Tom Welsh looks to soar as the head of USF Volleyball

At the end of last women’s volleyball season, Cara Currier, former coach of the program for the past 24 seasons, announced that she would be retiring from the position. While searching for a new women’s coach, the University of St. Francis (USF) also introduced a men’s volleyball program to the school, further raising the qualifications of the position to managing two programs. 

Tom Welsh got his start in volleyball as a former junior college (JUCO) player. He started in the coaching realm at the age of 18 while still playing. After coaching at the high school level for numerous years, he made the decision to move to college volleyball when he took the head coaching position at Morton College in 2019. He would spend two years there before moving into the professional world as a club director. Welsh would move back to JUCO volleyball in 2023 to Joliet Junior College with the women’s program. 

After another two seasons at the junior college level, Welsh would make the jump to the NAIA level at Trinity Christian College for the 2025 season. This would also be his first opportunity managing both a men’s and women’s team in the same season. Unfortunately, Trinity Christian would announce they were permanently closing after the 2025-26 school year, and Welsh would have to look for another job. 

When the position was posted, the USF received multiple applicants. Welsh was particularly interested in the position having been near the program throughout the years.

“I have known the program for many years, and kind of knew that Coach Currier was leaving at the end of last season,” Welsh said. “It was always in the back of my mind, that if something would ever happen, I keep this in the background. But I definitely didn’t want to anticipate Trinity Christian closing.”

One thing Welsh emphasized during his hiring process was his want to finish the men’s season with Trinity Christian. While the process time-wise was long, Welsh was grateful to Athletic Director Dave Laketa for making the process seem easy. 

“I had met with Dave and Coach Currier after the women’s season in November to initially talk about stuff, because that’s when Trinity Christian announced its closing,” Welsh said. “It was a long process, but it wasn’t one that felt rushed or felt like it took that long. It just kind of played out the way that it would have and should have. So it was good. It was what I wanted.”

Welsh was named the fifth head coach of the women’s volleyball team on March 24, along with also being the inaugural head coach for the men’s program. One of the first things he would have on his hands was to build the men’s program from scratch. Welsh explained how he was able to compile his roster so late in the season.

“My focus and my goal was local. I felt that we have a lot of talent here locally that I don’t have to go out of state to find people, and I knew that the easiest way to get people here was to get commuters. 24 of the 26 [men on the team] are commuters,” Welsh said. “In a matter of weeks, we went from six [guys] to 15, then to 20, then 26, and now 27.”

Having known the area and certain people from his previous jobs around here was one of the reasons Welsh felt he was a good fit for the role here. 

“Being able to be back down in this area where I spent years at JJC, and I know the recruiting territories in the high schools and the area pretty well. It seemed just like a perfect fit,” Welsh said. “Mixed with already knowing some of the girls in the program and them having had me as a coach in the past. It was just kind of a mix of everything positive coming together.”

While he was able to recruit his entire men’s program, he inherited much of the women’s roster from Coach Currier. Taking over for someone who was at the helm of the program for 24 seasons, Welsh felt that he had to make an immediate impact when coming in. 

“I think that the girls were kind of ready for change and are excited for it. So it’s just my job to communicate with them and see what they want, and see what they need and kind of build the program around them,” Welsh said. “My biggest thing with coaching in general is just earning trust and building that relationship up with all of my athletes and making sure that they know that I’m here to support and to help them.”

Winning a conference tournament and making it back to a national tournament is always a season goal for Welsh and the volleyball teams, and he feels success in the program will come from the development of his athletes. 

“It’s bringing in people that want to be here, that want to be a part of the program, that want to leave a mark on the university and on the program and continue to grow,” Welsh said. “We want to be kind of that destination for volleyball in this area because it is so rich in volleyball with so many good clubs and high schools. That was kind of my mindset, let’s make this the hub of volleyball in the area, and bring women’s and men’s volleyball to the forefront.”

Coach Welsh dedicates much of his life to the sport he loves, but he loves spending his time outside of work with his wife and two-year-old daughter, whom he called his “best friend.” Along with volleyball, he also likes to hit the golf course with his friends in his free time as well. 

As a first-year head coach at USF, Welsh hopes that he will make a positive impact not only on his players at the university, but everyone who works and attends it. He had a couple of  things in mind that he hopes people will ultimately think about when they hear his name.

“I just want them to think first and foremost, a good person. Someone that obviously cares about his athletes and the people that work for him,” Welsh said. “I want them to think of success. And success doesn’t necessarily mean wins and losses, but it means character growth, development and people wanting to be a part of what you’re doing… Because that’s the ultimate goal. If I can get [my players] to succeed, then I succeed. And that’s coaching, honestly.”