By Andrew Edwards, EAN Staff Writer
Rush Propst was introduced this morning as the head football coach of the planned private school USA Academy which will reportedly be located in Coosada off Lynn Drive. The press conference took place a the Prattville Marriott.
The Academy, which is set to begin construction on January 20 Founder Dustin DeVaughn said, will focus on bettering student athletes grades 7th through 12th on not just the playing field, but in the classroom as well.
“We’re going to be bringing a blended learning environment that brings the best resources and teachers to our facilities. Our counselors will sit down with our students and create an optimal learning scope, which will help determine what they and their parents think will be best for them,” DeVaughn said. “Some classes will be online, but some will be in classrooms on our site as well. It completely depends on what the student wants to take.”
When asked, DeVaughn said classes will begin on January 20 with physical temporary sites coming within the next 14 days. Currently, no teachers have been hired. However, DeVaughn says himself as well as his board of directors are in the hiring process and will have a staff by next week.
Moreover, the information pertaining to the members of the board has not yet been released, but according to DeVaughn, it will be within the next few days.
“This is all moving very fast. It’s been about five months since I originally thought of the idea, and it’s crazy to think we’re already here, just a few weeks away from groundbreaking,” DeVaughn said.
USA academy ultimately plans to expand beyond football and cheer and have other sports as well, but for now, the focus lies on those two, DeVaughn said.
When asked about funding for the school, DeVaughn was quick to respond.
“We have private investors that we would like to keep private. However, we’ve been and will continue to accept donations to the school. We’re a non-profit, so this isn’t something that we’re trying to greatly benefit from. Also, over the next 6-8 weeks we’re going to announce some corporate partnerships that will knock people’s socks off. There’s also the revenue coming from the tuition that the students will be paying.”
The tuition that DeVaughn speaks of will be, at its highest, $13,750 per student and the facility and stadium that they will reportedly soon break ground for will cost 13-14 M. This is not including the girls and boys dormitories have just recently been added to the plan.
The football team which is, according to Propst, set to begin Spring Practice around April 1st, already has a few teams lined up to play for the 2020 year. One of those includes St. John’s in Washington D.C. The team has also been in talks with IMG Academy in Florida for a potential matchup as well.
Even though the team currently has no official players, Propst is confident that everything will come together sooner rather than later.
“When I started in Hoover back in 1999, we only had 16 seniors,” Propst said. “The team was small but I was confident we would make it work. So far, we’ve had about 365 students contact us from 31 states who want to be a part of this team. I’m confident we’ll make it work again.”
But just “making it work” isn’t the message that DeVaughn and Propst wanted the audience to hear. They both consistently kept repeating the idea that they wanted to compete for national championships and be mentioned with the “big” boys of the country such as Mater Dei and IMG Academy.
“We expect to have some of the finest facilities that you can find in the country,” DeVaughn said. “If we want to be recognized as a national powerhouse, we have to start with a great staff, conditioning and coaching.”
DeVaughn also wanted to make it clear that USA Academy isn’t trying to steal the limelight from other schools in the area. On the contrary, he said he wants to work with them.
“I’ve spoken with the AHSAA and they’ve been nothing but cordial to me. We’d love to play one of these in state schools such as Autauga Academy. It would be a great revenue producer for both schools and after all, who wouldn’t want a shot at Rush Propst,” DeVaughn said.
Propst, who has been coaching football for the past 40 years, wants players and parents for the upcoming year to realize that it may not be the most successful program right out of the gate.
“My first year in Hoover was not a very good one. It takes time and effort to reach our high aspirations. This is a fast-moving machine, and it may not translate to wins after the first year. But my goal is to make three-star players play like four-star players. For four-star players to play like five-star players. And for five-star players to live up to their expectations,” Propst said.
DeVaughn says over 115 schools nationwide have contacted him within the last 72 hours for potential future matchups.
With so much happening so fast, DeVaughn and Propst understand the skepticism that’s come from the general public. That certainly didn’t stop Propst from taking the job.
“I’m willing to take the risk” said Propst. “But sometimes in life you have to take risks to get where you want to go.”
We will have continuing coverage on this proposed Academy, to include questions about permits, water access, electrical access, architects and sponsors.
Visit the official website for the Academy at theusaacademy.com.
