The Face of Fear : Criticism of Harry Welch the Disciplinarian Wanes as Canyon’s Winning Streak Reaches Eight

Canyon High football players know about fear.

Losing to archrival Hart or dropping a playoff game rocks the foundation of any self-respecting Cowboy, but his nervous system is only mildly jangled compared to the full-scale red alert caused when a player meets face to face with an angry Harry Welch.

The Canyon coach is physical with his players, but it’s not his hands-on approach that scares them. It’s the avenging face of Welch that does.

The ultimate intimidation is “ragdolling,” Canyon slang for the humbling experience of a screaming Welch charging toward a player, grabbing his face mask and threatening to jump inside the helmet with him. Players strive to avoid such encounters and will readily admit that being ragdolled usually leaves a lasting impression.

“When he gets a hold of you and he’s in your face, you’ve got to listen to what he has to say,” said Troy White, a former Canyon linebacker now attending San Diego State. “It was an attention getter--and it worked.”

Scare tactics notwithstanding, the enduring image of Welch since he assumed the coaching job at Canyon in 1982 is that of a winning coach. He has put the Canyon Country school of 2,100 on the football map with three Southern Section titles and a 69-9 record over the past six seasons, a mark that includes a 46-game win streak that matched the Southern Section record.

Canyon now is in the midst of a new streak, taking eight consecutive wins and a 9-2 record into tonight’s Coastal Conference playoff game against Pasadena at Arcadia High. In many ways, this has been Welch’s most provocative season. Perhaps the most grueling, yet perhaps the most rewarding.

The rewarding part is easy to understand. Canyon entered the season with last year’s marquee names lost to graduation. Gone were skill-position players Ken Sollom, Lance Cross, Paul Chadwell, Chad Zeigler and Trevor Doyle. During the summer, Canyon routinely lost in passing-league games.

The Cowboys entered the season with little hope of finishing above .500 and were rated as an outside contender for a playoff spot. Almost no one expected them to complete an undefeated Golden League season and enter the playoffs as the top-seeded team in the Coastal Conference.

“I’m like an old man except I’m reminiscing about the present,” Welch said. “Look what these kids are doing. I don’t know how much credit I deserve, but I’m glad to be a part of it.”

At least he is now.

Canyon opened 1987 with a 41-21 loss to Hart and, after a 22-18 win over Chaminade, lost to Thousand Oaks, 13-10, in part because of Welch’s decision to go for an onside kick early in the fourth quarter. Thousand Oaks retained possession and scored the winning points.

Reeling from the Thousand Oaks defeat, Canyon suffered another loss when running backs Cam Cross and Chris Peery quit the team the next week. Peery returned two days later, but Cross sat out the season.

With Welch losing games and players, his methods came under scrutiny. He had heard criticism before and it resurfaced in September. Welch was a man on the run. “A sharp real estate agent could have made quite a deal on my house right about that time,” he said.

The criticism centered on the same things Welch detractors always have complained about--that he demands too much from his players. His practices sometimes stretch six hours and are peppered with verbal assaults and the aforementioned ragdolling.

Even longtime supporters of Canyon football sometimes question Welch’s methods.

Art Dolder, a pastor at the Christian Family Church in Newhall whose son Jeff was an all-league lineman at Canyon in 1985, supports Welch and says he is grateful his son played for him. But, like others, he is disturbed by some of the coach’s motivational techniques.

“From my position, he uses language that I wouldn’t use, but that’s his method,” Dolder said. “And, as parents, we always had to work our schedule around football. But kids know that going in. It’s a very intense program.”

Despite Welch’s intimidating manner, it is his physical approach to coaching that stirs the most controversy. But, in his mind, he distinguishes between being physical and abusive.

“One is done for positive results and the other is done to cause damage,” Welch said. “I know where the line is and I’ve never gone beyond it.”

White, an outside linebacker on the 1985 Canyon team that won a Southern Section title, suffered the indignity of a public ragdolling in a playoff game. Displeased with the play of his outside linebackers in a game against Santa Maria, Welch called a timeout after a long Santa Maria gain. He charged onto the field and in full view pulled a double ragdoll, nabbing White and fellow linebacker Greg Smith.

“Our rule as linebackers was that no one gets outside of you,” White said. “Greg Smith and I were on the same side of the field and the running back still got outside of us. We knew we were going to get it, but we were surprised he called a timeout.

“I was hiding behind one of the linemen when here came this hand reaching through the huddle and he grabbed me. Afterward, Smitty and I said to each other, ‘God, I can’t believe he did that.’ ”

Rather than harboring a grudge against Welch, White wears the incident like a badge of honor.

“I never resented him for that,” he said. “When I’m down here in college talking with the guys, that story always comes up. It’s a great high school memory.”

Welch, of course, is not the first football coach to lay a hand on a player, and Principal Bill White said he has received no complaints about the coach manhandling players. His peers also give him high marks.

“I guess I’ve grabbed a face mask in my day,” Hart Coach Rick Scott said. “I had a coach who grabbed me when I was a player and I think I needed to be grabbed. Harry is smart enough to know what a player needs.”

Players voice few objections, too. “He never gets out of hand,” Troy White said. “He never punched anybody. Ragdolling is nothing physical.”

For his part, Welch claims that discipline is part of his job description.

“It’s my job as coach to see players play as close to their potential as possible,” he said. “If me or one of my assistants has to shake up a player occasionally, I endorse that.

“I’ve been teaching for 20 years and lots of times I’ve had students say to me that they froze during a test, that their mind went blank and I believe that. It’s the same with football players. Before a big game, a championship game, they might freeze up. I want to grab them and tell them to stop it. I’d much rather they resent me for raising my voice than remembering a time they had the opportunity to shine and they let it pass.”

Criticism of Welch has faded as Canyon’s winning streak has grown. Even Cam Cross, who remains unsure of the reasons he left the team, holds no grudge.

“I don’t regret leaving the team, but I miss it once in a while,” he said. “I go to the games and I’m rooting for the team. I still talk to Coach Welch. He’s a great coach.”

Despite Welch’s three Southern Section titles and two 14-0 teams, some say this season rates as his best in terms of coaching.

“I was there with those kids last year and I knew who he had coming back,” said Saugus Coach Dick Flaherty, a former Welch assistant. “He does a good job every year, but this year borders on greatness.”

Scott is a Welch admirer, but he isn’t so sure the Canyon cupboard was as bare as Welch claimed.

“Harry was getting beaten in passing league and he was chuckling under his breath,” Scott said. “He knew his strength was over in the weight room. Their defense is bigger and tougher to run on.

“But Harry Welch is worth 10 points on the scoreboard. Canyon is the best-coached team we play against, and his teams don’t make mistakes. When he calls plays, it’s like he’s in your defensive huddle.”

Troy White’s most vivid memory of Welch is the coach huddling with the Canyon defense.

“You’d see his beady eyes and the veins popping out of his neck,” he said. “He was a real mad person when he was upset, and I would do anything to avoid that.

“But being a member of the Canyon football team is the greatest thing that’s happened to me. I really respect the man.”