When he entered the coaching profession as an intern with the Dallas Cowboys, former Georgia Tech running back Tashard Choice said he told himself he would eventually return to his alma mater.
“I didn’t know when it was going to happen, but I was looking forward to the day,” Choice said.
The wait turned out to be not so long. That was 2016. Choice, the ACC’s rushing champion in 2006 and 2007, is pleased to be Tech’s running backs coach under new coach Geoff Collins. He described it as surreal. Exciting is also appropriate.
“The first time we get in spring ball, the first time we take the field and we’re on the sideline, I don’t know,” Choice said. “I may need a helmet or something myself.”
The fire is no act. Former Tech quarterback Taylor Bennett recently called him "the single-most vibrant personality I've probably ever played with."
The passion that Choice feels for Tech was tangible as he and co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach (and fellow Tech alumnus) Nathan Burton met with media Saturday. He said he relished the task of helping the Jackets win.
“This is who I am,” Choice said. “It’s a part of me, wearing the white and gold, being a part of Georgia Tech, and Nate will tell you the same. Every day we have an obligation to uphold that. So that’s what we’re going to do. I’m excited about that, personally. I can’t wait.”
Choice transferred to Tech in 2005 after one season at Oklahoma. He played three seasons for the Yellow Jackets, rushing for 3,365 yards, which is fourth all-time in school history.
He graduated in 2007 (he was twice named to the ACC’s academic honor roll) and then played six seasons in the NFL, four with the Cowboys. He was a coaching intern with the Cowboys in 2016, was a quality-control assistant at North Texas in 2017 and then was promoted to running backs coach in 2018.
This past season, Mean Green running back Deandre Torrey gained 1,182 yards from scrimmage and was named second-team all-conference in Conference USA, performance even more notable as Torrey joined the starting lineup only midway through the season after an injury to the starter.
Choice is an unusual hire as far as having only one season’s experience as an on-field coach, but he was named a finalist for running backs coach of the year by Football Scoop website.
Choice will take over a position in flux. He will have to train players who have been either B-backs or A-backs in coach Paul Johnson’s option offense, positions with different responsibilities than what they’ll be asked to do in the Jackets’ new spread offense.
“Every single day, we’re going to work,” Choice said. “And it won’t stop. They’re going to understand that’s how I live my life and they’re going to have to live it the same way. We’re going to have to be great. There’s no other choice.”
Choice will also be the recruiting coordinator for the offense. Choice, who grew up in East Point and College Park and graduated from Lovejoy High in Clayton County, knows his way around the area. (Choice’s extended family remains in metro Atlanta. He said that being back home and not having to leave family to go back to North Texas was a big moment for him.)
Choice said he was actually in Atlanta recruiting on the day Johnson’s decision to step down became public. On Friday, when NCAA rules permit coaches to go on the road to recruit, Choice said that he and the staff will be traveling “100 miles per hour.”
“Get in these schools, make sure they understand our brand and what we represent from the head man on down to the last person in our athletic facility,” Choice said. “They’re going to understand what Georgia Tech has to offer, but more importantly, what we’re going to bring is about to be fun. It’s about to be fun.”
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