Ithaca College’s ninth head football coach, Mike Welch has continued the success of one of Division III’s winningest programs. His teams have been consistent playoff contenders, and he owns a record of 97-35 (.735) as Bomber coach.
Taking over for Jim Butterfield, one of college football’s most successful coaches, Welch was college football’s most successful rookie coach in 1994. He led the Bombers to a 10-3 record and the NCAA Division III semifinals that year.
He posted more victories (10) than any other first-year NCAA coach. For his efforts, Welch was named Division III coach of the year by College Sports magazine and Eastern Division III coach of the year (Stan Lomax-Irving Marsh Award) by the Football Writers of New York.
In 1996, the Bombers started the season with five straight wins and at one point earned the top spot in the NCAA Division III East Region rankings. Ithaca won the ECAC Northeast championship by downing previously unbeaten Worcester State, 27-21. The 1998 team lost only to NCAA playoff teams Springfield and Buffalo State on its way to the ECAC playoffs. Once there, Ithaca thrashed Hartwick, 40-6. A year later Ithaca made the program’s 17th postseason appearance in 25 years.
In 2001 the Bombers reached the NCAA quarterfinals, posting road wins at Montclair State and Rensselaer. The 2003 Bombers reached the national quarterfinals after recording NCAA playoff wins at Brockport and Montclair State. In 2004 Ithaca routed Massachusetts-Dartmouth in an ECAC postseason game. Last fall the Bombers won their fourth straight Empire 8 title and advanced to the NCAA playoffs for the third time in five years.
A high school standout at Dansville, Welch was coached there by Ithaca Athletic Hall of Fame member Tom Vogt ’64 and earned all-county honors as a junior halfback and a senior linebacker. Dansville was 16-0 during Welch’s sophomore and junior seasons.
At Ithaca he earned two letters playing for Butterfield. A running back, he missed most of his sophomore season with an ankle injury. Welch was named the Bombers’ Most Improved Back as a junior after gaining 467 yards on 117 carries. The starter at fullback and a captain as a senior, Welch was again slowed by an injury but still gained 257 yards on 61 attempts. Welch also spent four years with the lacrosse program, including two with the varsity.
From 1973-76 Welch worked as an assistant football coach at Rush-Henrietta High School in Rochester. He earned his master’s degree from Albany in 1977. Welch was also a member of the Great Dane coaching staff, serving as offensive back coach and later defensive line coach on Bob Ford’s staff. Albany reached the NCAA semifinals in 1977.
In 1980 Welch began a four-year tenure as offensive coordinator at Washington (Mo.) University. He came back to his alma mater in 1984 as linebacker coach.
The Bomber football program has posted a 180-49 (.786) record with Welch on its coaching staff. In addition to winning national championships in 1988 and 1991, the Bombers made NCAA playoff appearances in 1985, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 2001 and 2003. Ithaca was an ECAC playoff participant in 1984, 1987, 1996, 1998 and 1999.
In 2006 Welch was elected to the AFCA Board of Trustees.
Welch is married to the former Susan Price, a 1973 Ithaca College graduate. They have two children; Jessica, a 2003 Ithaca graduate, was an all-American lacrosse player, and Jeff, a student assistant coach with the Bombers who was an all-conference football and lacrosse player and captained both sports.
