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The Wayne State Warriors football team is the college football team at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. The Wayne State football team played their first game in October 1918. The Wayne State Warriors have competed in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference since 1999 (and previously from 1975 to 1989), and are currently a Division II member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Wayne State plays their home games at Tom Adams Field at Wayne State Stadium. All Wayne State games are broadcast on WDTK radio.
| Wayne State Warriors football | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First season | 1918 |
| Athletic director | Erika Wallace |
| Head coach | Tyrone Wheatley 1st season, 3–8 (.273) |
| Stadium | Tom Adams Field (capacity: 6,000) |
| Field surface | FieldTurf |
| Location | Detroit, Michigan |
| NCAA division | Division II |
| Conference | GLIAC |
| Past conferences | PAC (1955–1965) GLIAC (1975–1989) MIFC (1990–1998) |
| All-time record | 317–444–29 (.420) |
| Conference titles | 3 (2 PAC, 1 GLIAC) |
| Consensus All-Americans | 60 |
| Colors | Green and gold[1] |
| Fight song | WSU Victory Song |
| Marching band | Wayne State Warrior Band |
| Rivals | Grand Valley State, Saginaw Valley State |
| Former nicknames | Tartars (1927–1999) |
| Website | WSUAthletics.com |
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The WSU football team had multiple venues during its early years, including Goldberg Field, University of Detroit Stadium and Keyworth Stadium. The first long-term location for the football team was Tartar Field, followed by Tom Adams Field in Wayne State Stadium.
Wayne State University Interim Director of Athletics Erika Wallace announced Tyrone Wheatley as the next football head coach for the Warriors on Jan. 26, 2023. He becomes the 20th head coach in program history, which enters its 106th year and 105th playing season (due to COVID in 2020) in the fall of 2023.
Prior to joining the Broncos, Wheatley served as Morgan State's head coach for three seasons from 2019-21. During his tenure, he led the program to five wins despite the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's cancelation of the 2020 fall football season (COVID-19).
Overseeing Jacksonville's running back room from 2017–18, Wheatley helped orchestrate a rushing attack that averaged 124.6 rushing yards per game over his two seasons. In 2018, the Jaguars posted the NFL's best rushing attack (141.4 YPG) and tallied the second-most rushing touchdowns (18) that year.
Before Jacksonville, Wheatley spent the 2015-16 collegiate seasons coaching running backs for his alma mater, the University of Michigan. Wheatley was part of a coaching staff that guided the team to consecutive 10-3 seasons and back-to-back appearances in a bowl game.8
In his first season at Michigan, the Wolverines rushing attack collected over 2,000 yards on the ground with 27 touchdowns. The following year, Michigan rushed for 212.9 yards per game and registered 304 rushes for 2,768 yards (4.8 avg.) with 41 scores.
Wheatley's first stint in the NFL came as running backs coach for Buffalo from 2013-14. In his first season with the team in 2013, the Bills produced the league's second ranked rushing attack (144.2 YPG) and had two rushers (C.J. Spiller & Fred Jackson) who each collected over 850 yards rushing while combining for 11 rushing scores.
Preceding his time in the NFL, Wheatley spent five seasons coaching running backs in the collegiate ranks. He spent the 2008 season at Ohio Northern before spending one season (2009) at Eastern Michigan and three years (2010–12) at Syracuse.h
Wheatley began his coaching career at Robichaud High School where he served as head football coach for the Bulldogs in 2007. That season, Robichaud went 9-2 in the regular season and was a perfect 6-0 in league play.
He earned three consecutive All-Big Ten accolades (1992-93-94) for the Wolverines after graduating from Dearborn Heights Robichaud High School.
As a sophomore in 1992, Wheatley won the Big Ten's Offensive Player of the Year award and concluded that season with a 235-yard game in the Rose Bowl earning him the game's MVP award. He rushed for 1,357 yards and 13 touchdowns, while adding three receiving TD's and one on a kickoff return.
Wheatley would surpass the 1,000-yard rushing plateau each of his finals two seasons in Ann Arbor garnering 1,129 yards and 1,144 yards, respectively. He completed his Wolverine career with 4,187 rushing yards, 510 receiving yards and 53 total touchdowns.
