On February 4, 1937, AU announced the hiring of Gus Welch as its Athletic Director. Welch had been a football teammate of legendary player Jim Thorpe at Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he was coached by the equally legendary Glenn "Pop" Warner. He had played two years of professional football with the Canton Bulldogs (from 1915 to 1917) prior to his service in World War I. After the war, he was head football coach at Washington State University from 1919 to 1922, head football coach at Randolph Macon College from 1923 to 1929, head football coach at the University of Virginia from 1930 to 1933, and AD and head football coach at Haskell Indian Nations University from 1933 to 1936. Welch provide to be highly popular, even though AU had so few students he could barely field an 11-man football team. He told witty stories to the press, and pulled stunt after stunt to try to get his football team to win. He once tried to play a female student as a place kicker, but referees wouldn't allow it. At least once, he dressed cheerleaders and other students in football uniforms and had them sit on the bench to fool opposing teams into thinking he had a bigger team and more depth that reported. Frustrated with the lack of football recruits, Welch resigned suddenly as coach and AD on December 6, 1938.