Position Change Paying Off for Welch and the Grizzlies

EL DORADO, Kan. – From relative obscurity to being a top tackler on a Butler football squad that is 5-0 in Jayhawk Conference play.

There have been two polar opposite seasons in El Dorado for Gabe Welch, a redshirt freshman linebacker from Arkansas City, Kan., and that's by design.

Welch came to the Grizzlies as a high school quarterback recruited by head coach Brice Vignery. He took a redshirt in 2023, studied the offense, hit the weight room and adjusted to the college game. This season however, you can find Welch roaming the sidelines as a MIKE linebacker for defensive coordinator Kyle Woodall's unit.

"I switched to linebacker from quarterback in the spring and it's been a good switch up for me," said Welch. It was my idea. I want to play Division 1 football and I felt my best chance for that was getting on the field as much as possible. I thought switching to linebacker and playing special teams would do that for me."

Welch is second on the team this season with 52 tackles. He also has 3.5 sacks, a forced fumble, an interception and has led Butler in tackles for three consecutive weeks.

Flashback to Welch's freshman season. The freshman was buried on the depth chart at quarterback and struggling to find enjoyment in the game without some sort of visible path ahead to making a difference on the team.

"Last year I was kind of a nobody – a fourth or fifth string redshirt quarterback – so no one really respects you as much. Jump forward to this year and me and Landon (Boss) are kind of the energizers of the team. I love having a big role and being a leader. If that's not what you're trying to do then why are you playing? At quarterback really only one guy plays. It's hard enough to win that job and then you have to go to another school and win that spot again. I told myself that defense was my best bet."

And so the process began. Welch floated the idea to coaches from back home, his family, and eventually Coach Vignery.

"At first a lot of people thought I couldn't or shouldn't switch positions," Welch said. "I talked to previous coaches, and everyone was unsure about it, but I felt like it was the right move. Might as well take a risk because I didn't want to sit anymore, I wanted to play."

Even the family wasn't quite on board to start.

"My dad was pretty mad at me at first but now that it's working out, he's doing just fine," said a chuckling Welch. "He wanted me to stay at quarterback because linebacker would be hard on my body. I'd rather have fun and not be stressed about being the quarterback."

"Quarterback is fun but it's a job in college and a little bit more stressful. I just wanted to play, have fun and be loose. I feel like linebacker fits my personality. You're the quarterback of the defense but you're more free to do your own thing."

Just like that, the process for the position change began.

"I played linebacker a little bit in high school and I wasn't bad," said Welch. I told Coach Vignery and he said yeah I watched film back to your freshman year of high school and I think you'll be fine at it."

A switch from quarterback to linebacker takes a lot, including a physical transformation, a lot of time spent re-learning the position and getting comfortable on the defensive side of the ball. Welch put in the work to be ready for the 2024 season.

"I knew I had to get a lot stronger," he said. "I developed a lot during my redshirt year. Worked really hard in the weight room. We lifted five days a week and I was dead after every workout. I knew I needed to push myself and eat a lot to get stronger. I came to Butler at about 190 pounds and now I'm weighing in at the 215-220 range."

Spring ball began and Welch was on the opposite sideline. It took some of his defensive teammates a little bit to realize that he had intentions of not only switching positions but to be a difference maker.

"I hustle to the ball every time," Welch said. "The other guys saw the effort and started to respect me. I'm somewhat of a natural leader so once I earned that respect I was able to be more vocal."

Woodall as well as some of the other linebackers helped Welch along in his quest to feel comfortable at the position.

"It was learning on the fly with some previous knowledge. I had a natural instinct on where to go but Coach Woody really coached me up. I tried to absorb as much knowledge as I could. Coach Woodall is a really good guy and one of my favorite coaches ever. I'm a big question asker also so I'll go by his office all the time and ask and make sure I understand everything. Jaxon Bowles, Levi Wittenberg, Landon Boss, all those guys have helped me learn the position also."

It took some time but eventually Welch felt comfortable and it clicked. He realized that if he put in the work that was required, he could make a positive impact on the field in the upcoming season.

Welch remained in El Dorado over the summer after spring ball, lifting and doing everything he could to be prepared.

"I stayed here over the summer just to stay in the weight room and show Coach Woodall and the rest of the staff that I'm dedicated and want to play."

All it took for Welch was hard work and being able to make a few plays. As soon as that happened, the confidence was apparent.

"Last spring when I got bumped up to second string it made me realize that I have a shot at seeing a good amount of playing time," he said. "I started making plays in fall camp and early in the season and my confidence grew for sure."

The 2024 season began, and Welch found himself on the field. He was playing a good number of snaps on special teams and certain defensive packages put him on the field as well. He tallied a sack in the season opener vs. NEO and an interception at Ellsworth in week two. The next three to four weeks Welch played a good amount on defense but was not getting a majority of the snaps. After the Garden City game, Woodall let him know that he may find himself starting next to Boss on the road at No. 1 Hutchinson next Saturday.

"Coach Woody told me he thought Landon and I would be a good fit at linebacker," Welch said. "He put me in at the Hutch game and I haven't looked back since."

He finished that game leading the Grizzly defense with a career-high 14 tackles, also adding a sack and a forced fumble. The Grizzlies upset the top ranked Blue Dragons on their home turf as the quarterback turned linebacker helped pave the way.

"I knew coach was going to start me in that game and I tried to prepare the best I could," Welch noted."

The next two weeks came and went and the impressive play from Welch continued. He finished with 10 tackles and a sack in a loss at No. 1 ranked Iowa Western and then turned in another double-digit tackle effort in a home win over Dodge City, racking up a team-high 11 tackles as Butler clinched a share of the conference title.

Gabe Welch with the sack on third down!#RoarGrizz�� pic.twitter.com/IfNEAbaxR7

— Butler Grizzlies (@ButlerGrizzlies) November 2, 2024

The season the redshirt freshman is having is all the validation he needs to know that he made the right decision in switching positions.

"I think the switch has payed off," he said. "I have a better chance to play at the next level. I didn't think I was a bad quarterback but this re-opened the love of the game and that has helped me play better."

Welch and his teammates are laser focused on the task at hand. Ask any of them and they'll tell you, there's a conference championship on the line. When asked about his future, Welch noted that this season is not done and there's still plenty to play for. He then shared some positive news on his own individual football future.

"I earned my first offer last week from a smaller FCS school, Gardner-Webb. I'm talking to some more coaches from Tulsa, Eastern Michigan, Old Dominion. I'm open to all opportunities."

Falling out of love with the game was a path Welch felt himself falling down. He realized that he did not come to Butler to ride the bench and decided on his own that he could positively impact this team doing something completely different. So far so good.