Tashard Choice wound up leaving for the NFL… just not for the Dallas Cowboys staff.
The Dallas Cowboys coaching staff is just about set and ready to charge in to 2025 and it goes without saying that the construction process of it was interesting. Brian Schottenheimer is leading the team, and with that being the case it has been heavily assumed that there will be a strong focus on the run game. Time will certainly tell if that is truly the case.
If we assume this to be true, then whoever is coaching the running backs is obviously of of importance which is why Cowboys fans were tracking that rather closely. Former team running back Tashard Choice was among those who interviewed for the job that ultimately went to Derrick Foster.
Choice chose, no pun intended, to return to the University of Texas to coach their running backs which was a logical decision on his part. The Longhorns are a great team to be connected to.
Choice’s decision to remain in Austin happened on February 3rd and it appears that something changed over 10 days as it was reported on Thursday that he is leaving for the NFL to join Dan Campbell’s staff with the Detroit Lions.
The Detroit #Lions are expected to hire Texas’ Tashard Choice as their new running backs coach, a source tells @CBSSports/@247Sports https://t.co/qOetA1jj8s pic.twitter.com/z9cD0K3Tv1
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) February 13, 2025
Not a great look for the Cowboys that they wouldn’t pay Tashard Choice what he wanted and more than he was making at Texas. Lions obviously were willing. https://t.co/ACXQhNNOyQ
— Charean Williams (@NFLCharean) February 13, 2025
It had been reported that Choice would have had to take a pay cut to join the Cowboys given the high-profile nature of his position in Austin. As PFT’s Charean Williams notes, it appears the Cowboys were not willing to do that and that the Lions were. It is also worth mentioning that Choice coached Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs at Georgia Tech.
There are dynamics at play with staffs and bringing someone in with a high salary could have complicated matters for the Cowboys, but coaching staffs are not subject to any sort of salary cap and if the team wanted they could wield the power of being the most valuable professional sports franchise on the planet.