Assistant coaches come, assistant coaches go. It’s the nature of the business in college football. Truth be told, it’s the nature of the business in football at all levels.
Most times, when an assistant coach leaves a power program like Texas, it’s not much of a concern because you know that someone like Steve Sarkisian is going to go out and hire a solid replacement, very likely even upgrade that spot.
You can argue that Sark has done just that any time he’s had an assistant leave Texas … the guys he’s hired as replacements have more than held their own, or actually been upgrades in terms of player development and recruiting.
That’s going to be tough with the departure of Tashard Choice.
In losing Choice to the NFL, the Longhorns have a huge void to fill on the coaching staff, and finding someone as dynamic as Choice will be no small feat for Sark. As a guy who has covered recruiting for well over two decades, I’m having a hard time recalling an assistant coach who universally drew the types of rave reviews that Choice did as a recruiter. Every running back he recruited sang his praises, and cited the connection they had developed with Choice as a huge reason why Texas was so high on their list.
But it wasn’t just running backs. Choice was an active recruiter for Texas in states like Georgia and Florida, regardless of position. Oftentimes being the guy that opened the door for top prospects in those states (among others). Whoever is brought in will undoubtedly have connections of his own that he can lean on, but replacing the deep roots Choice had established won’t be easy.
Earlier this week, I predicted that Texas would sign both Javian Osborne and KJ Edwards in the 2026 cycle. Not an easy task to land two Rivals100 backs in the same class, but the reason I had optimism was because of Choice, and because it looked likely that he was in Austin for the long haul. Ooops.
"It definitely came out of the blue," said Osborne. "It surprised me because ... I had kids at school saying that the coach left ... when I saw it with my own eyes I just was in shock, but I'm very happy for him and his family."
Now, whoever is brought in will have to go to work quickly to establish a relationship with those guys and instantly build bridges with some of the other backs Texas was recruiting, including potential 5-star Ezavier Crowell.
Can it be done? Certainly. Losing Choice is going to sting from a recruiting and on-field coaching department, but Texas sells itself in a lot of ways with its history, its location, its academics, its opportunities beyond football, its NIL opportunities, etc. I’m not advising anyone to start reaching for the panic button in the immediate aftermath of the Choice news, but there’s no way to sugarcoat this one and say it’s not a loss.
The good news … in Sark you should trust. When you have a program rolling the way he has Texas rolling, your assistants are going to be hot commodities. That’s a good problem to have for any program. Sark will make a good hire. The running back position will be just fine long-term. But whoever comes in to lead that group is going to have incredibly large shoes to fill.
Last edited:
