Ferris State’s Tony Annese Named Walter Camp 2024 Division II Coach of the Year

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Ferris State head coach Tony Annese is the first-ever recipient of the Walter Camp Division II Coach of the Year award.

Annese led the Bulldogs to their third national titles in the last four years.    This season, the Bulldogs totaled a 14-1 overall record, culminating with a 49-14 victory over Valdosta State in the national title game on December 21.

To reach the finals, Ferris State defeated Harding, 41-7, in the quarterfinals and Slippery Rock, 48-38, in the semifinals.

The Bulldogs also claimed the GLIAC regular-season championship along with the Super Region Three Championship and won trophy rivalry games against West Michigan foes Grand Valley State and Davenport to capture both the Anchor-Bone Trophy and the Calder City Classic Trophy, respectively.

Under Annese’s guidance, FSU has posted a 137-21 overall mark (.867) in his 12-year tenure. Annese has led FSU to the NCAA Division II Playoffs in 10 consecutive years, which ranks as the longest streak in the country.

Overall, Annese is 362-66 (.846) in his coaching career that includes several stops on the high school level in Michigan where he won three prep state championships along with a pair of national junior college crowns at Grand Rapids Community College prior to his FSU arrival.

The Corunna, Mich. native played collegiately at Alma and also earned a masters degree in educational administration from Central Michigan.   Annese and his wife, Christine, have four children, including Steven, Nick, Allie and Anthony.

 Walter Camp, “The Father of American football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team.  Visit www.waltercamp.org for more information.