Texas to hire coveted USC running backs coach

The Texas Longhorns appear to be poaching a new USC coach — a very new USC coach — from Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley.

On Saturday, Matt Zenitz and Gerry Hamilton of On3 Sports reported USC running backs coach Tashard Choice is likely to head to Austin for the same position just six days after confirmation that he would leave Georgia Tech for the USC job.

LA Times writer Ryan Kartje reported Choice had changed his social media earlier this week to reflect the move to USC, but he had changed it back to generic photos and removed all mention of USC in his Twitter bio on Saturday.

Despite a dismal 3-9 season in which the Yellow Jackets were outscored 100-0 in their final two games, running back Jahmyr Gibbs was a bright spot coached by Choice. The all-purpose back had 1,211 yards and six touchdowns from scrimmage plus four games with a carry or reception of over 60 yards.

The 37-year-old Georgia native knows Texas well, as he was at North Texas as a graduate assistant in 2017 and became the running backs coach in 2018. The Mean Green averaged 153.8 yards per game on the ground in his second season and scored 25 touchdowns.

Choice is a former Dallas Cowboys and Georgia Tech running back. He started his college career at Oklahoma in 2004 before heading to Atlanta from 2005-2007. Choice had back-to-back seasons with over 1,300 rushing yards in his final two years at Georgia Tech, averaging at least five yards per carry in each season. He scored 28 total rushing touchdowns in college.

The Georgia native was taken by the Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL Draft and also spent time with the Washington Football Team, Buffalo Bills and Indianapolis Colts. Choice finished his professional career in 2013 after playing in 88 games and starting four. He posted 1,579 yards and 10 touchdowns in that period.

Choice replacing Drayton

Choice is replacing running backs coach Stan Drayton, who left Texas to take the head coaching job at Temple earlier this week.

Under Drayton this season, the Longhorns averaged 199.3 rushing yards per game, which is second in the Big 12. The mark was their highest since 2016.

The running back room lost star sophomore Bijan Robinson to an elbow injury on Nov. 13. He finished his season with 1,127 yards and 11 touchdowns, and he will likely be mentioned in the preseason 2022 Heisman discussion in the coming months.

In other words, when Choice arrives in Austin, he will inherit quite the talent.