Ferris State head football coach Tony Annese will not coach the Bulldogs on Saturday. He is suspended for the First Round of the 2023 NCAA Division II Playoffs because of some locker room cigars. Seriously.
Annese, 62, led Ferris State to a national title last season for the second year in a row. The celebration began not long after the clock hit zero. A bunch of players lit victory cigars in the locker room.
That would not have been an issue if not for the location of the college football game.
McKinney ISD Stadium in Texas hosted the D-II national championship on Dec. 22, 2017. It is a high school facility.
As such, like most high schools across the country, there is a strict no-tobacco policy when on campus. The Bulldogs violated that policy by lighting cigars in the locker room after reaching the mountaintop.
Even though most people do not care about such a violation, the NCAA does. Because of course it does.
Due to the locker room cigar, Ferris State had to pay over $15,000 restitution to McKinney for cleaning and repair expenses. Annese also received a one-game suspension, with a catch.
The suspension, which was announced back in March, must be served during the Bulldogs’ next playoff game. That will be on Saturday.
Annese, the back-to-back D-II national champion head coach, will not be allowed to coach his team against Grand Vally State in the first round of the 2023 playoffs because his team celebrated last year’s national championship by smoking cigars in the locker room. He can be at the game if he buys his own ticket. He cannot be with the team or on the sideline at any point on Saturday.
Self-pity’s the greatest form of self-destruction, so I just got to suck it up and be a big boy.
— Tony Annese, via WOOD-TV
Fair enough. Annese has had plenty of time to come to grips with reality and has moved on.
Ferris State is expected to win anyway. Annese will be back with the team in two weeks if it does.