BIG RAPIDS, Mich -- A year ago at this time Dan Rohn was leading West Catholic High School to a third straight state title. Now he’s pursuing his dream, coaching at the college level.
“You know, this is just a step for me, an opportunity for me" Rohn said. "I’ve wanted to coach college football, I’ve wanted to for a long time and Tony giving me the opportunity to learn from one of the best and develop some of the habits and take some of the things that they do in order to put my program, continue to build my resume, I think is a great opportunity.”
Rohn, now the quarterbacks coach at Ferris State, is one of many former high school coaches dotting Tony Annese's staff.
"I’ve known Dan for a lot of years and I’ve known he’s one of the best", Annese said. "I’ve got coach Jack Schugars here, who’s formerly of Muskegon Oakridge, I’ve got coach Sparky McEwen formerly of Creston, you know, Rob Zeitman was my o-line coach here for four years formerly the Northview head coach. So, we’ve built it that way and I sell it that way.”
Annese, being a legendary high school coach himself winning three state titles while coaching at Muskegon, is living proof that successful high school coaches can succeed at the college level and he’s giving others like Rohn the opportunity to prove it themselves.
“I bet there’s a lot of high school coaches that can do what all of us are doing up here and what Peter (Stuursma) is doing there at Hope", Annese added. "You know, it’s just one of those things that you like to see people have an opportunity and its been a big part of our success.”
Now, almost a full season into his college coaching tenure, Dan Rohn is happy with his decision to make the jump.
“It wasn’t easy , it was probably one of the most difficult decisions that I’ve made, but I was ready and now that I’ve done it, I couldn’t be happier and I couldn’t be more looking for the future” Rohn said.
