Former Star RB Says Coaching Raiders Would Be ‘Dream Job’

Getty Former Raiders RB Tyrone Wheatley.

The Las Vegas Raiders will launch their search for their next head coach soon and there’s been a lot of big names attached. One name who hasn’t been mentioned is former running back Tyronne Wheatley.

Raiders fans will be familiar with Wheatley from his stint with the team from 1999 to 2004. He even had a season in 2000 where he rushed for 1,046 yards. What fans might not be aware of is that he’s been coaching at various levels since 2007.

He’s currently the head coach at Wayne State but wouldn’t mind returning to his former team. In a January 6 interview with TMZ, Wheatley revealed that being the head coach of the Raiders would be one of his two dream jobs.

As a head coach in college, Wheatley has gone 8-26 at Morgan State and Wayne State. However, he does have some NFL coaching experience. He’s been the running backs coach for the Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars and most recently the Denver Broncos in 2022.

It’s highly unlikely he’ll be considered for the Raiders’ head coaching job this time around but one avenue could be to try and join the team as a running backs coach. In 2017, the Jaguars had the No. 1 rushing offense in the NFL with Wheatley as running backs coach so he’s had success at the position.

Tyrone Wheatley Would Also Love to Replace Jim Harbaugh

Tyrone Wheatley played his college ball at Michigan so that’s another job he’s eyeing. Current head coach Jim Harbaugh has been linked to a number of NFL jobs and could be on the move. That would leave the Michigan job open.

It would be a dream come true if Wheatley was able to land the Wolverines’ head coaching job.

“To play there, to come back now to be the head coach, goodness gracious,” Wheatley told TMZ, “to check that off the bucket list, that’d be awesome.”

If Harbaugh leaves, Michigan becomes one of the top job openings in all of college football. Unfortunately for Wheatley, he likely wouldn’t be considered. However, perhaps he can get on the coaching staff in some capacity. Working his way up through the program could be one way for him to eventually make his dream a reality and coach his college team.

Tyrone Wheatley Endorses Antonio Pierce

Though he has his eyes on the Raiders’ head coaching job someday, Tyrone Wheatley has become a fan of interim head coach Antonio Pierce. He gave the coach a resounding endorsement for the full-time job.

“Absolutely,” Wheatley said when asked if Pierce has earned the Raiders head coaching job. “Because what he has done is he has won over the players. And once you get the locker room, you have the team.”

The Raiders are currently conducting their search for their next head coach but Pierce is still in the mix. It remains to be seen what team owner Mark Davis will do but there have been a lot of current and former players to endorse Pierce. It will certainly be difficult for Davis to not bring him back but there are a lot of big-name options who could be available, including Jim Harbaugh.