Report: Former U-M star Tyrone Wheatley to join staff

Another Michigan legend will be on the Wolverines' coaching staff.

Tyrone Wheatley, one of the great running backs in U-M history, will be coaching that same position for the Wolverines this fall, GoBlueWolverine.com reported.

Adding Wheatley would be a major coup for head coach Jim Harbaugh, himself a former Michigan star.

Wheatley has spent the past two years as the Buffalo Bills' running backs coach so this would appear to be a lateral or backwards move on the traditional coaching hierarchy.

But little about this U-M staff has been traditional as it appears to be filling with coaches holding NFL experience and those who don't, like defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin, are considered among the elite in college football.

Wheatley's future in Buffalo was uncertain after the head coach who brought him along from Syracuse, Doug Marrone, opted out of his Bills contract. He's expected to land another NFL head coaching job but there was no guarantees about the next step.

For Wheatley, 42, coming back to his alma mater, where he played from 1991-94 rushing for 4,178 yards and 47 touchdowns, is a comfortable fit.

It also may have an added benefit for him and the Wolverines as his son, Tyrone Jr., is a four-star tight end/defensive end 2015 prospect and is currently undecided about where he will sign.

After a year coaching his high school alma mater, Dearborn Heights Robichaud, in 2007, Wheatley rose quickly as a running backs coach -- from Ohio Northern to Eastern Michigan to Syracuse before joining the Bills in 2013.

When he was an NFL player in 1995-2004 he crossed paths with Harbaugh in Oakland where he was a running back for the Raiders in 2002, when Harbaugh was the Raiders' quarterbacks coach.

As one of the greatest athletes in state of Michigan history, Wheatley should be able to continue as a strong recruiter being back in his home area.

One effect of his arrival, it likely means the end of longtime assistant Fred Jackson, who has been the running backs coach since he was coaching Wheatley in 1992.

Contact Mark Snyder at msnyder@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @mark__snyder.