BIG RAPIDS – Often in coaching, you’re only as good as the connections you make.
Ferris State University head football coach Tony Annese admits he wouldn’t be where he is today without those connections, and he made a lot of them while he coached at Muskegon High School.
“It helps a lot,” said Annese, who coached the Muskegon Big Reds for nine seasons, between 2000 and 2008, and had a 92-15 record while winning three Division 2 state championships. “Truthfully, being a high school coach in the state of Michigan has helped me all over the state. Those connections have helped us be a powerhouse.”
Of course success also helps, and Annese has had plenty of that at Ferris. His 97-16 record in nine seasons has helped the Bulldogs attract a steady parade of quality recruits.
[1]“High school coaches have really helped us,” Annese said. “We’ve been able to get guys who potentially Ferris couldn’t get in the previous years. That’s really a plus, with high school coaches wanting to send their guys to us, because they know we’ll take care of them and support them. I think that was the formula that started us on our way to becoming a great football program.”
Annese started his successful run by leading the Bulldogs to the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title in 2014, their first since 1999.
Since then he’s led the program to four additional conference titles and 12 playoff wins. including a Division 2 national championship game appearance in 2018.
But he’s yet to win a national title, and that goal remains on the to-do list.
His team, 10-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation this season, will continue its push for that elusive title on Saturday when the Bulldogs host archrival Grand Valley State in a second-round playoff game.
Ferris beat GVSU 35-28 earlier this year.
Annese said the pressure to win a national title, after winning just about everything but that, is nothing new. He said he lived through that sort of pressure in his high school coaching jobs, too.
“I’ve experienced this about everywhere I’ve gone,” he said “Four seasons before we won a state title at Muskegon, everyone was clamoring to win one. I experienced it at Montrose too. The worst thing you can do, from a player’s perspective, is put too much pressure on yourself to do that. Only one team a year wins it, and it’s an unbelievable feat.”
While some coaches may be motivated by the sort of loss that Ferris State endured in the 2018 national title game – a 49-47 heartbreaker to Valdosta State – Annese says that isn’t what’s driving him.
[2]“I’ve never felt like that was something I needed to reach,” he said about winning a national title. “What defines me is my day-to-day interactions with young people. The hope that I have is that I can positively change their lives, and that’s the number one focus I have.
“Winning is obviously fun, and it’s a heck of a lot easier to win than lose. But at the end of my career, I’ll look back and think, did I do everything in my power to make young people successful?”
The impact on young people that Annese had at Muskegon is still felt, not only in the Big Red football program, but also at Mona Shores. His former assistant coach Shane Fairfield is the successful coach at Muskegon, while another former assistant, Matt Koziak, has turned the Shores program into a big winner, as well.
They both give Annese a great deal of credit for teaching them how to coach, in terms of both X’s and O’s and how to inspire and work with young athletes.
“It’s just awesome seeing their success,” said Annese about his former assistants. “It’s really incredible. I’d say probably three days a week I communicate with those guys. I’m really proud of their success, and they know how to coach and run programs.”
Annese still has a lot of Muskegon around him in Big Rapids, including Asantay Brown, Ryan Hodges , Tim Parker and Sam Parker, former area athletes or coaches who are on his staff at Ferris.
[3]“It’s great,” Annese said. “People in Muskegon get what it takes to build. Those connections we have are great, and it’s helped us get some great players from the Muskegon area. We got Brady Rose (from Mona Shores), and everyone on the team loves Brady because of how he presents and carries himself. We got CJ Jefferson (a Muskegon graduate), too, who is playing some great football for us.”
Saturday’s game will be a major challenge for Grand Valley, because Ferris State has had the Lakers’ number for quite some time. Annese said the recent domination is just part of the game, and not part of some sort of special effort to discredit the Grand Valley program.
“We don’t look at other teams and think about stealing their thunder,” said Annese, who has a 9-2 record versus the Lakers. “We’re just focused on winning games and championships. We’ve won more than our fair share, and it’s pretty incredible.”
Whether the season comes to an end or continues for Ferris State on Saturday, you can bet that Annese, who is currently 60, will still be on the sideline again next year in Big Rapids.
“Every day is a blessing, and it’s been a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s been beyond my wildest dreams to have the success we’ve had. When people say I’m 60, I do a double take. I have a lot of fun with my guys, and it’s one of those things where I still feel 25 sometimes.”