When a college football program begins to experience elite success, it almost creates a problem for them as well.
The staffers who helped develop the team’s players into stars and also recruited them to campus typically become hot commodities in the coaching market. It’s a good problem to have, considering your program is in a place where other teams want someone from your staff, but it doesn’t make losing them any easier.
This could be a problem that the Texas Longhorns may have to deal with following the program’s second 12+ win season in a row. As revealed on Saturday by Dallas Cowboys insider Clarence Hill Jr., Texas running backs coach Tashard Choice is interviewing with the Cowboys on Saturday.
Texas running back coach Tashard Choice.
Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK
Losing Choice would be a huge blow to Texas’ development of running backs, and their recruiting. Under Choice, who joined the staff in 2022, Texas has been pumping out elite running backs left and right.
He inherited Bijan Robinson, Roschon Johnson and Jonathon Brooks from the previous regime, and helped each of them maximize their abilities to the fullest. Robinson rushed for a career-high 1,580 yards and 18 touchdowns under Choice’s tutelage. He was also taken in the first round of the NFL draft.
As for Johnson, he also had a productive 2022, as he rushed for 554 yards and four touchdowns before being drafted in the fourth round the same year. When Brooks took over in 2023, he was an instant star with first-round potential if it weren’t for a torn ACL towards the end of the season. He rushed for 1,139 yards and 10 scores in his lone year as the starter, and was taken in the second round of the 2024 NFL draft.
Choice also played a role in getting Keilan Robinson drafted despite the fact he was never a featured back.
On top of his development, he was a key figure in the recruitment of four-star running back Jerrick Gibson, five-star running back CJ Baxter and five-star receiver Ryan Wingo. Choice’s relationships in the state of Florida have been a huge help for Texas when it comes to landing some of the Sunshine State’s top talent.
Oddly enough, the Cowboys drafted Choice in 2008, and he spent over three seasons with the team.
