Ex-Wolverine Updates: Coaches, Summer 2019

Tag: Tyrone Wheatley


22Jul 2019
Blog, homepage 7 comments

Ex-Wolverine Updates: Coaches, Summer 2019

Brady Hoke (image via College Football Talk)

If you want to help out TTB, please use the Amazon links here to do your shopping (LINK):

I do Ex-Wolverine Updates throughout the season, but I generally don’t include former coaches. In this case I have listed every Michigan coach over the past twenty years that is still in the game (for example, I think Steve Szabo, Stan Parrish, Bobby Morrison, Greg Robinson, etc. are retired permanently). There’s no way to keep track of every former Michigan player toiling away as a high school assistant coach or D-III strength and conditioning guy, but if you have any additions to the list, please let me know. I’m sure I’ve missed a few guys who are coaching or graduate assistant-ing.

For more Ex-Wolverine news, check out these posts on transfers (LINK) and former commits (LINK).

read more
31Mar 2017
Blog, Uncategorized no comments

Pro Athletes and Their Spawn: 2017 Edition

Derrick Brooks (image via Tampa Bay Times)

If you like the content here at TTB, I encourage you to share it on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Rivals, Scout, 247 Sports, other Michigan sites, etc. Thanks for your help in growing the site!


In what has become a yearly tradition, I tried to keep track of some noteworthy players’ sons in the 2017 recruiting class. Several former Detroit Lions have sons who are matriculating into the world of college football, and there are many others, too. You can also check out former years’ posts (2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012)

DeCalon Brooks – LB – Tampa (FL) Gaither: Brooks is a 5’11”, 197 lb. outside linebacker who signed with the Florida State Seminoles. He turned down offers from Illinois, Iowa, and Louisville to become a Seminole. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #52 inside linebacker, and #1174 overall. He is the son of former Florida State linebacker Derrick Brooks, who was a 1st round pick (#28 overall) of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1995 and played through 2008. He’s now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame after making 11 Pro Bowls, 1715 tackles, 13.5 sacks, 25 interceptions, and 7 total touchdowns throughout his career.

Germane Crowell – CB – Winston Salem (NC) Carver: Crowell is a 6’3″, 180-pounder who enrolled early at Virginia. He’s a 3-star, the #41 athlete, and #557 overall, and he spurned offers from the likes of Georgia and Notre Dame to attend his dad’s alma mater. The elder Germane Crowell was a 2nd round pick (#50 overall) of the Detroit Lions in 1998. He caught 184 passes for 2,722 yards and 16 touchdowns during a five-year career with the Lions. He was the head coach at Carver and amassed a 33-18 record over the past several years, but he resigned in December of 2016.

Luther Elliss (image via Detroit Lions)

Christian Elliss – LB – Littleton (CO) Valor Christian: Elliss is a 6’3″, 215 lb. prospect who signed with Idaho. He’s a 2-star, the #207 outside linebacker, and #3067 overall. For more on his bloodlines, see the Noah Elliss entry below.

Noah Elliss – DT – Littleton (CO) Valor Christian: Elliss is a 6’4″, 330 lb. prospect who signed with Mississippi State. He’s a 3-star, the #23 defensive tackle, and #344 overall. Alabama, Auburn, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and USC also offered Elliss, so the choice of Mississippi State was odd. Furthermore, Michigan was in need of defensive tackles, so I thought it was possible that the Wolverines would extend an offer, especially considering where his “dad” spent his NFL career. Luther Elliss played his college ball at Utah before becoming a 1st round pick (#20 overall) of the Detroit Lions in 1995. A two-time Pro Bowler for the Lions, he made 331 tackles and 29 sacks during a ten-year career, the last season of which he played for the Denver Broncos. Noah is actually Luther Elliss’s biological nephew, but Luther adopted him.

Hit the jump for a gaggle of more players and their dads.

read more

16Jan 2017
Blog, homepage 12 comments

Tyrone Wheatley, Sr., Ex-Wolverine

Tyrone Wheatley and Jim Harbaugh (image via Freep)

Running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley, Sr. has reportedly accepted a job with the Jacksonville Jaguars, where his former boss Doug Marrone has been hired as the head coach. Wheatley coached with Marrone at Syracuse from 2010-2012 and then with the Buffalo Bills in 2013-2014.

Wheatley was an All-American and a former 1st round pick from the University of Michigan, and he went to high school in Dearborn. After playing stints with the Giants and Raiders, he also coached in Dearborn before moving on to college. He was hired at Michigan in 2015 when Jim Harbaugh returned to Ann Arbor, and he did a solid job coaching the position. At the time of his departure, he ranks as the #6 recruiter in the country, according to 247 Sports. He was the primary recruiter in the Detroit area and had a big hand in landing Donovan Peoples-Jones and Ambry Thomas. He was also credited with mending some broken fences with Detroit (MI) Martin Luther King, which helped reel in Thomas and 2016 signee Lavert Hill.

Michigan is in somewhat of a bind at this point. With some early enrollees already on campus (including Peoples-Jones and Thomas), nothing can be affected there. However, Michigan continues to recruit running backs, including O’Maury Samuels and Kurt Taylor. The departure could affect their recruitments, and the Wolverines need a difference-maker at running back. With some potential targets already off the board (Eno Benjamin, Najee Harris, Cam Akers, etc.), this shortens the list of potential late additions or replacements.

Hit the jump for some thoughts on his departure.

read more

28Jan 2016
Blog, Uncategorized 4 comments

Pro Athletes and Their Spawn: 2016 Edition

Mike Alstott 580x

Mike Alstott (image via Purdujax.org)

I have always been infatuated with pro athletes and their kids’ athletic careers. Maybe it started when I watched Ken Griffey, Jr. play baseball with his dad, but it amazes me sometimes when people who are some of the best athletes in the country – or even the world – have kids who grow up to follow in their footsteps. So for the last several years, I have compiled lists of players who have accomplished athletes as fathers. I’m sure there are others out there that I have not come across, but below is a list of thirteen prospects for the class of 2016 who had standout athletes for dads. You can see past versions by clicking on the year (2015, 2014, 2013, 2012)

Griffin Alstott – QB – St. Petersburg (FL) Northside Christian: Alstott is a 6’2″, 200 lb. quarterback with a lone offer from Appalachian State. He’s a 247 Sports 3-star, the #18 dual-threat QB, and #580 overall. He is the son of former Purdue and Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back/fullback Mike Alstott, who was Purdue’s career touchdown leader after he finished his college career in 1995 and averaged 5.6 yards/carry as a 6’1″, 240 lb. bruiser. He became a 2nd round pick of the Buccaneers, playing his whole career there from 1996-2006. He had over 5,000 yards rushing, over 2,000 yards receiving, and a total of 71 touchdowns while winning a Super Bowl and going to six Pro Bowls.

Hit the jump for more.

read more