Former College Football Star Gets Fresh Coaching Opportunity After Winless Season

As a star running back at Michigan in the early 1990s, Tyrone Wheatley found nothing but success.

He was a two-time first-team All-Big Ten selection, the conference's offensive player of the year in 1992, had three straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons, scored 46 touchdowns and was a first-round NFL draft pick.

As a college football head coach, well, that was a different story for Wheatley.

He resigned as head coach at Division II Wayne State in Detroit last week after going 0-11 in 2025 and just 5-28 overall in three seasons. Previously, Wheatley was 5-18 in two seasons as the head coach at FCS-level Morgan State.

But he's getting a fresh start back in the Big Ten, as Illinois announced Monday it hired Wheatley as its running backs coach.

Welcome to the FamILLy, Running Backs Coach Tyrone Wheatley@CoachWheat6 | https://t.co/KsiK5JmBtX pic.twitter.com/bKtqq0khRD
— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) February 16, 2026

Wheatley has coached running backs in the NFL and college football at several prior stops, including Syracuse (2010-12), his alma mater Michigan (2015-16) and with the Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars and Denver Broncos.

Wheatley is returning to the Big Ten for the first time in a decade. He ranks sixth in Michigan program history with 3,671 rushing yards from 1991-94, averaging 5.8 yards per carry. He's third in school history with 46 combined rushing/receiving touchdowns.

Tyrone Wheatley starred at Michigan in the early 1990s. | RVR Photos-Imagn Images

In his Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year season in 1992, Wheatley averaged 6.6 yards on 170 carries for 1,122 yards and 10 TDs (plus 141 yards and 3 TDs receiving) for a 9-0-3 Michigan team that won the Big Ten and the Rose Bowl while finishing No. 5 in the country.

The next season, Wheatley rushed for 1,005 yards and scored 12 TDs in just nine games and finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting.

He was the No. 17 overall pick in the first round of the 1995 NFL Draft, selected by the New York Giants. He'd play for the Giants, Miami Dolphins and Oakland Raiders before retiring after the 2004 season with 4,962 career rushing yards, 900 receiving yards and 47 total TDs.

His best NFL season came in 2000 with the Raiders when he rushed for 1,046 yards and 9 TDs (plus 1 receiving).

Now 54 years old, Wheatley returns to the Big Ten at Illinois, but he'll have to wait a bit to face his alma mater, as Michigan is not on the Fighting Illini's 2026 football schedule. They do, however, play his former top rival, Ohio State, in Columbus on Sept. 26.