Former Cass Tech star Jayru Campbell settling in at Ferris State

Lansing — Tony Annese feels Jayru Campbell has found a home at Ferris State.

Annese, Ferris State's veteran head coach, was a guest speaker at the 46th Annual Michigan High School Football Coaches Clinic Thursday night.

Campbell, who helped Detroit Cass Tech to a pair of state championships, had offers from Alabama, LSU, Michigan State and Notre Dame before getting in trouble — an altercation with a school security guard, incident with his girlfriend — which resulted in jail time.

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Campbell attended Garden City Community College in Kansas where he played quarterback and receiver to help the school win a national title in 2016 before moving on to Ferris State.

"I actually redshirted him this past year, wanted to assess him, let him get comfortable with the climate," Annese said. "He was allowed to practice. He's great, really seems to have bought in.

"He has really good leadership skills and our kids look at him with a lot of respect. We really like him. He's been a good guy. He has good personal qualities. He's a very hard worker and he's determined to be good."

Annese guided Ferris State to consecutive GLIAC titles in 2014 and '15, then a DII national semifinal appearance in 2016 and quarterfinal appearance this past fall, but losing quarterback Reggie Bell to graduation.

"People ask me where are you going to play him," Annese said. "Obviously, you give an athlete like him a shot at quarterback, but he has a fallback at receiver. We look for a dual-threat quarterback and he runs well and throws well.

"I just want to see how he develops and it's a perfect situation for him with spring practice. He certainly has a shot to start at quarterback. It's an open competition in spring practice."

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