Welding wire feed systems include a wire feeder including a push motor and a welding torch assembly including a pull motor are provided. The push motor is adapted to establish a wire feed from a wire spool, and a first controller is adapted to receive a commanded speed level and to control operation of the push motor to operate at the commanded speed level. The pull motor is adapted to cooperate with the push motor to establish a desired wire feed rate from the wire spool to the welding torch assembly. A second controller is adapted to receive an operational speed level of the push motor from the first controller and to control operation of the pull motor to operate at the received operational speed of the push motor.