Wheatley Sr. report is premature per Sam Webb

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

I'm told report on @CoachWheat6 to Jags is premature. Jags have shown interest. So too have other Power 5s. ALL options still being mulled

— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) January 15, 2017
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stephenrjking

January 15th, 2017 at 2:25 AM ^

To what position?

And that may be why Wheatley is looking around. It's never been a secret that he wants to work his way up. If we take off the Michigan-man blinders, it's pretty normal for coaches to bounce around from team to team, learning and coaching and gaining new responsibilities as they move around. A position coach moving to a place of more responsibility, if that is what Wheatley is doing, isn't remarkable at all.

It feels different because Wheatley is a Michigan Man, but he is also a guy who is pursuing a career. Coaching is a vocation, and one that often requires people to change jobs to move up.

Michigan just doesn't have the space to do that. 

It's not that weird, really. Jim Harbaugh's entire coaching career existed without attachment to Michigan until last year. Most of the staff has bounced all over the country. It's a job for them.

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GhostofJermain…

January 15th, 2017 at 7:52 AM ^

Well written, however the voaction part.... Coaching is a calling?  More so then not it's ALL ABOUT THE MONEY.  Additionally, you could argue the move back to college was not latteral, but more of an attempt to make his oldest son comfortable as well as work at his alma mater. Is it possible he was given the indication he could move up at Michigan when he was first hired and we are not advancing him quick enough?  Or that he see's his peers and friends taking promotions left and right and knows he needs to strike while the iron is hot?  

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Mr. Yost

January 15th, 2017 at 8:00 AM ^

He's making a good chunk of change. The man wants to be an OC or HC. It took some convincing just to get him to Michigan. He didn't say yes right away but thought working under Harbaugh would be smart for his career. It has been. Now it seems as if he's ready to go and make that next step. I personally don't think he leaves to be a RB coach somewhere else unless it's got play calling and assistant HC duties attached to it.

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Steeveebr

January 15th, 2017 at 11:32 AM ^

I don't agree that it's all about the money.  People will often pursue a promotion or job change just because they want different responsibilities from what they currently have.  There are any number of reasons people do what they do and money is just one influencer.

I myself have taken promotions or job changes within my career that paid the same or less.  I did this just because I wanted the responsibility or duties associated with a particular job or because I was bored with my current routine.

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MGoStrength

January 15th, 2017 at 8:32 AM ^

This is precisely the reason I got out of being a college strength coach.  You have to move way too frequenty in order to make a living in this business.  There just isn't often much coaching stability in P5 football.  I don't personally understand the lure, especially for someone that already makes well into six figures and played in the NFL.  I'll take my modest teacher salary, work a 40-hr work week, leave work at 3pm every day, and have nights, weekends, and holidays to enjoy life rather than work any day.  But, to each his own.  

 

Whatever he decides I'm glad we had him as long as we did and I hate to see him go, but wish him luck in his journey.

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SF Wolverine

January 15th, 2017 at 12:04 PM ^

Coaching for JH is likely a tough row to hoe, but the benefit is that you are going to get good opportunities to move up.  Based on merit.  If Ty crushes it in his next gig, no reason he can't return to UM in a ore senior position.  Or, just go on to bigger and better things and spread the branches of the Harbaugh coaching tree.  More guys do that, the more attractive taking a lower-level gig at UM becomes to the up-and-comers.

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bluesalt

January 15th, 2017 at 3:35 AM ^

He's been an offensive position coach for 5 years at the Power 5 level, and for two years at the NFL level. Certainly people have been made offensive coordinators with less experience.

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Magnus

January 15th, 2017 at 9:00 AM ^

Actually, if you're looking at overall stats, Michigan's rushing numbers looked pretty good in 2016. Our top running backs averaged 4.7, 7.0, 5.9, and 5.6 yards/carry. Obviously, if you look closer, that's because they beat up on lesser opponents early in the year and such, but still, the overall RB production was solid.

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stephenrjking

January 14th, 2017 at 11:32 PM ^

That 10th coach is not an offensive coordinator, which was what the remark you are responding to was about. I will give you the benefit of the doubt and guess that you didn't realize he was referencing a suggestion that someone make Wheatley an OC just for his recruiting prowess.

Because putting someone in a coordinator position just because they can recruit would be monumentally stupid. Now, if Wheatley is ready to move up, fine, but you need a coordinator to first and foremost know what they are doing.

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jalenwestman

January 15th, 2017 at 2:06 PM ^

But I think the fact that Wheatley has played and coached at every level, probably means he has an idea how to call plays. In addition, he has coached with a couple highly regarded offensive minds and he has a desire to move up the coaching ladder. I think making him an OC might even make him a better recruiter (not that he can get much better). For schools like Kansas or Iowa state who have trouble getting players and winning, I think he would be a great gamble at OC. Or those type of schools can continue to put experienced experts there and suck.

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