Officials Honor Welsh

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Feb. 2, 2001

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Former Virginia football coach George Welsh brought the arena to its feet one last time Thursday, winning standing ovations and an official legislative resolution in his honor from both chambers of the General Assembly.

“It’s been a great experience for me, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world,” Welsh said in brief remarks to the Senate, where he was presented with a framed copy of the resolution sponsored by Sen. Emily Couric, D-Charlottesville.

“My time has come and this old salt is going to go out somewhere with some fair winds and a falling sea,” he said.

Welsh retired at Virginia in December with a 134-85-3 record, making him the winningest coach in the history of the school and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Before coming to Virginia, he coached his alma mater, Navy, to a 55-46-1 mark.

Later, in the House of Delegates, the resolution was also read aloud as Welsh stood in the center aisle flanked by beaming lawmakers who were Virginia alumni.

But even as he received his accolades, the state’s football rivalry came into play.

Virginia Tech grad Del. Thomas W. Moss Jr., D-Norfolk, rose from his desk grinning broadly and thrust forth the lapel of his coat bearing a large, maroon and orange Hokies button. Moss later joined in the ovation.

Afterward, Welsh shrugged it off. “Hey, it’s an intense rivalry,” he said.