Welch Scraps Plans to Retire With Audible : Prep football: Prominent Canyon coach works out a teaching schedule so he can return for his 10th season.

Harry Welch reversed his field Wednesday and announced after much contemplation that he would remain as football coach at Canyon High for a 10th season.

Welch, who had announced his retirement Sept. 6, agreed to return after a month of meetings with Canyon Principal Bill White.

Welch, also a teacher, had cited a workload of four English classes and football as too stressful for him to continue coaching. After meeting with White, Welch agreed to a schedule of two English classes and two physical education classes, plus football, starting in the fall.

Retirement, it turns out, was a premature thought for the 45-year-old Welch, whose teams have won three Southern Section titles and 100 games in his nine-year tenure.

“I’m going to make an effort to go another year and see what happens,” Welch said. “I’ve been vacillating for a long time and I love coaching football, I love working with the young men and it didn’t seem like my reason for retiring was good enough for me.”

Welch, who boasts a winning percentage of .833 and has taken Canyon to the Southern Section semifinals in each of the past eight years, also had worried about the deterioration of his vocal cords. Welch, however, said that he has received encouragement from former Laker Coach Bill Sharman, who suffers from damaged vocal cords, and from a speech therapist.

“If I take the right medication, I should be all right,” Welch said.

Welch previously had said that he desired a situation in which he would teach two classes in addition to football, but in their meetings White apparently made it clear that the William S. Hart School District required coaches to have a full teaching load.

Welch was offered four physical education classes by White but said that he enjoyed teaching his Shakespeare and Bible as Literature classes too much to give them up.

“They didn’t compromise at all,” Welch said of the district’s position. “It’s a victory for them.”

This past season, Canyon’s first at the Division I level, Welch guided the Cowboys to an 11-2 record, the team losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Loyola, 10-3.

In the end, Welch said, his love of the job was too much to relinquish.

“I love the kids, I love the community and I say that from the bottom of my heart,” Welch said. “So let’s try this season and see what happens.”