Rush Propst Accuses Kirby Smart and Nick Saban of Paying Recruits

Rush Propst, a well-known and controversial Georgia high school football coach, was caught on tape making some big-time accusations about two college football powerhouses. In a recorded conversation, Propst claimed the Georgia head coach Kirby Smart and Alabama head coach Nick Saban are paying players using wealthy donors and boosters.

Propst is a highly controversial figure in high school football, so some will dismiss anything he says outright, but he seems to have a ton of details about the inner workings of both programs. He also coached in both Alabama and Georgia and had high-level recruits play under him at multiple stops.

Here's what he said about Smart and Georgia:

Propst says recruits get between $90,000 to $150,000 to sign. And when Nick Chubb decided to return to school, there were three $60,000 donations that came in, presumably all three went to Chubb.

And here he is talking about Saban and Alabama:

Here Propst says Paul "Bear" Bryant Jr. is the only man he needs to fund recruiting operations. Bryant founded the People's Bank in the 60s, sold it, and founded Bryant Bank in 2005. In between he's invested in, bought and sold numerous companies, including offloading Ready Mix USA to Cemex for $350 million in 2011.

We obviously can't verify any of these claims and Propst isn't the greatest source in the world.

The entire recording is below, it came during a discussion with Valdosta Touchdown Club executive director Michael "Nub" Nelson:

Most people know Propst as the head coach of Hoover High School in Alabama, which was featured on the MTV show Two-A-Days. He coached at Hoover for nine years, winning five state championships. He coached a Colquitt County High School in Georgia, was a volunteer assistant at UAB, and is the current coach at Valdosta High School. The details of his career are where things get messy.

Propst revealed he had a second, secret family in 2007 and resigned as Hoover's head coach. Despite allegations of wrongdoing against his program, he denied all of them. In 2016, he was suspended by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission after headbutting one of his Colquitt players. He appealed and was instead given a reprimand. in 2019, he was fired from Colquitt for numerous Code of Ethics violations.

Propst has been at Valdosta for one year and his program is already under investigation for paying potential recruits to the school.

None of that means his allegations against Smart and Saban are untrue, but they certainly need verification. That said, I don't think these accusations will surprise anyone.