Front runners for Texas running back coaching vacancy emerge with Tashard Choice heading to the Detroit Lions

Losing Tashard Choice to the NFL was a tough blow for the Texas Longhorns. In just three seasons with the program, Choice had become one of the rising stars in all of college football, helping to develop the likes of Bijan Robinson, Jonathan Brooks, Tre Wisner, and Jaydon Blue.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian now has the tough task of replacing Choice as he heads to the Detroit Lions. While it may be difficult, there are several impressive candidates to know early on. On3 transfer portal reporter Pete Nakos dropped some intel on the early names he has been hearing.

The first is current Nebraska running back coach E.J. Barthel. Here is what Nakos had to say about Coach Barthel.

E.J. Barthel previously coached under Matt Rhule with the Carolina Panthers and at Temple and is now with the Cornhuskers. A running back at Rutgers for three seasons from 2003 to 2005, before transferring to UMass, he’s made stops at UConn, William & Mary and Howard as a running backs coach. He was the recruiting coordinator for Penn State in 2017. This last season at Nebraska, Dante Dowdell rushed for 614 yards and Emmett Johnson added 598 yards. He was Texas offensive coordinator Kyle Flood’s player development and recruiting coordinator at Rutgers from 2013 to 2014.

Before his time with the Longhorns, Choice spent some time at his alma mater Georgia Tech. Nakos suggested that Texas could once again go back to the Yellowjackets for a different candidate.

Norvell McKenzie serves as the running back coach with Georgia Tech currently. Nakos provided background on the talented coach.

An Atlanta native, Norval McKenziewould bring a recruiting presence in the state of Georgia that Choice brought to the Texas staff. McKenzie was a running back at Vanderbilt from 2001 to 2004 and recently made stops as a coach at Louisville and Vanderbilt. He accepted the Georgia Tech job in 2023 and helped offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner build a power-rushing attack. In the last two seasons in the ACC, the Yellow Jackets have ranked No. 1 (2023 – 2649) and No. 2 (2024 – 2431) in rushing yards in the conference. He also developed Jamal Haynes into an all-conference back for Georgia Tech.

The final name mentioned was current Baylor running backs coach Khenon Hall. He is a name not many have mentioned much yet, but did some fantastic things in his lone season with the Bears. 

A popular name at Texas since Choice headed to the NFL last week, sources tell On3 that Khenon Hall’s name has cooled off. The former SMU running backs coach took the Baylor job ahead of the 2024 season. Hall developed freshman Bryson Washington, who broke the school record for freshman rushing yards, rushing for 1,028 yards on 175 carries and 12 touchdowns despite missing the first two games of the season.