Tashard Choice named a rising star Power Five assistant coach by On3
Each year, On3’s Matt Zenitz compiles a list of assistants considered within the industry to be top up-and-coming coaches positioned for continued advancement. Longhorns running backs coach Tashard Choice, one of the key assistant hires of the Steve Sarkisian era at Texas, made this year’s edition of the list.
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Choice, who came to Texas after several years at Georgia Tech, became the Longhorns’ running backs coach in 2022 after Stan Drayton took the Temple head coaching job. Since then, Choice has helped Texas rushers produce on the field and has put in yeoman’s work on the recruiting trail.
Here’s what Zenitz and his sources had to say about Choice.
There were two running backs taken in the top 12 picks of this year’s NFL draft. Both were coached by Choice — No. 8 overall pick Bijan Robinson at Texas and No. 12 overall selection Jahmyr Gibbs at Georgia Tech, where Gibbs spent two years under Choice before finishing his college career at Alabama last season.
Choice also had another 2023 draft pick in fourth-round pick Roschon Johnson, who was another member of his running back room at Texas last season.
Choice, who played running back at Georgia Tech and then for six years in the NFL, worked at Georgia Tech from 2019 to ’21. In his first season at Texas last year, Choice’s duo of Robinson and Johnson posted the second-highest rushing yardage total in program history from a running back tandem (2,134).
Choice also continues to have success as a recruiter. After signing players like Gibbs at Georgia Tech, he has now landed players with the Longhorns such as Class of 2023 five-star CJ Baxter and Class of 2024 four-stars Jerrick Gibson and Christian Clark. Gibson is ranked as the No. 5 running back and No. 65 overall prospect in the 2024 class according to the On3 Industry Ranking.
“He played in the NFL, high energy,” a coaching source told On3 of Choice. “He’s going to be a star. He can recruit like a son of a gun. He’s an awesome human being. And he’s got tremendous energy. He’s just a magnetic guy. He’s got a bright future.”
Matt Zenitz
Choice has helped bring in Baxter, Gibson, and Clark from outside of the Lone Star State. He’s also played a key role in several recruitments in the Southeast region, a place where Texas has dipped into more and more under Sarkisian and after the announcement of the move to the SEC.
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He’ll be charged with continuing the development of backs like Baxter, Jonathon Brooks, Keilan Robinson, and others to replace Johnson and Bijan Robinson ahead of the 2023 campaign.
If he continues to coach like a rising star, that should be an accomplishable task for the former NFL back.
Other Big 12 assistants to make the list include:
- CJ Ah You, Texas Tech
- Nic Cardwell, Cincinnati
- Andrew Jackson, West Virginia
- Kenny Martin, UCF
- Jamarkus McFarland, TCU
- Matthew Middleton, Kansas State
- Eman Naghavi, Houston
