 Last year, while living in the New Dorms, I was walking by Scott Stadium when one of my friends asked, “Who’s this George Welsh guy that has a street named after him?”
I calmly explained to them that George Welsh was the Virginia Head Football coach during the 1980s and 90’s that won 2 ACC titles, and, at one time, had Virginia ranked as the top team in the nation during the 1990 season.
“Oh,” my friend said.
That brief conversation made me worry that people are already beginning to forget about George Welsh and what he did for the Virginia program. Do you think when a Tennessee student walks along Neyland drive in Knoxville that he needs a lecture about the impact that General Robert Neyland had on the Tennessee program? No, and neither should Welsh. Sure, he has a statue in Scott Stadium, but nobody admires that statue the way people in Tuscaloosa admire Bear Bryant’s statue or Woody Hayes’ Statue in Columbus. Welsh is truly a coaching icon. Put it this way: If it wasn’t for Welsh, Virginia might just be another Wake Forest or Duke in ACC football.
To understand how vital Welsh was and is to Virginia football, all one needs to know is a couple of stats. From Virginia’s inception into the ACC in 1954 up to the 1981 season, the year before Welsh came to Charlottesville, the Virginia Cavaliers had a record of 87-201-3
From Virginia’s inception into the ACC in 1954 up to the 1981 season, the year before Welsh came to Charlottesville, the Virginia Cavaliers had a record of 87-201-3 
. That’s a .440 winning percentage under eight different coaches in 28 seasons.
Enter George Welsh. Welsh compiled a 55-46-1 record in 9 seasons at Navy, impressive considering it would take 15 years after Welsh left for Navy to eclipse his win total there. Upon arriving in Charlottesville, all he did in 19 seasons was guide the Cavaliers to a 134-86-3 record, winning 61 percent of his games. More impressively, he retired as the winningest coach in ACC play, a feat that should always be respected.
A more depressing stat for Virginia Football pre-George Welsh: zero bowl appearances. Welsh took Virginia to the Peach bowl in only his third season, beating Purdue 27-24. But he didn’t stop there: he would take the Cavaliers to 11 more bowl appearances, including a Sugar, Citrus, Gator, and two more Peach Bowls. His biggest negative was that he only won one-third of his bowl games, but considering Virginia didn’t win any before Welsh got there, getting to these big-name bowl games was quite an achievement.
Perhaps the greatest statistic to show Welsh’s consistency as a head coach: Virginia won at least 7 games from 1987-1999, a streak of 12 consecutive seasons. How many programs accomplished the same feat during that span? THREE: Michigan, Florida State and Nebraska. Powerhouse programs such as Miami, Tennessee, Ohio State, Texas or Southern California did not achieve this, but Virginia did. That’s consistency, folks.
You can also include producing top NFL talent such as Jamie Sharper, Herman Moore, James Farrior, Tiki and Ronde Barber. And most importantly, Virginia was never on NCAA probation during Welsh’s tenure, something that crippled Virginia Tech in the 1980’s.
As a true sign of how respected Welsh is in the College Football community, he was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame after achieving a 189-131-4 career record.
Unfortunately, when the next generation of Wahoos enter Charlottesville and see the “George Welsh Way” sign leading to Scott Stadium, they might wonder if that was the guy that made Grape Juices. No, he was a darn good football coach, and it’s a shame that people might forget that forever.
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