By Blessing 
New Lions RB Coach Tashard Choice Has Big Plans—and High Expectations—for Jahmyr Gibbs
When the Chicago Bears named Ben Johnson their new head coach, it sparked a ripple effect across the NFC North—one that ultimately brought running back Jahmyr Gibbs back under the guidance of a familiar face.
Johnson, who had been orchestrating Detroit’s offense as coordinator for the past three seasons, took off to lead the Bears and brought Lions wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El along with him. Randle El is now doubling up as both the receivers coach and assistant head coach in Chicago.
That move triggered a shuffle in Detroit. Assistant head coach Scottie Montgomery, who’d been handling the running backs, transitioned over to lead the receivers group. To fill the vacancy in the running backs room, the Lions tapped into college football and hired Texas running backs coach Tashard Choice—a coach who knows Gibbs well.
Choice was on the Georgia Tech staff during Gibbs’ first two collegiate seasons in 2020 and 2021. Now reunited in Detroit, Choice didn’t mince words about what Gibbs can expect from him.
“For him, the sky’s the limit,” Choice said. “But I’m going to push him. I’m going to push him like no other. I have to.”
Their journey diverged after 2021. Choice joined the University of Texas, while Gibbs transferred to Alabama. In his lone season with the Crimson Tide, Gibbs tallied 926 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 151 carries. He also caught 44 passes for 444 yards and three more scores—stats that helped him climb draft boards and eventually land with the Lions as the No. 12 overall pick in 2023.
The move to the pros has paid off. Gibbs has already earned Pro Bowl honors in each of his first two seasons. His NFL résumé is quickly stacking up: 2,357 rushing yards, 26 touchdowns on 432 carries, and 104 receptions for 833 yards with five receiving touchdowns. In fact, only one other player in league history—Hall of Famer Edgerrin James—has matched that kind of dual-threat production in their first two years.
Choice, who’s coached many running backs at both the college and pro levels, is still in awe of Gibbs’ natural football IQ.
“To see him progress, to see how smart he is – he’s one of the smartest running backs I’ve ever coached,” he said. “He’s a natural football player. You tell him something, he understands it; he gets it right now. You don’t have to coach him over and over again on football stuff. It’s easy to him.”
That familiarity is part of why Choice plans to be even tougher on Gibbs this time around.
“So having the opportunity to get around him now coaching, I’m going to be harder on him even more,” Choice added. “I tell him all day, like, Zero, he can’t do anything right on the field, but Jahmyr Gibbs I love. Same thing with David Montgomery. When they’re on the football field, they’re the player, not the person. I’m coaching them to get better.”
Gibbs isn’t the only standout in Detroit’s backfield. He shares the workload with David Montgomery, who in the last two seasons has racked up 1,790 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns on 404 carries, along with 52 catches for 458 yards. Together, they’ve formed an unprecedented tandem: the only running back duo in NFL history to each score at least 10 rushing touchdowns in back-to-back seasons.
Even early on, Choice says Gibbs’ talent was undeniable. He recalls seeing him play live for the first time and being blown away.
“When I saw Jah first play in person,” Choice said, “me and my friend go up to a game and he ran the first run and my friend just did me like this in the crowd, like ‘Get out of here.’ And I kept looking at other running backs, and it’s like, ‘Nah, none of them’s better than him.’”
He continued, “When you see a running back and you know he’s a dude, it don’t take you long… Right off the top, you know it’s coming.”
Some schools had been eyeing Gibbs as a defensive back, but Choice was relieved Georgia Tech didn’t have to compete with those programs. He already saw what made Gibbs special—elite vision, effortless movement, and a love for the game.
“We put him on punt team; he could be a gunner,” Choice recalled. “He was a really, really good athlete, and he just loved football.”
For now, the countdown begins for Detroit’s OTA period, which starts May 28. That’s when the real work begins—and Gibbs, under Choice’s tough but passionate coaching, will be expected to rise even higher.