Ferris State’s Tony Annese suspended after players celebrate championship with cigars

A college football coach has been suspended by the NCAA after two players lit up cigars in the locker room to celebrate winning the national championship.

Tony Annese, coach of the 2022 Division II champion Ferris State Bulldogs, will be suspended for a future playoff game due to the infraction, the NCAA announced.

After Ferris State crushed the Colorado School of Mines 41-14 in the national championship game at McKinney ISD Stadium in Texas, two players lit up cigars, violating the smoke-free policy at the high school stadium.

Annese, who is entering his 12th year as head coach of the Bulldogs, said in a statement that he was in a press conference at the time and that assistant coaches had immediately handled the situation, but he lost his appeal.

“We are committed to running a program representing the ideals and values of Ferris State University, the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the NCAA,” Annese said.

“I understand the concerns raised by the NCAA. Immediately after the game, while I was in the postgame press conference, the two issues cited by the NCAA were addressed by my coaching staff.

“As a coaching staff, each day leading up to the national championship game, we had reminded our players that smoking cigars in celebration would not be allowed. My team was fully aware that the actions of the two players were inappropriate.”

Division I champions such as LSU’s Joe Burrow and Georgia’s Stetson Bennett have smoked cigars after winning national title games with no issues arising for their programs, but their games were not on high school property.

Ferris State had been previously fined after players lit cigars in celebration of their 2021 national championship.

In the latest case, they were also fined $2,500 by the NCAA and hit with a cleaning bill of over $15,000 by McKinney ISD.

Ferris State athletics director Steve Brockelbank stood behind Annese.

“I continue to be proud of the Ferris State University football program and Coach Annese,” Brockelbank said in a statement.

“I understand the concerns raised by the NCAA, and we accept the responsibility for our actions and we will work to ensure this does not happen again in the future. I support the efforts that Coach Annese continues to make to improve the football program for the betterment of the students we serve.”