Tashard Choice coached Jahmyr Gibbs at Georgia Tech. He will coach Gibbs again in Detroit.
The Lions are hiring Choice as their running backs coach, per multiple reports. Choice, a former NFL back himself, spent the past three seasons as running backs coach at Texas after holding the same position for the three seasons before that at Georgia Tech.
Gibbs has cited Choice as the reason he chose Georgia Tech as a highly-coveted recruit in 2020, before transferring to Alabama in 2022 after Choice departed for Texas -- where he went on to coach Bijan Robinson. Robinson and Gibbs were the top two running backs taken in the 2023 draft, Nos. 8 and 12 overall, respectively.
"He’s just a great coach," Gibbs said this season on the St. Brown Podcast. "Down-to-earth dude. I had a lot of trust in him."
Choice, 40, will take over a running backs room in Detroit that features one of the game's best tandems in Gibbs and David Montgomery. The Lions finished sixth in the NFL in rushing last season with 146.4 yards per game.
Scottie Montgomery, who served as running backs coach for the past two seasons, will shift to wide receivers coach to replace Antwaan Randle El -- who left for the Bears with Ben Johnson -- while retaining his title as assistant head coach. It's a natural fit, as he was a receiver during his playing days.
Choice, meanwhile, rushed for 1,579 yards in the NFL from 2008-13, for Dallas, Washington, Buffalo and Indianapolis. He overlapped on his final two stops with Lions new defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard. They remain tight to this day.
In related news, recent offensive hire Tyler Roehl will reportedly serve as tight ends coach in Detroit, replacing Steve Heiden who followed Aaron Glenn to the Jets.