Colquitt County (Georgia) High School Coach Rush Propst.

ATLANTA — An attorney assigned to pursue the case against Georgia high school football coach Rush Propst recommended that his one-year suspension be dropped.

This was one of the revelations in the Professional Standards Commission’s file on Propst, which was obtained this week through an open records request.

“If this matter went to a hearing, there would only be praise for this educator, including from the student involved and the superintendent,” wrote Rebecca Mick, senior assistant attorney general, in a June 23 letter. The attorney general’s office handled the case during Propst’s appeal of his suspension.

“For this reason, I recommend that you accept the reprimand, as I do not believe the PSC could achieve a sanction at a hearing,” Mick added.

The commission reconsidered its suspension and in July settled on a reprimand.

Propst came under scrutiny when TV cameras captured the Colquitt County High School coach head-butting a helmeted player during a play-off game against Mill Creek last December. Propst, who was wearing a visor, was seen with blood coming down his face.

The incident prompted criticism that the coach’s antics had gone too far.

The school’s athletic director at the time, Kevin Giddens, and Principal Stephanie Terrell met with Propst after the incident, but the issue reemerged when news broke in June that the commission had voted to suspend Propst’s teaching certificate for a year. The suspension would have kept him off the sidelines, as well.

The commission’s file sheds light on what transpired between December and June.

Superintendent Samuel DePaul said in email correspondence with the commission on Feb. 12 that he had met with school officials the day prior, although at least two people mentioned — Terrell and Giddens — said this week that they were unfamiliar with such a meeting.

When asked, DePaul declined to comment. DePaul left at the end of June to accept another job in north Georgia.  

In an email sent the same day to school board members, which was obtained by a news reporter, DePaul wrote that someone from the commission called him on Feb. 11 to remind him of the 90-day deadline to file a report.

According to his email, DePaul was informed during that call that an unnamed member of the commission had asked, “Have we not received a complaint or report of the Colquitt County incident?” 

Jill Nolin covers the Georgia Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jnolin@cnhi.com.