College football coach suspended by NCAA following cigar incident
One’s heard of smoking the competition. How about just smoking on the field in general?
The NCAA announced its disciplinary action plan for Ferris State head coach Tony Annese. Annese will be suspended for one future playoff game following a rules violation by 2 players during the team’s Division II national championship celebration.
What was the celebration you might ask? Smoking cigars in the locker room following a national title win. A pair of Bulldogs wanted to channel their inner Joe Burrow and lit up the stogies following a 41-14 win over Colorado School of Mines.
On paper, this should be no big deal. Burrow, who led LSU to a national title after a Heisman Trophy season, went viral on social media for lighting up the smoker inside of the Superdome in New Orleans. Therein in lies the problem.
The Division II championship game was played at McKinney ISD Stadium in McKinney, Texas. According to the McKinney ISD school board, there is a strict tobacco-free high school campus.
According to reports from MLive.com, the Ferris State administration and coaching staff warned its players of potential disciplinary actions after the school was fined in 2021 for smoking cigars following its national title win. And while only 2 players were caught in the act, the ruling from the NCAA had already been declared.
“I continue to be proud of the Ferris State University Football program and Coach Annese,” Ferris State University’s Athletic Director Steve Brockelbank said in a written 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.”