By Dennis Read

For the past two seasons, MTV chronicled the football season at Hoover High School in Birmingham, Ala., for a reality show called “Two A Days.” It turns out the network may have left a year too early, since this season the program at Hoover has become something of a soap opera.

Earlier this month, the school district released the report of an investigation into rumors of possible grade changing for athletes, including football players, which was reported by an outgoing athletic director. The principal, whose contract was not renewed by the district initially, said he found no support for the rumors, but the superintendent appointed retired federal judge Sam C. Pointer, Jr. to conduct an independent investigation.

His report, which cost over $150,000 and included interviews with 43 people, said that grade changes were the result of administrators’ actions, not coaches’, but still questioned the coaches’ involvement in academic matters. The report also chided Head Coach Rush Propst for allowing the use of ineligible players in a junior varsity game, which resulted in a $500 fine and one-year probation from the Alabama High School Athletic Association.

The report said Hoover athletics had "grown into a big business," noting that Propst had moved $15,000 to $27,000 in revenue from camps but had transferred that money into a bank account for the group that televises Hoover's games. He also receives use of a truck from a local dealer. Although no rules or procedures were apparently broken, the report recommends that the school consider reviewing or revising guidelines on outside income for coaches, requiring payment for use of school facilities for sports camps, and requiring that income from camps and television broadcasts be treated the same way as booster club money.

In addition to the school-related charges, the report also touched on Propst’s personal life, including the nature of his relationship with an assistant principal accused of changing grades, and talk of a second family he had in another Alabama town. In a television interview (full video available here), Propst "denied having affairs with school personnel and refused to address questions about the second family.

"That's between me, my wife and the good Lord above," Propst said … "I'm not going to talk about my personal life. It has no bearing on the job I do at Hoover High School."

Then, in an unrelated incident, Hoover was found guilty of using an eligible player in five games this season. The player transferred to Hoover over the summer, and the school was penalized because the change of residence was not completed according to AHSAA rules, and because the school allowed the player to participate before being officially enrolled. The forfeits leave Hoover with a 2-4 record, but they still have a chance to make the playoffs if they win against Oak Mountain this weekend.

"We thought we did everything right," Propst said. "If we did anything wrong—and [AHSAA Executive Director Steve Savarese] told us this—it's we should have sent the paperwork in to them to get verification. But we did not see a red flag in this situation. I cannot say that enough."

One school official, though, has decided that Propst should not return to Hoover next season. Hoover School Board Vice President Suzy Baker became the first board member to call for his removal. Baker told the Birmingham News:

"Propst is "not the leader we hired him to be ... One athletic program benefited from grade-changing, the pressure, moving the kids around ... That is the program run by Rush Propst. He's been the consistent person there year in and year out."

Dennis Read is Associate Editor at Athletic Management.

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