{"id":3203,"date":"2025-10-17T06:49:05","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T06:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/10\/17\/for-steve-casula-its-never-been-about-him\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T06:49:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T06:49:07","slug":"for-steve-casula-its-never-been-about-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/10\/17\/for-steve-casula-its-never-been-about-him\/","title":{"rendered":"For Steve Casula, it\u2019s never been about him"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>To this day, Tony Annese and Steve Casula still don\u2019t agree on who called the play.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It was the fourth quarter of the Anchor-Bone Classic in 2018, the historic Division II rivalry cleverly named after Grand Valley State\u2019s mascot, the Lakers, and Ferris State\u2019s mascot, the Bulldogs. The game had been back and forth all night long; both teams struggled to find offensive consistency from drive to drive. Just a few minutes remained when Ferris State made its way into scoring territory, facing a fourth-and-2 with the game on the line.<\/p>\n<p>Annese, Ferris State\u2019s head coach, claims it was Casula\u2019s idea to call the play that came next. Casula, the Bulldogs\u2019 offensive coordinator at the time, doesn\u2019t remember it like that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlright, so here\u2019s the deal,\u201d Casula told The Michigan Daily. \u201cThe version he tells of the story, and the version I tell of the story, are two different versions. He claims I talked him into this play, and I would tell you that he talked to me into the play.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n<style><![CDATA[@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-1{min-height: 250px;}}@media ( min-width: 728px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-1{min-height: 90px;}}]]><\/style>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Whoever\u2019s decision it was, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=y4fFdJTF9cg\">play<\/a> itself was undeniable. Ferris State lined up tight, motioning slot receiver Jevon Shaw in front of quarterback Jayru Campbell before snapping the ball to Campbell. As Shaw ran behind him, Campbell tossed the ball back to Shaw, and Campbell \u2014 after staying in the pocket for just a moment \u2014 bounced left around the line as Shaw sailed a pass his way. The play, dubbed 3 Tight Ring Motion Throwback, had been in the Bulldogs\u2019 bag for a while.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEarlier in the game, we had used this same motion and not snapped the ball,\u201d Casula said. \u201cI think in the second quarter we had done it and they jumped offsides, and we knew that they were in cover zero, and we had a good sense that nobody was going to cover the quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By the time Grand Valley State noticed Campbell, he had already ran into the end zone untouched. Three years later, Shaw <a href=\"https:\/\/nationalscoutingcombine.com\/2021-national-scouting-combine-featured-athlete-jevon-shaw-wr-from-ferris-state\/?srsltid=AfmBOorAtpAXNgqDlslZC81XqFBdwmyDun63sZk_95AVfMTsJCfMpKzV\">described<\/a> the game-winning touchdown pass as the most memorable play of his career. Casula, who had watched Ferris State run that play in practice two years, still refuses to take all of the credit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was our play, it was Ferris State\u2019s play,\u201d Casula said. \u201cCoach Annese has always kind of had the genius of recruiting slot receivers or receivers that had been high school quarterbacks. They still do it to this day. \u2026 I didn\u2019t design that play alone or any other there. Coach Annese and his son, Steve Annese, those two deserve every bit as much credit for the success we had on offense while I was there as I ever could. So that\u2019s not my play. Ferris State\u2019s play.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Talk to Casula more, and this becomes a theme.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n<style><![CDATA[@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-2{min-height: 250px;}}@media ( min-width: 728px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-2{min-height: 90px;}}]]><\/style>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Now the co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach for Michigan, Casula\u2019s focus remains on the players and the team he coaches. For Casula, reminiscing on his journey isn\u2019t nearly as interesting as reflecting on everyone else who\u2019s been a part of it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">***<\/p>\n<p>In the early months of 2012, Annese, in his first year as Ferris State\u2019s coach, made the 90-minute drive down to Kalamazoo to watch Western Michigan\u2019s spring ball practice. Right away, an eager 25-year-old tight ends coach approached Annese with an abundance of knowledge about his career and the landscape of high school and college football in the state of Michigan.<\/p>\n<p>The two had a lot in common, and Annese left impressed.<\/p>\n<p>Casula and Annese crossed paths at camps and clinics for years after, and when the Bulldogs had an opening in 2017, Annese only made one call. In his first season as Ferris State\u2019s offensive coordinator, Casula helped the Bulldogs to an 11-2 record and a Division II Championships quarterfinals appearance. For Annese, that debut confirmed what he had already known all along.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n<style><![CDATA[@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-3{min-height: 250px;}}@media ( min-width: 728px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-3{min-height: 90px;}}]]><\/style>\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a genius, like, I knew it from the beginning,\u201d Annese said. \u201cHe\u2019s a very, very bright guy. I don\u2019t know what his IQ is, but it probably doubles mine. \u2026 If I said, right now, \u2018Hey, we were in the second quarter against this team, remember when we ran this play? Can you remember what we named it?\u2019 He would rattle it off.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Casula denies the notion that he\u2019s some sort of walking football encyclopedia, or that he\u2019s smarter than any one of his peers. Football is just something that has always come naturally to him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">***<\/p>\n<p>Drew Brees at Purdue, Charles Woodson at Michigan, Donovan McNabb at Syracuse were just some of the players that inspired Casula in middle school. Then it was Chris Leak, Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin at Florida, and Chip Kelly\u2019s Oregon teams later on.