Disclaimer

Everything below was done for fun. I was curious about what a modern CFB bagman might look like and did some internet research. Please do not conduct a witchhunt. Please do not reach out or harass strangers online.

Also, because it is important to differentiate facts from speculation, everything in italics is speculation.

Background

Rush Propst is the Head Football Coach of Valdosta High School (Georgia). In May 2020, Propst was recorded, by a Valdosta HS Booster (Michael Nelson) making comments about Kirby Smart’s bagman network at UGA. Propst specially names two men Hugh Nall and Mark Mobley, as major players in the Bulldog bagman network.

Here is that recording. For those of you at work, here is a transcript of the recording. There is also a deposition of Nelson talking about Propst sketchiness.

Before Propst was at Valdosta, he coached at Colquitt County High School (GA) and Hoover High School (AL). Propst is generally pretty scummy. He was fired from Colquitt County for harassing students. He has committed tax fraud and his wages are being garnished by the IRS. Anything he says should be taken with a huge grain of salt.

Propst has also won 5 state titles in Alabama and 2 state title in Georgia. He's been coaching in the southeast for over 30 years. Propst might not have all the facts about UGA’s bagmen. But given his experience, line of work, and general sketchiness, it isn't improbable that Propst might know the major pieces in Kirby's network.

So what I wanted to look into is if the two men Propst names, Hugh Nall & Mark Mobley, are reasonable UGA bagmen?

Hugh Nall

With regards to "getting kids and keeping kids," Hugh Nall was mentioned by Propst as Kirby Smart’s chief “handler.” Propst also says that Hugh Nall lives in Albany. Based on this information, Propst appears to be referring to Hugh Nall, President of SouthernAg Carriers Inc. in Albany, GA.

Hugh Nall is Former Georgia Bulldog who played Center for UGA from 1976-1980. Nall played on UGA's most recent National Championship team in 1980.

Nall also coached OL under Tommy Tuberville at Ole Miss and Auburn. Propst would most likely know Nall from when they were at Hoover and Auburn respectively. The exact nature of this relationship is unknown though.

In addition to his past onfield ties to UGA, Nall has at least two ties to Kirby Smart's current program. While at Ole Miss (1995-1998), Nall coached current UGA OL Coach Matt Luke (Center, Ole Miss 1995-1998). Additionally, Nall’s trucking company SoutherAg is the official hauler of UGA’s football equipment.

Based on LLCs and property registered with the states of FL and GA, Nall appears to be wealthy. Most of Nall's LLCs are related to either trucking or property. However there is one LLC with no stated business purpose that was filed under the name “Kids Outdoor Reading Experience.” Kids Outdoor Reading Experience has virtually no internet presence.

It is worth noting that together none of this is clear proof of any wrongdoing and we should be very careful not to infer wrongdoing based on coincidence alone.

Mark Mobley

Mark Mobley was mentioned by Propst as the one who paid Nick Chubb $180,000 to stay at UGA for his senior season. Given that Propst does not mention a location for Mobley, it is more difficult to identify the specific person in question. Based on connections to Propst and UGA, I'm fairly certain that he mean Mark Mobley Jr, President/Owner of Mobley Gin company in Moultrie, GA.

Like Nall, Mobley is a former Georgia Bulldog and played on the UGA Freshman team in 1977 as a TE. Mobley is also CFO of the Colquitt County HS Football Boosters Club. Mobley would have worked closely with Propst when he coached Colquitt County HS to two state titles. Mobley may be the booster mentioned by Nelson that pays Propst’s rent in Moultrie.

Like Nall, based on properties and LLCs registered in GA, the Mobley family appears to be very well off financially. Unlike Nall, other than his status as an alumni and former player, Mobley's ties to UGA are more vague. Mobley and his wife are current UGA Athletics boosters. Otherwise, the only eyebrow-raising connection between the Bulldogs and Mobley are from twitter connections between Mobley's son and UGA staff.

Mark Mobley Jr’s son, John Mark Mobley III is the vice president of Mobley Gin Company. John Mark Mobley III has 5 non-bot Twitter Followers. One of these five followers is Glenn Schumann, the Co-DC for UGA. Of the 1.5k people that Glenn Schumann follows, only two have fewer followers than John Mark Mobley III. Based on the order and creation date of Glenn Schumann’s, Twitter Follows, we can determine that Schumann started following Mobley around January 2017. So their connection occurred after Schumann moved from Bama to UGA in 2016. John Mark Mobley III appears to be an incredibly rare, relatively recent, and interesting follow for the Co-DC of the Georgia Bulldogs.

Like Nall, none of this is any proof of wrongdoing by Mobley and we should be careful not to infer misconduct.

Conclusions

Rush Propst mentioned two men as potential players in the UGA bagmen network. A deep internet dive into these men didn't turn up very much conclusive evidence to support that assertion.

The two most notable pieces of evidence uncovered are:

1. the Twitter connection between Glenn Schumann and John Mark Mobley III

2. The fact that Hugh Nall’s company does the trucking for the Bulldogs.

Speculation

As stated above there is no concrete evidence that these men have paid players on behalf of UGA. However, we do know that recruits get paid. Additionally, we know Propst has paid high school recruits so he probably has some idea of how the sausage gets made. Rather than focusing on these men specifically and trying to dig up more dirt, I think it's more interesting to take the evidence above and make inferences about how a potential bagman network functions.

Propst mentioned two names of UGA bagmen. Both of the names he mentioned were past players. Both were wealthy. And both have ties to Kirby Smart's staff. This is probably not a coincidence.

As president of a multi-state trucking company, Nall's position would allow him to know most of the major farming and processing operations within the deep south. Based on Propst assertion that Nall is the "Handler", we can imagine that Nall acts as a payout manager. Nall's company and connections allow him to connect the families of recruits with boosters like Mobley who actually make the payout.

Companies like Mobley Gin make the perfect vessel to provide payouts to potential recruits and their families. Mobley Gin Company transports, warehouses, and processes agricultural supplies from across the region. If a recruit has a family member in agriculture within their footprint, it would be incredibly easy to add a payout to them on the books.