Texas running back coach Tashard Choice is expected to leave the Longhorns for a job in the NFL with the Detroit Lions, sources confirm to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. Choice, who was in the mix for the running backs coach job with the Dallas Cowboys, helped the Horns recruit and/or develop multiple stars while on the Forty Acres, including Bijan Robinson, Roschon Johnson, and Jonathon Brooks. 

Choice grew up outside Atlanta and played college ball at Oklahoma and Georgia Tech before being drafted in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. He played for the Cowboys, Washington Commanders, Bills, and Colts during his six-year professional career. He began his coaching career in the college ranks as a GA and then running back coach at North Texas.

One of his stops was at Georgia Tech where he coached current Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs. Choice arrived at Texas in 2022 and was one of the key figures on staff, especially on the recruiting trail. The Longhorns replaced a safeties coach this week and now must replace its running back coach. Steve Sarkisian has enjoyed staff continuity throughout his tenure, but back-to-back College Football Playoff semifinal appearances put his assistants in line for bigger and better jobs. 

The next running back coach at Texas won’t enter a barren room as the Longhorns return 1,000-yard rusher Tre Wisner and former five-star recruit CJ Baxter, who entered the 2024 season as the starter before a season-ending injury in camp cost him the season.