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Casula watched those dynamic offensive players every week, in awe of their ability. He was set on trying to figure out the complexities of each play.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-4    \">\n<style><![CDATA[@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-4{min-height: 250px;}}]]><\/style>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Casula played offensive line in high school, and was ready to continue in college before a shoulder injury changed his plans. When Casula realized his career wouldn\u2019t continue as a player, he enrolled at Delaware. Without football, he felt empty.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was the worst fall ever,\u201d Casula said. \u201cIn my sophomore year of college, I started coaching high school football. I really, really missed not just football, but being part of a team and a cause greater than oneself, and I\u2019ve been a coach ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Casula was the freshman team\u2019s defensive coordinator and the offensive line coach for Delcastle Technical High School under Mike Pietlock, Casula\u2019s coach when he was in high school. He\u2019ll be the first to admit that he should\u2019ve balanced it more, but back then, all Casula thought about was football. Soon enough, Casula was drawing up some of his own plays.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been drawing plays for as long as I could probably remember,\u201d Casula said. \u201cMy mom claims that I was doing it in the third and fourth grade \u2026 on notebooks and pieces of paper. \u2026 That\u2019s one of those tales that may have grown as time\u2019s gone on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Casula worked his way up from high school to return to the Blue Hens, this time as an offensive assistant for two years. A few years later, Casula coached the offensive line, tight ends and fullbacks at Western Michigan. In 2017, five years after initially introducing himself to Annese, he was working alongside him on Ferris State\u2019s staff.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-5    \">\n<style><![CDATA[@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-5{min-height: 250px;}}]]><\/style>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Of all the coaches that Casula has worked with, Annese has had the biggest influence on him. That game-winning playcall sums it up perfectly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cForever, he\u2019s always said that it was my idea,\u201d Casula said. \u201cIf there\u2019s one example about who he is, he wants his coaches, his players, to get all the credit. That\u2019s who he is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ask Casula about the guys that he\u2019s recruited and coached, and you\u2019ll hear a little bit of Annese in his words.<\/p>\n<p>When Casula first joined Michigan\u2019s coaching staff, as an offensive analyst in 2019, one of his roles included recruiting walk-ons \u2014 talented high school players that were under the radar and would join the roster without scholarship. During that time, Casula\u2019s recruits included Max Bredeson, Joe Taylor and Davis Warren.<\/p>\n<p>Bredeson, the graduate fullback, is a captain for the Wolverines. Warren started at quarterback in Michigan\u2019s biggest games last year. Taylor was named Special Teams Player of the Year in 2024, and is one of the Wolverines most impactful players in that unit.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-6    \">\n<style><![CDATA[@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-6{min-height: 250px;}}]]><\/style>\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cI take a lot of pride in how those guys have come here and played, but to be honest with you, that has nothing to do with me,\u201d Casula said. \u201cI maybe have started their process here, but what (wide receiver Peyton O\u2019Leary), Max, Joe, Davis, any of those guys have come here to do, that\u2019s all them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That humility falls right in line with Casula\u2019s philosophy, and continues to come up the more he talks about the other guys that he\u2019s coached. Senior tight end Marlin Klein? Casula will say Klein\u2019s the one who deserves all the credit for his growth. First-round pick Colston Loveland?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cColston did more for me as a human being, as a coach, than I did for him,\u201d Casula said.<\/p>\n<p>That modesty isn\u2019t ignorance, of course. Casula might not say how important he is to Michigan, but he knows what makes him a good coach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I was a young coach, I thought if I knew everything, I\u2019d be a really good coach,\u201d Casula said. \u201cAnd then eventually, over time, I kind of figured out it\u2019s not about what I know, it\u2019s what my players know. \u2026 That\u2019s what it\u2019s all about. \u2026 If I had to pick a trait to be great at, it\u2019s what you can get your players to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That selfishness and unrelenting willingness to advocate for everyone around him has brought him from coaching a high school team while still enrolled in college to where he is now, serving as the co-offensive coordinator for one of the most storied programs in the nation. Throughout his 20 years of coaching, it\u2019s never been about him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">***<\/p>\n<p>Casula can talk about his current and former players for hours, but with a matchup against Washington in the coming days, he has to get to his next meeting. Before he leaves, Casula stands up from his chair and, with a smile and complete sincerity, asks a question of his own.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, who\u2019s this story about?\u201d<\/p>\n<aside>\n<div class=\"newspack-popup-container newspack-popup hidden  newspack-inline-popup      \" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#000\" id=\"id_162162\" data-segments=\"\" data-frequency=\"0,0,0,month\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Please consider donating to The Michigan Daily<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To this day, Tony Annese and Steve Casula still don\u2019t agree on who called the play.\u00a0 It was the fourth quarter of the Anchor-Bone Classic in 2018, the historic Division II rivalry cleverly named after Grand Valley State\u2019s mascot, the Lakers, and Ferris State\u2019s mascot, the Bulldogs. The game had been back and forth all [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[3294,166],"class_list":{"0":"post-3203","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-casula","9":"tag-steve"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3203"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3205,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3203\/revisions\/3205"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}