Fran Welch

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]

Fran Welch
Biographical details
Born(1895-08-21)August 21, 1895
Hartford, Kansas, U.S.
DiedJune 19, 1970(1970-06-19) (aged 74)
Kansas City, Kansas, U.S.
Playing career
Football
1914–1917Kansas State Normal
Position(s)Quarterback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1928–1942Emporia Teachers / Emporia State
1943Fort Riley
1946–1954Emporia State
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1927–1962Emporia Teachers / Emporia State
Head coaching record
Overall122–83–16
Bowls1–0
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
Kansas Sports Hall of Fame
NAIA Track & Field Hall of Fame

In 1960, Emporia State University named the football stadium Francis G. Welch Stadium to honor his legacy.[2]

Playing career

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

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 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

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 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
Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Emporia Teachers/State Hornets (Central Intercollegiate Conference) (1927–1942)
1928 Emporia Teachers 6–1–14–1–12nd
1929 Emporia Teachers 6–25–11st
1930 Emporia Teachers 4–2–32–1–33rd
1931 Emporia Teachers 4–44–23rd
1932 Emporia Teachers 2–5–10–5–17th
1933 Emporia Teachers 3–5–12–45th
1934 Emporia Teachers 7–23–2T–2nd
1935 Emporia Teachers 4–41–34th
1936 Emporia Teachers 6–42–23rd
1937 Emporia State 5–2–23–12nd
1938 Emporia State 3–61–34th
1939 Emporia State 6–33–2T–2nd
1940 Emporia State 6–23–12nd
1941 Emporia State 4–3–22–1–1T–2nd
1942 Emporia State 3–4–12–2–1T–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 4–51–46th
1947 Emporia State 7–1–14–0–11st
1948 Emporia State 8–25–01stW Missouri-Kansas Bowl
1949 Emporia State 6–44–2T–3rd
1950 Emporia State 6–2–15–01st
1951 Emporia State 5–3–15–0T–1st
1952 Emporia State 7–35–11st
1953 Emporia State 2–5–12–35th
1954 Emporia State 2–72–3T–4th
Emporia Teachers / Emporia State: 116–81–1570–44–8
Total:122–83–16
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

References
  1. Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, Francis Welch
  2. ESU Facilities -- Welch Stadium
  3. H. W. "Bill" Hargiss, notes on Fran Welch
  4. Emporia State University Archived September 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine 2007 Football Media Guide
  5. College Football Data Warehouse Archived October 20, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, Missouri-Kansas Bowl Games
  6. Barr scores lone touchdown as Missouri stars win 10-0, Southeast Missourian, December 9, 1946
  7. Stuber to help with Missouri, Southeast Missourian, November 29, 1946
  8. Emporia State University Spotlight, "A soldier in two wars, a teacher for five decades" (Summer 2003)
  9. Emporia Gazette, "F.G. (Fran) Welch Dies Following a Brief Sickness", 1970
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