Rush Propst is no stranger to being the center of attention.

On Thursday, a day after the Pell City football coach survived what appeared to be a coup to oust him during a Pell City School Board of Education meeting, the controversial coach made it clear he believes Alabama high school is behind neighboring states.

In an interview with me on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 in Mobile, Propst chose not to respond to several questions regarding an agenda item from Wednesday’s meeting which called for the non-renewal of Propst’s contract and a contract for his wife, who works for the school system as a secretary.

Instead, he said, he was looking forward.

He did, however, take the opportunity to point out that AHSAA teams are not as prepared for their seasons compared to teams other states.

“I think we have to protect spring practice,” Propst said Thursday. “They protect it in the state of Florida. They protect it in the state of Georgia. And, here we are, it’s on life support.”

AHSAA members have the option of conducting spring practices, or, if schools choose, they may start fall practice a week earlier.

“When I look at Georgia, we had 10-day spring ball, and we could have a spring game. Make a little money,” said Propst, who coached at Colquitt County in Norman Park, Ga., where he led the Packers to state championships in 2014 and 2015 with back-to-back 15-0 records.

“In the fall, we put pads on August 1. Then, we played a fall jamboree. In this state, if you go through spring practices, whether you play a game or not, you can’t play a fall jamboree.

“What sense does that make? It makes no sense.”

Propst contends schools miss out on making anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 a year with spring games and fall jamborees.

Perhaps more importantly, Propst said, teams miss out on the evaluation of players. A topic, the former Hoover High coach said, he discussed with two visiting college coaches this week.

“The teams in Georgia are better prepared when we get into the early season than the teams in Alabama,” he said.

The other issue he has is OTAs or organized team activities.

“Let’s say us and Helena want to get together and practice in July against each other. We can’t put any kind of equipment on. We can’t. We can put head gear on. We’re out there playing 11 on 11, regular football, and we have no protective equipment at all,” he said.

In Georgia, he said, teams can add shoulder pads.

“There are things there (in Georgia) that are more conducive to get a football team ready than there are in this state,” he said. “That’s something that we have got to look at as a football committee, look at legislatively and decide some things.”

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.