Ferris State's Tony Annese Chosen As A Featured Speaker At Michigan Football Coaches Association Clinic

Big Rapids, Mich. - Ferris State University football head coach Tony Annese, who led the Bulldogs to a second consecutive NCAA Division II National Quarterfinal appearance this past fall, has been chosen as a featured main speaker for the 46th annual Michigan High School Football Coaches Association (MHSFCA) Clinic, which begins on Thursday (Jan. 18) in Lansing.

Annese, who this past fall was the keynote speaker at the 2017 Michigan All-State Football Banquet, will join NCAA Division I head coaches Kirk Ferentz (Iowa), Paul Chryst (Wisconsin) and Mark Dantonio (Michigan State) as main event speakers at the annual event which attracts many of the state's prep coaches.

The Bulldog head coach, who recently capped off his sixth year at the FSU helm, will speak during the main general session on Thursday evening at the clinic. The event runs Thursday thru Saturday (Jan. 20) in Lansing.

Under Annese, Ferris State finished the recent 2017 campaign with an 11-2 overall record. FSU's 11 wins this season marked the fourth consecutive year in which the Bulldogs had achieved the feat, which represents the first time in school history in which FSU has done so over four-straight years.

This fall, the Bulldogs also made their fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Division II Playoffs and reached the national quarterfinal round for the second-straight year after making a D2 National Semifinal appearance in 2016. Ferris State hosted its first-ever home playoff game in the month of December this fall.

A year ago, Annese led FSU to a 12-3 overall record in 2016 while advancing to the NCAA Division II National Semifinals for only the second time in school history. In 2016, the Bulldogs also posted a school-record tying 12 victories. Ferris State received the program's third-straight NCAA Football Playoff berth and captured the Super Region Four Championship by beating archrival Grand Valley State during a memorable postseason run. The 15-week campaign, which included three postseason playoff wins, was the school's longest in 109 years of Bulldog Football.

Over the last four seasons at Ferris State, the Bulldogs have compiled a 45-7 overall record and made four consecutive NCAA Playoff appearances, claimed two conference championships, posted two unbeaten regular-seasons, twice made the national quarterfinals, captured a regional title and reached the national semifinals. Ferris State has also accumulated two Harlon Hill National Player of the Year trophies, twice had a student-athlete tabbed as the nation's National Scholar-Athlete of the Year and won six postseason games.

In the six seasons under Annese, the Bulldogs have become a national power on the Division II level. FSU has posted a 60-14 overall mark in the last six years and the Bulldogs have also posted the best winning percentage of all 21 collegiate programs in the state of Michigan along with the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) since his arrival. Twice he's been tabbed as the Super Region Coach of the Year at Ferris State.

Overall, Annese has won 83% of his games as a head coach on the collegiate and prep levels and owns 285 wins to date, which is the most of any current GLIAC member head coach at all levels.

Before taking over the Bulldog program, Annese established himself as one of the state's premier coaches and a football mastermind in four stops at the prep level. He posted a mark of 195-41 in 22 seasons as a prep head coach at Montrose, Ann Arbor Pioneer, Jenison and Muskegon High Schools while making 15 playoff appearances and five trips to the state semifinals, including three state championships before an impressive three-year run as head coach at Grand Rapids Community College.

Annese is an inductee in the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame (MHSFCA).