Mike Welch to Receive ECAC Jim Butterfield Division III Coach of the Year Award
DANBURY, Conn. – The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) has announced that hall of fame football coach Mike Welch '73 has been named the Jim Butterfield Division III Coach of the Year, and will receive this honor at the ECAC Football Awards Banquet on Thursday, February 23 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The banquet is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. inside the Toyota Club.
Welch, who retired at season's end with an overall record of 169-78, patrolled the sidelines at Ithaca College for 23 seasons as the program's head coach. The 1973 graduate from IC also served as an assistant for 10 seasons under Jim Butterfield, for whom the award is named after.
Welch was as assistant for two Stagg Bowl Championships in 1988 and 1991. In his first year at the helm of the program in 1994, Welch mentored Ithaca to an overall record of 10-3 and a trip to the NCAA Division III Semifinals. He would be named DIII Coach of the Year by College Sports Magazine, as well as Eastern DIII Coach of the Year by the Metropolitan New York Football Writers' Association.
His 169 wins ranks second all-time in the program's 84-year history. The victories, as well as his .684 winning percentage, place Welch among the top 50 all-time among the coaching ranks in DIII.
Tickets to the banquet are $120 and a table of 10 can be purchased for $1,150. To RSVP to the banquet, please
click on the following link and fill out all the information. Please RSVP by Friday, February 10.