In addition, he had a standout track and field career for the Maize and Blue winning three letters (1993–95). Wheatley earned an All-America citation for his eighth-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles at the 1995 NCAA Championships. He won the Big Ten's Outdoor title in the 110-meter hurdles in 1994. Wheatley still owns top-10 times in Michigan history in the 100-meter dash (8th / 10.46) and 110-meter hurdles (5th / 13.77).
He was a first round draft selection by the New York Giants in 1995 (17th overall) and concluded his 10-year professional career by spending the last six seasons with the Oakland Raiders. Between the two organizations, Wheatley rushed for 4,962 yards and 40 touchdowns, while adding 900 receiving yards and 705 kickoff return yards. He played in the 2003 Super Bowl as a member of the Oakland Raiders.
Wheatley earned his bachelor's degree in Kinesiology in 2008 from Michigan. He and his wife Kimberly have five children: Tyrone, Jr., Terius, Tyrique, Tiana and Tamari. Tyrone Jr. is currently a member of the Cleveland Browns organization as an offensive tackle, while Terius played running back at Virginia Tech in 2018 and 2019, before finishing his collegiate career in 2021 at Morgan State playing for his father.
The Inkster native was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. He was also selected as the top Michigan High School athlete of all-time by State Champs in 2017. https://wsuathletics.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/tyrone-wheatley/1778
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The former head football coach for the Wayne State Warriors is Paul Winters. He was the head coach from 2004 until 2022. He started his collegiate football career as the running back for the University of Akron. Upon graduation he then went on to become the assistant and then onto the backfield coach. After his time at Akron, he spent the next eight years coaching at the University of Toledo and then the University of Wisconsin. He then returned to Akron as the Running Backs Coach and Offensive Coordinator before coming to Wayne State. Winters is a three-time GLIAC Coach of the Year (2006, 2008 and 2019).[2]
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The team changed its name from the Tartars to the Warriors in 1999. The mascot for the Warriors, “W”, debuted in 2005.[3]
The Warriors have had five All-American players in their history. In 2006, David Chudzinski was first team All-American for the offensive side of the ball. Joique Bell was another offensive player named 2009 first team All-American; he was also given the Harlon Hill Trophy in the same year. This award is given to the All-Around best player in Division II football.[4] An all-purpose, first team All-American, Josh Renel, was named in 2010. Both Joe Long (offense) and Jeremy Jones (defense) were named 2011 first team All-Americans. Long was also awarded the Gene Upshaw Award in 2011. Leon Eggleston was First Team All American in 2019.[5]
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After barely making the NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs in 2011, the Warriors made it all the way to the national championship game before losing to the Pittsburg State Gorillas of Kansas. It was the first year that the football program had ever made it to the playoffs in their entire history. The Warriors won all of their road games, traveling across the country and ending up in Florence, AL for the championship game. A tragic shooting and murder of a WSU player, Cortez Smith, inspired the team for success.
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| Year | Coach | Overall record | Conference record | Conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Herbert L. Smith | 4–2–1 | 3–0–1 | Presidents' Athletic Conference |
| 1964 | Stanley J. Marshall | 4–3–1 | 4–1–1 | |
| 1975 | Dick Lowry | 8–3–0 | 3–1–0 | Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference |
- GLIAC Coach of the Year
- Dick Lowry – 1975
- Paul Winters – 2006, 2008, 2019
- GLIAC Freshman of the Year
- Joique Bell – 2006
- Kevin Smith – 2008
Wayne State has had six players drafted in the NFL.[6]
- Norman "Happy" Wann – former head coach at Ball State
- Brian VanGorder – Defensive coordinator at Bowling Green State University; former defensive coordinator at Georgia and Notre Dame; Broyles Award winner
- Vic Zucco – former DB for the Chicago Bears
- Richard Byas, Jr. – former DB for the Atlanta Falcons
- John Sokolosky – former C for the Detroit Lions
- Paul Butcher, Sr. – former LB for Detroit, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Carolina and Oakland
- Tom E. Beer – former FB and LB for the Detroit Lions
- Joique Bell – former RB for the Detroit Lions
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