Fran Welch
| Francis George Welch | |
|---|---|
 Coach Fran Welch | |
| Sport(s) | College football |
| Current position | |
| Team | Emporia State University |
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
August 21, 1895 Hartford, Kansas |
| Died |
June 19, 1970 Kansas City, Kansas |
| Playing career | |
| 1914-1917 | Emporia State |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1928-1942 1946-1954 |
Emporia State Emporia State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 115-82-15 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
|
Awards Kansas Sports Hall of Fame NAIA Track & Field Hall of Fame | |
Francis George Welch (August 21, 1895-June 19, 1970) was a college football, track and field coach and athletic director in the United States. He was of the first three coaches to be selected for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Track and Field Hall of Fame and is a member of the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame.[1]
In 1960, Emporia State University named the football stadium Welch Stadium to honor his legacy.[2]
Playing History
Fran Welch enrolled in Kansas State Normal School (now Emporia State University) in 1914. Head football coach Bill Hargiss put him at quarterback where he remained until graduation four years later. He also displayed skill in baseball and basketball, earning 11 varsity letters before his graduation in 1918.[3]
Coaching history
Football
Welch was the 13th head football coach for Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas and he held that position for 24 seasons, from 1928 until 1942 and then again from 1946 until 1954. His overall coaching record at ESU was 115 wins, 82 losses, and 15 ties. As of completion of the 2007 season, this ranks him first at ESU in terms of total wins[4] and sixth at ESU in terms of winning percentage.[5]
Emporia State, like many schools, did not play football during World War II.
Welch led his team to a victory in the Missouri-Kansas Bowl with a 34-20 victory over Missouri State University on December 4, 1948 in Kansas City, Missouri. It was the only year the bowl game was played.[6] It was Emporia's first post-season football game.[5]
Welch (along with Washburn University coach Dick Godlove) also coached an "all-star" team made up of Kansas players to play a similar squad from Missouri[7] in the "Mo-Kan Bowl" all-star exhibition game.[8]
Track and field
Welch coached the track and field teams at Emporia as well. His teams were conference champs ten times, won four NAIA championships and placed second three times in 13 years of competition. Fran developed three NCAA individual champions and 13 individual NAIA champs.[3]
In 1960, Welch was selected to coach field event participants of the United States Women's Track and Field Team for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.
Personal life
Welch was awarded a Bachelor of Science in education in 1918 form Kansas Normal, then completed requirements for a degree in agriculture at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. He served as a U.S. Army Lieutenant in World War I[2] and took a leave of absence from teaching to serve in World War II as a Captain and special services officer at Fort Riley.[9]
References
- ↑ Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, Francis Welch
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Emporia State University Spotlight, "A soldier in two wars, a teacher for five decades" (Summer 2003)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 H. W. "Bill" Hargiss, notes on Fran Welch
- ↑ Fran Welch Stadium
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Emporia State University 2007 Football Media Guide
- ↑ College Football Data Warehouse, Missouri-Kansas Bowl Games
- ↑ Barr scores lone touchdown as Missour stars win 10-0, Southeast Missourian, Dec 9, 1946
- ↑ Stuber to help with Missouri, Southeast Missourian, November 29, 1946
- ↑ Emporia Gazette, "F.G. (Fran) Welch Dies Following a Brief Sickness", 1970
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