Ralph Clyde "Shorty" Propst (May 12, 1898 – October 13, 1959) was an American college football player and coach. He served as head coach at both Howard and

Southwestern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

from 1934 to 1937. During his tenure as a head coach, Propst had an overall record of 19 wins, 14 losses and 6 ties (19–14–6).

Playing career

Propst was a prominent

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

for the

Alabama Crimson Tide football The Alabama Crimson Tide football program represents the University of Alabama (variously Alabama, UA, or Bama) in the sport of American football. The team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Ass ...

teams of the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

coached by Xen C. Scott and

Wallace Wade William Wallace Wade (June 15, 1892 – October 7, 1986) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Alabama fro ...

. In three different years he was selected All-Southern. He recovered

Pooley Hubert Allison Thomas Stanislaus "Pooley" Hubert (April 6, 1901 – February 26, 1978) was an American football player and coach of football and basketball. Regarded as one of the South's greatest college football stars, he played quarterback for coach ...

's fumble in the endzone which was the deciding score in the 9 to 7 victory over Penn in 1922, arguably the biggest win in the era of Scott's coaching tenure. He won the Porter Loving Cup three times. He also played center on Alabama's basketball team.

Coaching career

After he graduated from Alabama, Propst began his coaching career under

with the Crimson Tide in 1925. At Alabama, Propst served as an assistant with the varsity in 1925, led the freshmen team in 1926 and 1927 before returning as a varsity assistant from 1928 to 1932. After the 1932 season, he left coaching briefly to enter private business. On March 21, 1934, Propst was hired to serve as head coach at Howard College (now Samford University) after

Eddie McLane Lovick Pierce "Eddie" McLane (August 9, 1899 – June 22, 1980) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach at Anniston High School, Samford University (then named Howard College), and Louisiana Tech University. All three schools w ...

resigned to take the same position at

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...

. During his one season with the Bulldogs, Propst led Howard to an overall record of three wins, four losses and two ties (3–4–2). He resigned his position at Howard one year later on March 7, 1935 to become both the head coach and

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...

at Southwestern College of Memphis (now

Rhodes College Rhodes College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Memphis, Tennessee. Historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), it is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Sout ...

). The position came available after the death of

James DeHart James DeHart (August 25, 1893 – March 4, 1935) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Washington and Lee University from 1922 to 1925 and again from 1931 to 1932 and at Duke University from 1926 to 1930, compi ...

who was hired, but never coached a game at Southwestern in February 1935. During his three-year tenure with the Lynx, his most notable victory came in 1936 when he led Southwestern to a 12–0 upset over Vanderbilt. Propst later resigned both as head coach and athletic director at Southwestern on December 3, 1937. He chose to resign after he learned his contract was not to be renewed in March 1938 by university officials. During his three-year tenure at Southwestern, Propst led the Lynx to an overall record of sixteen wins, ten losses and four ties (16–10–4). Propst later served as line coach at Auburn University from 1944 to 1947.

Head coaching record

Later life

After he resigned from Auburn, Propst was recommended by Sam Hobbs in 1948 to serve as postmaster in

Ohatchee, Alabama Ohatchee (inc. 1956) is a town in Calhoun County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 1,157. It is included in the Anniston–Oxford, Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Andrew Jackson used the area aro ...

. He later died on October 13, 1959, at the home of his daughter in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

where he had resided since 1957.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Propst, Clyde 1959 deaths 1898 births American football centers Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches Alabama Crimson Tide baseball players Alabama Crimson Tide football players Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball players Auburn Tigers football coaches Birmingham–Southern Panthers football players Rhodes Lynx athletic directors Rhodes Lynx football coaches Samford Bulldogs football coaches All-Southern college football players People from Calhoun County, Alabama American men's basketball players