“Or we can throw it. I’m still not sure what you’re asking me. Next question.” Now when your HC has such a sharp response to a simple question on why the Longhonrs fail to close games on their running corp strength, it makes you wonder: Does Steve Sarkisian really know how to make the Horns running game fire on all cylinders? Well, there is a simple answer: If Sark can’t, Choice can. Now how often, in college football, do you come across a young coach with NFL experience? This made Tashard Choice an interesting element in the Texas offense. With how injury-prone the RB room was all season, Choice still managed to bring some solid results to the table – if there is anyone who can take the credit for making Quintrevion Wisner a 1,300 all-purpose yard bomb, it’s Choice.

So it was pretty much a left-field surprise when the news of Choice leaving the Horns staff dropped. All hands on deck – What is Sark going to do now? “We’ll start with a name that most of you know, Ra’Shaad Samples, who is the current running backs coach at Oregon.” Brad Kellner brings up an exciting proposition on his YT channel. Now, if you’ve heard of Ra’Shaad Samples, you already know how good his resume is: Helped SMU to land multiple star prospects, helped make Ulysses Bentley a Freshman All-American and then there is the Oregon job. He knows what he is doing and that alone makes him worth the chase.

But now you will ask: “Why doesn’t Sark push for him?”. Here is the problem, as Kellner mentioned, “He’s going to be hard to land. Oregon has money.” If you think that Dan Lanning is letting go of a guy who made Kyren Williams a pro bowler and has had experience working with the best at SMU, Arizona State and Ducks, so easily, then you are dead wrong. Samples’ contract details with UO showed a big paycheck of $500,000 through January 2025.

Now the 2-year contract is going to go up in value with the RB coaching making upwards of $650,000 in 2026. This paired with the additional $45,000 signing bonus makes the debate of “let’s leave UO for Texas” quite bleak. However, this also doesn’t mean Sarkisian doesn’t have any chance of securing Samples.

Texas shed $700,000 in total on Choice for the 2024 season run so that gives us a proper idea of how deep Texas’ pockets are. But this tug of war between Choice leaving and UO throwing dime after dime to keep Samples in, puts Sarkisian and the Horns in uncharted waters. Will the steer sink or swim? Or will Sark see an unexpected recruit fill the RB coach position?

An unexpected natty coach for the Horns?

What makes watching OSU manhandle teams so much fun? The running game. In their quest for the national champion title and to wash away the Michigan hurt, Ryan Day and his staff created a monster in their lab. The Bucks were running wild and free in the gridiron and the dominant run game from Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson changed the whole outlook of the program.

But the question is: Who made Judkins and Henderson so gosh darn good? Carlos Locklyn. Now this shouldn’t come as a surprise: the moment you become the natty winners, other programs will come and try to steal away your gems. James Franklin did it with the Jim Knowles hiring and how Sarkisian has the chance of pulling the funniest joke in the book.

Sark’s Javian Osborne and Landen Williams-Callis (2 massive prospects for 2026 and 2027) already have a solid relationship with Carlos. Plus, Texas can easily match the base $650,000 package Carlos has. So, could we see another chip fall from the Buckeyes monument?

Only time will tell.