Ohio State saw a nightmare scenario happen on Wednesday when their running backs coach, Tony Alford, left the program to join their biggest rival, Michigan.
The Buckeyes now need a running backs coach, and Cooper Petagna from 247sports.com stated Ohio State should go after Texas’s running back coach, Tashard Choice.
Possible replacements for Tony Alford at Ohio State? Not sure he’s picking up but I’m ringing Tashard Choice. pic.twitter.com/eYkQOdymaN
— Cooper Petagna (@cpetagna247) March 13, 2024
Choice , a former running back himself, played college football at Oklahoma and Georgia Tech before having a six-year NFL career where he played for the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, Buffalo Bills, and Indianapolis Colts.
Choice was the running backs coach from 2019-2021 at Georgia Tech, where he coached one of the best running backs in college football, Jahmyr Gibbs, before transferring to Alabama for the 2022 season.
Choice left to be the Texas running back coach in 2022 and spent time coaching Bijan Robinson, a first-round pick by the Atlanta Falcons last April, and Johnathon Brooks this past season, who will be one of the top running backs drafted this April.
The Buckeyes have a room full of talented running backs in TreVeyon Henderson, Quinshon Judkins, and Dallan Hayden, and Choice would be a great fit to coach the three-headed monster.
Ohio State is one of the top college football schools in the country, and so is Texas, so it will probably take a lot of work to get Choice to come to Columbus since Choice wouldn’t be taking a step up. It’s more of a lateral move.
The Buckeyes did see Tony Alford make a lateral move from Ohio State to Michigan, so it’s possible, but if Ohio State can’t land Choice, a handful of names will want the job.
It stinks that Ohio State lost one of its best coaches to its rival, but now Ohio State can use this to fuel its fire this season and ensure Alford knows he made the wrong decision.
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