Tenarius “Tank” Wright is in his fifth season as the Director of Football Strength and Conditioning in 2025. He was hired by head coach Bret Bielema in January 2021.
Wright has helped elevate Illinois with a tough, smart, dependable brand of football during his first four seasons in Champaign. The Illini have 28 wins and 18 Big Ten victories over Wright's four seasons, highlighted by a 10-win season in 2024 that tied Illinois' single-season record for wins. In 2024, Illinois was ranked by the CFP selection committee for a program-record four straight weeks, appeared in 12 AP Top 25 polls, and tied the program record for ranked wins with four. The Fighting Illini capped one of the best seasons in program history by beating #14 South Carolina in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, 21-17, in one of the top bowl game victories in Illinois history. Illinois finished ranked #16 in the AP Top 25 poll.
Wright has helped bring the Fighting Illini program back to national relevance with continued appearances in the AP Top 25 and College Football Playoff rankings, two New Year’s Bowls, three national award finalists, and 11 NFL Draft picks since 2021. Illinois has had three national award finalists and seven top-100 draft picks since Wright's arrival. Jer'Zhan Newton (2023, Nagurski), Chase Brown (2022, Doak), and Devon Witherspoon (2022, Thorpe) gave Illinois three finalists in National College Football Awards Association awards over a two-year span for the first time since 1994-95, while Illinois is one of five schools with three or more players drafted in the first three rounds in the 2023 and 2024 NFL Drafts, along with Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, and Penn State.
In 2022, the Fighting Illini finished with an 8-5 record and reached a January bowl game for the first time in 15 years. The Illini were ranked in the AP Top 25 for five straight weeks, reaching as high as No. 14, and were ranked in the College Football Playoff rankings for the first time in school history. Illinois led the nation in scoring defense (12.8) for the first time in program history, led the nation and set a school record in interceptions (24), and ranked third in total defense (273.5).
Wright joined the Fighting Illini following seven seasons on strength and conditioning staffs at Arkansas and Michigan and a stint as the defensive line coach at Army West Point during the 2020 season.
In 2020, Wright helped Army lead the nation in total defense and win the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy with victories over Navy and Air Force.
Named one of college football’s rising stars in 2019, Wright made the move to Army after serving as the Associate Director of Football Strength and Conditioning at Michigan for the 2018 and 2019 seasons, when he helped coach and mentor four first-round draft picks, one second-round pick, six third-round draft picks, one fourth-round pick, and 12 picks from the fifth-seventh rounds.
Prior to his time at Michigan, Wright was the Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at his alma mater, Arkansas, from 2014-17, when he worked on Bielema’s staff for the first time. Wright helped Arkansas produce one first-round pick, one second-round pick, two fourth-round picks, and nine picks from the fifth-seventh rounds.
Wright was a standout for the Razorbacks from 2008-12 as a linebacker/defensive end, posting nine quarterback sacks and 20 tackles for loss and serving as team captain as a senior in 2012. He was named SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week after Arkansas’ 47-19 win over Texas A&M at Cowboys Stadium for his three tackles, two TFLs, one sack, and two forced fumbles.
Wright was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before trying out for the Kansas City Chiefs in a rookie mini-camp and spent time with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League before ultimately returning to his alma mater as a member of the strength and conditioning staff.
A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Wright graduated from Arkansas in 2012 with a bachelor’s of science and arts.
