A former Cowboys ballcarrier who was a candidate to become the running backs coach under the team’s new regime now appears primed to take over the same role for an NFC powerhouse instead. And he’ll reunite with one of the scariest runners in the game when he does.

Tashard Choice is expected to be named the new running backs coach for the Detroit Lions, according to a Thursday report from ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg.

Choice was a fourth-round draft pick by the Cowboys in 2008 and played in Dallas for three-plus seasons, compiling a fairly modest 1,139 rushing yards while averaging 4.6 yards per carry during his time.

After stops in Washington, Buffalo, and Indianapolis, Choice wrapped up his playing career in 2013. But by 2016, he was back in Dallas to begin his coaching journey as an intern with the team.

Coaching is where Choice has really blossomed. Following two years on staff at North Texas, the Georgia native found himself in Atlanta as the running backs coach for his alma mater of Georgia Tech. It was there, over the 2020 and 2021 seasons, that he helped turn Jahmyr Gibbs into one of the nation’s top rushing threats.

Gibbs transferred to Alabama for his final year of college ball and was drafted 12th overall by the Lions in 2023. The almost-23-year-old already has two Pro Bowl nods under his belt and finished last season with 1,412 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground.

Now he’ll be reunited in Detroit with the college position coach who kickstarted it all.

But Choice is far from a one-hit wonder when it comes to developing backfield talent. The 2022 season took him to Austin, where he oversaw Bijan Robinson for his electrifying 1,580-yard, 18-touchdown campaign with Texas.

Both Gibbs and Robinson landed in the top five in the NFL in both rushing yards and touchdown carries in 2024.

Earlier this year, Choice was widely considered to be a primary candidate for the Cowboys running backs coach job after the contracts of Mike McCarthy and his staff expired. It has been rumored, though, that Choice wanted more money to leave Texas than the Cowboys were willing to pay him.

Apparently the Lions had no such qualms about outbidding the Longhorns for Choice’s services.

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Dallas eventually hired Derrick Foster for the role under new head coach Brian Schottenheimer. Foster had previously been with the Saints and Chargers.

Choice will serve under Lions head coach Dan Campbell, himself a former Cowboys player (though they missed each other in Dallas by a few seasons).

So now, when the Cowboys face the Lions at Ford Field during the 2025 regular season, they’ll see yet another very familiar face on the opposite sideline, both looking to stick it to the team they both once suited up for.