Not surprisingly, given the scant amount of time he had to recruit, Jim Harbaugh's first recruiting class at Michigan is not a celebrated one. But it does have some familiar names.
The sons of two former Michigan stars who went on to play in the NFL signed with the Wolverines on Wednesday: G Jon Runyan Jr. and TE Tyrone Wheatley Jr.
Tyrone Wheatley Sr. is Michigan's new running backs coach.
The younger Runyan (6-foot-4, 275 pounds) is from Philadelphia St. Joseph's Prep. While his dad was an offensive tackle, Runyan Jr. seems likely to remain an interior lineman.
Jon Sr. played 14 seasons in the NFL, for the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans, Philadelphia Eagles and San Diego Chargers. He also is a former Republican congressman from New Jersey who served two terms before declining to run again in 2014.
The younger Wheatley (6-6, 260) played at Buffalo's Canisius High. While he also played defensive end in high school, he is ticketed for tight end with the Wolverines. He was the consensus No. 1 recruit in the state of New York and is considered one of the top 15 tight ends nationally.
Tyrone Sr. played for 10 seasons (1995-2004) in the NFL, with the New York Giants and Oakland Raiders. He was a first-round pick by the Giants in 1995. Wheatley, who is the No. 5 rusher in Michigan history, spent the past two seasons as the running backs coach for the Buffalo Bills.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
