Mark Snyder

Detroit Free Press

Just when it appeared Michigan had a full staff again after Jedd Fisch's departure and the reported arrival of Pep Hamilton to take his place, there may be more movement.

U-M running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley may be a candidate for the Western Michigan head coaching vacancy.

That's the implication from the tweets of his former running back De'Veon Smith, who wished him luck late Wednesday night, saying he hopes Wheatley gets the job, which opened when P.J. Fleck left for Minnesota on Jan. 6.

On Jan. 7, Western Michigan running back Matt Falcon, who was a U-M commit after Wheatley took the job at Michigan in January 2015, tweeted cryptically.

Wheatley, 44, has not commented on the job being open but has a resume that could earn him a shot.

He is a Michigan native, dominating as a tailback at Dearborn Heights Robichaud and U-M as a player before spending 10 years as an NFL player. The NFL pedigree has helped him gain credibility when coaching players and he knows the state well, recruiting here when he was an assistant at Eastern Michigan, Syracuse and now at Michigan.

Wheatley also has NFL coaching experience having worked for the Buffalo Bills as a running backs coach for two years. According to the 247Sports rankings, he is the No. 6 assistant coach recruiter in the nation this year with 10 prospects in U-M's current 27-player class.

His son Tyrone Jr. is a tight end who came to U-M in the first class that his father was on campus, in 2015.

9 names for the Western Michigan football coaching job

Contact Mark Snyder: msnyder@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark__snyder. Download our Wolverines Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!