BROWN: President Welsh’s leadership made Texas A&M athletics a destination

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) - Former Texas A&M men’s basketball forward Henry Coleman III has been destined for leadership since the moment he stepped on A&M’s campus. He served as the chair of the Southeastern Conference Basketball Leadership Council in 2023 and 2024 and participated in the SEC Spring Meetings from 2022 to 2024.

Most who have spoken to Coleman believe he will one day run college sports. Whenever he assumes that role, he’ll take a bit of former A&M president Mark Welsh with him, as the Aggie athlete who had the most time to pick the brain of the retired four-star general and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“[Welsh] said, ‘Just be an everyday good person,’” Coleman told KBTX. “And for me, that meant a lot, because that was always what I strive to be. I knew some days were going to be a little bit harder than others, but if I can put my best foot forward, then that was going to be a good day. And so, he was somebody who always preached that.”

Welsh’s handling of athletics played no part in his decision to step down from the presidency Friday — or for the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents to move in a different direction — and debates on the merits of those decisions are better served in other forums. However, those decisions will certainly create harder days ahead for Aggie sports without his leadership.

In today’s college athletics landscape, universities that want to field competitive teams must have alignment from chancellor to president to athletic director to head coaches. Athletic departments are now on the hook for at least $20.5 million in revenue-sharing payments, should they want to compete for national titles. Schools must also develop robust name, image and likeness partnerships to create additional compensation options for players during the recruitment process. This requires a level of budgetary attention and a solid operational foundation that has never been asked of an athletic department or a university.

Stability has not been a hallmark of A&M’s leadership over the last two decades. Since Robert Gates left the presidency in 2006, A&M has had five full-time presidents and three interim presidents. The longest tenured was Michael Young, for slightly more than five years from 2015 to 2020.

In that same time frame, A&M has had five athletic directors and five head football coaches.

Welsh quickly provided a feeling of stability to both the academic and athletic sides of the university. Current A&M athletic director Trev Alberts named Welsh as one of the reasons he chose to leave Nebraska, his alma mater, and come to Aggieland.

“Texas A&M is a pretty remarkable place with a remarkable trajectory, with remarkable leadership,” Alberts said at his introductory press conference. “So, as you think about the future and you think about some of these evolving changes… part of what is really intriguing to me is, I think this is a place under General Welsh’s leadership that’s going to help define what the future looks like, and that’s really exciting to me.”

Welsh provided a sturdy foundation through some very tough days for A&M athletics. He was serving as interim president when then-A&M athletic director Ross Bjork decided to fire former head coach Jimbo Fisher, triggering a record-breaking $75 million buyout. Welsh was a part of the team that brought in current head coach Mike Elko, who had the Aggies a game away from the SEC title game last season and has started his second year 3-0 with a road win over Notre Dame. Welsh navigated the tumultuous weeks that saw head baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle leave Aggieland for hated rival Texas two days after the Aggies finished national runners-up at the College World Series and hired Michael Earley to take over the reins of the program.

Most importantly, Welsh hired Alberts with a charge of keeping A&M competitive in a world where college athletes are paid. It shouldn’t be forgotten that university presidents, with input from their athletic director, ultimately vote on impactful changes to rules and structure at the conference level, as Welsh did when the SEC adopted its 9-game conference schedule to begin in 2026.

While those changes presented challenges, Alberts said he could lean on Welsh’s unflappable demeanor. After all, leading the Air Force presents more dire decisions than running a university or an athletic department.

“Just because someone places you in a position of leadership doesn’t mean you’re the leader,” Alberts said at his introductory press conference. “You have to earn that. You have to earn the right to have people following you. So, the more I interacted with General Welsh, I could tell he was a genuine, authentic leader, and he is who he purports to be, and that is really important.”

Tangible evidence of this comes in the form of College Football Playoff director Rich Clark, who served under Welsh in the Air Force. It was Welsh’s example that made Clark want to move into a higher education-related role after retiring from the military, he said.

“He’s the kind of leader that knows everybody in his chain of command and understands their story and actually cares about them, from top to bottom, from the custodial worker in the building all the way up to the three-star general that works for him,” Clark told KBTX at the 2024 SEC Media Days. He looks at them, treats them like actual human beings, and values them and their families. I just have never met someone that cares as much about their people and then inspires them to do the mission, whatever the mission is.”

Welsh’s personal touch is what A&M’s athletes appreciated the most. Coleman remembered Welsh often showing up to Aggie men’s basketball practices, just to watch. Welsh remembered the names of Coleman’s parents and brother and engaged them in conversation, which Coleman always appreciated.

“He was someone who cared about sports, and he loved them,” Coleman said. “I don’t think he was just a president. He truly was a fan of the sport and fan of each and every player. He made decisions in the direction to better the university from an athletic perspective, and I think that is something that didn’t go unnoticed from our team.”

When Alberts was first introduced as A&M’s athletic director, he rhetorically questioned whether people really knew how lucky the Aggies were to have Welsh at the helm. Friday, approximately 1,000 people lined the steps of the Administration Building to show Welsh and his wife they understood that luck, a fact that did not surprise Coleman at all.

What might eventually come as a shock to some who follow A&M athletics is that Welsh’s leadership was the primary draw for many in the athletic department who decided to make Aggieland their home. It will be challenging to replace that kind of presence.

“I thought he embodied what an Aggie was,” Coleman said. “Personally, I thought he was a great, great leader. He was a man of selfless service. He always wanted to be in the community and help people… He wanted the best for Texas A&M, and I think that’s what an Aggie embodies.”

KBTX senior Texas A&M sportswriter Travis L. Brown can be reached at travis.brown@kbtx.com .

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