Former Valdosta and Colquitt County head football coach Rush Propst was hospitalized with COVID-19 and pneumonia Wednesday, Titletown High director Jason Sciavicco tweeted Thursday morning.

Sciavicco continued in the tweet, “He needs all the prayers we can give. Please take a moment and say a prayer for him, Stefanie and his family.”

Propst was dismissed as head football coach at Valdosta April 27 after an investigation by the GHSA revealed recruiting violations.

The 63-year-old coaching legend told the Valdosta Daily Times in early September, following the premiere of Titletown High on Netflix, that he had since moved back to his home state of Alabama. Though Propst has not ruled out coaching again if the opportunity presents itself, he expressed his plans to enjoy time with his wife Stefanie and three children.

“I’m just taking a year off and doing things that I’ve never done in my life,” Propst said. “There’s things that you miss out in the fall of the year – from summer and fall – that you don’t get to do as a head football coach at a high-profile program. That’s where I’ve been for the last 30 years, 25 years for sure at a high-profile program.

“My kids – being a good husband, being a good dad. You’ve been involved with other kids and raising other children and your kids and your wife become neglected during that time. Being a good dad, being a good husband, all of those things I look forward to this fall not coaching. To be honest with you, that excites me a little bit. … I’ll be able to do things with them on Saturdays and Sundays away from football – like taking them hunting or fishing or going to a game and enjoy being a regular person for the first time in my life, really.”