Ferris State
Tre Jones is much more than a little brother
Tom Shanahan Jan 14 2019For all Cameron Indoor Stadium’s charm on television, it’s not a modern grandiose palace with plush accommodations tucked away from the masses. The hallway to the locker room is a few steps down the door from the very modest media room. I happened to be standing in the doorway...
Ferris State celebrating stories of redemption
Tom Shanahan Dec 14 2018One Ferris State offensive star overcame a troubled past, including legal transgressions that landed him in jail and cost him his football scholarship to Michigan State. Now Jayru Campbell is a Bulldogs’ phoenix. The junior quarterback won the Harlon Hill Award -- the Heisman...
Georgian follows opportunity trail to Ferris
Tom Shanahan Dec 13 2018College football mines hundreds of prospects from the talent-rich South, where the sport is religion, to play for northern schools at all levels. An experience on their own attracts some. Others were overlooked by schools closer to home. Adrian Green of Cedar Grove High in...
Army and Navy always live up to expectations
Tom Shanahan Dec 10 2018The Army-Navy Game never disappoints.That’s what two of us told the other as three old friends from Big Rapids, Mi., gathered from our new places in the world for the 119th Army-Navy Game Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. One flew in from Germany, one drove...
How to feel better about a Duke rout
Tom Shanahan Nov 7 2018My guys at Ferris State, who earned an exhibition game invitation from Duke as the defending NCAA Division II basketball champion, should feel more confident in themselves after watching Duke dismantle Kentucky on television. The numerical comparisons of Duke routing Ferris on...
Coach K postgame concerns included Ferris
Tom Shanahan Oct 29 2018DURHAM, N.C. – Mike Krzyzewski’s post-game concerns ranged beyond grading his No. 4-ranked basketball team’s performance as the Blue Devils prepared for their season opener with Kentucky on Nov. 6 in the Champions Classic. The venerable Coach K wanted to know if the Bulldogs,...
Ferris treasures experience visiting Duke
Tom Shanahan Oct 28 2018DURHAM, N.C. — If anyone wonders what Ferris State was doing on the court with Duke in a 132-48 exhibition game loss Saturday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, it was coach Mike Krzyzewski’s idea.Coach K has been inviting the reigning NCAA Division II champion for the past nine...
Thomas Sirk doubles up on pro day chances
Tom Shanahan Apr 5 2018DURHAM, N.C. -- Thomas Sirk is sending a message for NFL scouts: Good things come in pairs. Sirk played quarterback at two colleges, Duke and East Carolina. He earned two degrees, a bachelor’s in political science and masters in liberal arts. Now he’s trying to show NFL scouts...
Another chapter to story of Gideon Smith
Tom Shanahan Jun 19 2017The remarkable story of Gideon Smith has taken him to the footsteps of the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame.Smith broke barriers throughout his life. He was the first black college football player at two Michigan schools, Ferris State and Michigan...
Vander Laan takes his career to Waldorf Astoria
Tom Shanahan Dec 10 2015NEW YORK – Ferris State University quarterback Jason Vander Laan demonstrated how far an NCAA Division II football player can take a career his career.Vander Laan sat on a dais Tuesday morning at the elegant and historic Waldorf-Astoria Hotel for a press conference. He was one of...