Mike Welch (American football)

Mike Welch, born Michael Walter Welch on June 11, 1951, is an American former football coach who served as head football coach at Ithaca College from 1994 to 2016. He played halfback and linebacker at high school in Dansville, New York, and enrolled at Ithaca College in 1969, where he played both football and lacrosse. He was on the varsity football team under College Football Hall of Fame coach Jim Butterfield from 1970 to 1972, gaining 467 yards on 117 carries as a junior in 1971 and, as a senior captain at fullback in 1972, 257 yards on 61 attempts. After graduating in 1973 he coached at Rush-Henrietta Senior High School, at Albany and at Washington University in St. Louis, then returned to Ithaca in 1984 as linebacker coach. He took over as head coach in 1994, led the Bombers to a 10-3 record and the NCAA playoffs in his first season, and between 1994 and 2009 produced 16 consecutive winning seasons with a 128-46 record. In 2006 he was elected to the American Football Coaches Association Board of Trustees.