native, he has won 295 games and seven state titles, including two at Colquitt County in Moultrie. Propst was fired at Colquitt County after the 2018 season and spent 2019 assisting a college team as he fought to regain his teaching certificate from the Georgia Professional Standards Commission.
Propst was hired as Valdosta’s coach in April 2020. Valdosta finished 7-5 and reached the Class 6A semifinals in Propst’s only season.
Valdosta’s acting football coach is Shelton Felton.
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