Signs pointing to Tenarius ‘Tank’ Wright as final addition to Michigan’s coaching staff

Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh spoke at a high school coaches convention in Lansing on Thursday night just hours after the reported hiring of Bob Shoop to the defensive staff. Harbaugh told reporters in attendance that both spots have been filled and announcements will be made soon.

Of course, we can put the pieces together on Shoop given the information that is out there, but what about the other name? Well, it appears to be Tenarius “Tank” Wright, who has been mentioned in message board posts throughout Michigan’s assistant coaching search as someone in line for a promotion from the program. Sam Webb of The Michigan Insider has been all over it ($).

Wright was with the Michigan staff, along with director of recruiting Matt Dudek, in Lansing. He also appears to have changed his Twitter bio.

For those unfamiliar with Wright, he was (is? nothing is official yet) the Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for the program under Ben Herbert, who started at Michigan in 2018. Wright is a former linebacker/defensive end in college at Arkansas, where he played from 2009-12, and given Shoop’s hire in the secondary he appears to be the guy taking on the Anthony Campanile role.

What he lacks in on-field experience he makes up for in personality, as players and people inside the building have raved about his personality and the way that he has been able to connect with players.

Wright’s chances of being promoted seemed to hinge on Campanile’s decision, so it looked to be dashed when reports came out that he had rebuffed Rutgers. Now that Campanile is off to the NFL, the Wolverines appear to be giving one of their younger staffers a chance to take on a bigger role.

Nothing is official until reports or announcements are made, but it has been appearing to head this way and now it looks like we’re here.