The present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for coordinating wire feeder motor operation. A wire feeder system includes a push motor configured to push a welding wire at a desired speed to and a pull motor configured to pull the welding wire from the push motor and dispense the welding wire from the wire feeder system. The system also includes a controller configured to control the pull motor to pull the welding wire at a start speed greater than the desired speed during a startup period.