Jan. 8, 2025
Ferris State football's Tony Annese named first-ever recipient of Walter Camp DII Coach Of The Year Award
Ferris State University football head coach Tony Annese, who led the Bulldogs to their third NCAA Division II National Championship in the last four years, has been named the first-ever recipient of the Walter Camp Division II Coach of the Year Award.
Annese this season also was chosen as the D2Football.com National Coach of the Year for the third time in his career.
Annese led the Bulldogs to the 2024 NCAA DII National Championship. The team compiled a 14-1 record, culminating with a 49-14 victory over Valdosta State University in the national title game on December 21 in McKinney, Texas.
To reach the finals, Ferris State defeated Harding University, 41-7, in the quarterfinals and Slippery Rock University, 48-38, in the semifinals.
Along with capturing the NCAA DII National Championship this season, the Bulldogs also claimed the GLIAC 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.
The Bulldogs have reached the national title game in four of the past six seasons of action and have reached the national semifinals or beyond six times in the last eight years.
Under Annese, the Bulldogs have become a national power on the Division II level. Ferris State has posted a 137-21 overall mark in his tenure and the Bulldogs have also posted the best winning percentage of all 21 collegiate programs in the state of Michigan along with the GLIAC since his arrival.
Annese has won nearly 86% of his games as a head coach on the collegiate and prep levels and owns 362 wins to date, which is the most of any current GLIAC member head coach at all levels.
Annese, who completed his 12th season at the Bulldog helm, has led Ferris State to the NCAA Division II Playoffs 10-straight years, which ranks as the longest streak in the country.
The Bulldogs have posted the best overall winning percentage of all NCAA DII schools in the last 10 years and Annese ranks as the nation's winningest active head coach. Ferris State has made eight DII national quarterfinal appearances in the last nine seasons to date.
Overall, Annese is now 362-66 (.846) in a memorable coaching career that includes several stops on the high school level in Michigan where he won three state championships along with a pair of national crowns at Grand Rapids Community College.
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 11 men per side.