{"id":24206,"date":"2025-08-07T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/?p=24206"},"modified":"2025-08-05T16:31:04","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T16:31:04","slug":"jason-welch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/jason-welch\/","title":{"rendered":"Jason Welch: The heart of a team"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>WHEN THE buzzer sounded, head coach Jason Welch grinned ear to ear as the Tullahoma Wildcats basketball players rushed onto the court, colliding in hugs, celebrating their punched ticket to the state championship and 32nd win of the 2025 season \u2014 the most in the school\u2019s history. Emotions ran high. Not everyone anticipated such a feat. Welch cherished the win much more as he remembered facing a possible life-or-death situation just months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Manchester native\u2019s life had always revolved around sports. Since the seventh grade, Welch knew he wanted to coach basketball. After graduating from college with a degree in education, he spent more than two decades coaching basketball programs across Tennessee before joining Tullahoma High School in 2019. Along the way, he married his wife of over 30 years, Angela, who also teaches at the school. Together, they have two grown children, Cameron and Abi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Heading into his sixth season as Tullahoma\u2019s head coach, Welch participated in a triathlon with his son in Huntsville during August 2024. While swimming in a pool for the race, he felt an unsettling tightness in his chest that he quickly brushed off as a one-time occurrence. However, the small episode turned into a larger one on Sept. 5, when he suddenly collapsed while running. That\u2019s when he knew something was wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A visit to a cardiologist revealed he needed triple bypass surgery \u2014 or a coronary artery bypass graft \u2014 so he underwent the operation a week later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt was like I was on a slippery slope,\u201d Welch recalled. \u201cIt\u2019s just like I kept going to the next level. It kept getting worse. Honestly, I prayed about it. I gave it to the Lord and let Him have it. I knew that it would all work out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The procedure was a success, and Welch returned to coaching on Oct. 17 \u2014 though in a limited capacity \u2014 just in time for the start of basketball practice in November 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/08\/4-2-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-24210\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/08\/4-2-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/08\/4-2-980x653.jpg 980w, https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/08\/4-2-480x320.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photography by Brooke Snyder<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Those recovery days were slow, but his family, school, and Wildcats team ensured he never lacked support. His son became his assistant coach, making the season even more special, while the players spent the school year looking out for their head coach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe kids really took care of me this year. They won\u2019t let me do anything anymore. They carry everything [and] do everything. I guess I went from being that old coach to just being a really old man that they don\u2019t want to fall over,\u201d Welch said, laughing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The special bond and hard work carried the Wildcats to a historic 32-5 record, shattering the school\u2019s previous record of 24 victories as they won the district and region tournaments. The school had never won a game in the state tournament\u2019s final eight. But in March 2025, coach Welch led the past two teams to the state tournament at Middle Tennessee State University\u2019s Murphy Center \u2014 beating Jackson South Side by 20 points and Fayette-Ware by nine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, the team fell short in the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association Class 3A State Championship game against the Upperman Bees, finishing as the runner-up. But when they arrived home, they were greeted with a winner\u2019s welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In many ways, Welch became the heart of the team in 2025, as players and staff worked together to create an unforgettable season and now look ahead to continued success in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPersistence pays off,\u201d Welch said. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing how loving people are and how caring people are. Sometimes you get so cynical. You watch the news, and you\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, the world is terrible.\u2019 Well, my community is not terrible. Tullahoma is not terrible. I felt overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and love from everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the head coach, that\u2019s the Tullahoma way. <strong>GN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WHEN THE buzzer sounded, head coach Jason Welch grinned ear to ear as the Tullahoma Wildcats basketball players rushed onto the court, colliding in hugs, celebrating their punched ticket to the state championship and 32nd win of the 2025 season \u2014 the most in the school\u2019s history. Emotions ran high. Not everyone anticipated such a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":24209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Jason Welch: The heart of a team - Tullahoma, TN Good News Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/tullahoma\/jason-welch\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jason Welch: The heart of a team - Tullahoma, TN Good News Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"WHEN THE buzzer sounded, head coach Jason Welch grinned ear to ear as the Tullahoma Wildcats basketball players rushed onto the court, colliding in hugs, celebrating their punched ticket to the state championship and 32nd win of the 2025 season \u2014 the most in the school\u2019s history. 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