University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Honorary Coaches Announced For Spring Game
4/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 12, 2007
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- - Local businessmen H. D. 'Doc' Roberts and Nick Welch will have been selected as the honorary coaches for the annual spring football game on Saturday. Game time is set for 1 p.m.
H. D. `Doc' Roberts
Doc Roberts and his family have been generous supporters of Southern Miss Athletics for many years, as he is considered one of the first true supporters of Golden Eagle Athletics and through his efforts have helped increase the number of donors throughout the years.
An active member of the Circle of Champions, he is a lifetime member of the Southern Miss Athletics Foundation board and also has helped fund and support many projects associated with Golden Eagle Athletics, especially in the area of football.
Generous contributions from Roberts and his family have helped in the building of the M-Club Building, The Athletic Center and the South End Zone Complex at M. M. Roberts Stadium, as well as many other projects on the Southern Miss campus.
An athlete in his own right, Doc Roberts played golf for the Golden Eagles during the 1951-52 season, when the squad won three of five dual matches and finished fourth in the Gulf States Conference tournament.
He is currently the President and CEO of R&M Foods, whose holdings include Sunflower and Corner Market Food Stores. A 1994 M-Club Sports Hall of Fame Inductee, he and his wife, Carolyn, have two children, Forrest and Angela.
Nick Welch
Nick Welch and his family have been generous supporters of Southern Miss Athletics for many years. An active member of the Circle of Champions, he has help fund and support many projects associated with Golden Eagle football and baseball.
Generous contributions from Welch and his family have helped in the building of the Rogers, Thames and Welch Baseball Center, The Athletic Center, The South End Zone Complex at M.M. Roberts Stadium and the Press Box and Suites at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field, just to name a few.
Welch is the owner or principal stock holder in several businesses; Oil Gas Services, Residential Developer, Commercial Developer, Managing Member of Big Buck Sports LLC, Shadow Ridge Golf, P&W Investments and J&W Developers, N&S LLC, Terra Firma Corp, I&T Works Inc., and T&W Holdings.
He currently serves on the USM Athletic Executive Board, is a member of the USM Athletic Foundation, the Society of Petroleum Engineers, American Petroleum Institute, The Coal-Bed Methane Association and The International Association of Drilling Contractors.
Welch, a graduate of West Jones High School in Laurel, Miss., is married to the former Gigi Deanna Tullos and the couple has five children, Darren, a former Southern Miss baseball standout and graduate; Deidre Braddock Welch is currently a junior at William Carey University, majoring in elementary education; Dirk Edward is currently a freshman at Meridian Community College, where he plays baseball, Nicholas Rook and Joseph Rafe are students at Presbyterian Christian Elementary School in Hattiesburg.
