Coming off its ninth straight DII playoff appearance, Ferris State Football added a signing class of 37 recruits to its roster on National Signing Day on Wednesday, Feb. 7.
The press conference took place in the Ewigleben Sports Complex, where head coach Tony Annese introduced the new signees to the media. The list included 15 recruits for the offense, 21 for the defense and one specialist. This is the largest Ferris signing class since 2020 when the program brought in 38 recruits.
“We hit the ground running this year,” Annese said. “We were out recruiting early so we spent a lot of time in the office over Christmas break. Got a lot of early commits, and a lot of D1 misses too.”
A majority of Ferris’s signings have been on the defensive side of the ball the past three years and the Bulldogs continued that streak with ten defensive backs, five linebackers, five defensive ends and one defensive lineman.
The offensive side was bolstered by five offensive linemen, four wide receivers, three running backs, two slot receivers and one quarterback.
Alongside the new class, the Bulldogs signed three new three-star recruits, according to 247 Sports. The three-star signees include running back Kevin Simes, defensive back D’Mari Jenkins, and wide receiver Glen Smith. This is the highest number of three-star recruits that have ever been signed in school history.
The Bulldogs kept their recruiting process between three states, signing players from Michigan (25), Florida (11) and Ohio (1). This marks the 13th straight year Ferris brings in recruits from the Sunshine State.
Annese credited the recognition of their program in Florida as why they bring in so many recruits from there.
“It’s the same philosophy we’ve always had,” Annese said. “Those Florida kids mesh well with our guys. We have a good culture down in Florida and more people are starting to know us well. This’ll bring us up to 34 Florida players on the roster I believe.”
The Bulldogs’ connection with Florida is strong, as 23 players on last season’s roster hailed from the state.
With the added recruits to the roster, 247Sports has Ferris as the #143 ranked class in all of college football. This is the highest-ranked DII school on the list.
Annese continued to preach the importance of a winning mentality from the new class and made it very apparent throughout the press conference. Eleven of the 25 Michigan signings led their respective teams to the state championship in their high school careers.
“The stability of the program is that we can’t fall off,” Annese said. “[Championship] is the expectation. We can’t slow down and take a class of 20 or 25 and I think we got a great class with some great athletes as well.”
The Bulldogs will begin their preseason training this spring in hopes of continuing their playoff streak and bringing another national championship to Ferris. The next event for Bulldog Football is their spring game, which has yet to be announced.
A full list of the 2024 recruits and more signing day information can be found online at ferrisstatebulldogs.com.