Fran Welch
 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 21, 1895 Hartford, Kansas, U.S. |
| Died | June 19, 1970 (aged 74) Kansas City, Kansas, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1914–1917 | Kansas State Normal |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1928–1942 | Emporia Teachers / Emporia State |
| 1943 | Fort Riley |
| 1946–1954 | Emporia State |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1927–1962 | Emporia Teachers / Emporia State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 122–83–16 |
| Bowls | 1–0 |
| 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 an American football player and coach, track and field coach, and college athletics administrator. 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 Francis G. Welch Stadium to honor his legacy.[2]
Playing career
[edit]Welch enrolled in Kansas State Normal School (now Emporia State University) in 1914. Head football coach Homer Woodson 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 career
[edit]Football
[edit]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 1954. Emporia State, like many schools, did not play football during World War II. His overall coaching record at Emporia State was 115–82–15.[4]
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.[5] It was Emporia's first post-season football game.[4]
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[6] in the "Mo-Kan Bowl" all-star exhibition game.[7]
Track and field
[edit]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
[edit]Welch was awarded a Bachelor of Science in education in 1918 from Kansas Normal, then completed requirements for a degree in agriculture at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. He served as a United States Army lieutenant in World War I[8] 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]
Head coaching record
[edit]| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emporia Teachers / Emporia State Hornets (Central Intercollegiate Conference) (1927–1942) | |||||||||
| 1928 | Emporia Teachers | 6–1–1 | 4–1–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1929 | Emporia Teachers | 6–2 | 5–1 | 1st | |||||
| 1930 | Emporia Teachers | 4–2–3 | 2–1–3 | 3rd | |||||
| 1931 | Emporia Teachers | 4–4 | 4–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1932 | Emporia Teachers | 2–5–1 | 0–5–1 | 7th | |||||
| 1933 | Emporia Teachers | 3–5–1 | 2–4 | 5th | |||||
| 1934 | Emporia Teachers | 7–2 | 3–2 | T–2nd | |||||
| 1935 | Emporia Teachers | 4–4 | 1–3 | 4th | |||||
| 1936 | Emporia Teachers | 6–4 | 2–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1937 | Emporia State | 5–2–2 | 3–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1938 | Emporia State | 3–6 | 1–3 | 4th | |||||
| 1939 | Emporia State | 6–3 | 3–2 | T–2nd | |||||
| 1940 | Emporia State | 6–2 | 3–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1941 | Emporia State | 4–3–2 | 2–1–1 | T–2nd | |||||
| 1942 | Emporia State | 3–4–1 | 2–2–1 | T–3rd | |||||
| Fort Riley Centaurs (Independent) (1943) | |||||||||
| 1943 | Fort Riley | 6–2–1 | |||||||
| Fort Riley: | 6–2–1 | ||||||||
| Emporia State Hornets (Central Intercollegiate Conference) (1946–1954) | |||||||||
| 1946 | Emporia State | 4–5 | 1–4 | 6th | |||||
| 1947 | Emporia State | 7–1–1 | 4–0–1 | 1st | |||||
| 1948 | Emporia State | 8–2 | 5–0 | 1st | W Missouri-Kansas Bowl | ||||
| 1949 | Emporia State | 6–4 | 4–2 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1950 | Emporia State | 6–2–1 | 5–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1951 | Emporia State | 5–3–1 | 5–0 | T–1st | |||||
| 1952 | Emporia State | 7–3 | 5–1 | 1st | |||||
| 1953 | Emporia State | 2–5–1 | 2–3 | 5th | |||||
| 1954 | Emporia State | 2–7 | 2–3 | T–4th | |||||
| Emporia Teachers / Emporia State: | 116–81–15 | 70–44–8 | |||||||
| Total: | 122–83–16 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
References
[edit]- ^ Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, Francis Welch
- ^ ESU Facilities -- Welch Stadium
- ^ a b H. W. "Bill" Hargiss, notes on Fran Welch
- ^ a b Emporia State University Archived September 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine 2007 Football Media Guide
- ^ College Football Data Warehouse Archived October 20, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, Missouri-Kansas Bowl Games
- ^ Barr scores lone touchdown as Missouri stars win 10-0, Southeast Missourian, December 9, 1946
- ^ Stuber to help with Missouri, Southeast Missourian, November 29, 1946
- ^ Emporia State University Spotlight, "A soldier in two wars, a teacher for five decades" (Summer 2003)
- ^ Emporia Gazette, "F.G. (Fran) Welch Dies Following a Brief Sickness", 1970
- 1895 births
- 1970 deaths
- American football quarterbacks
- Emporia State Hornets baseball players
- Emporia State Hornets athletic directors
- Emporia State Hornets football coaches
- Emporia State Hornets football players
- Emporia State Hornets basketball players
- Emporia State Hornets track and field coaches
- Fort Riley Centaurs football coaches
- Kansas State University alumni
- United States Army personnel of World War I
- United States Army personnel of World War II
- United States Army officers
- People from Lyon County, Kansas
- American men's basketball players
- 20th-century American sportsmen