DETROIT -- A distinct Southern drawl is often heard echoing across the Lions' Meijer Performance Center.
Even on a rare night session in early August, there's hardly ever a dull moment when Tashard Choice, Detroit's new running backs coach, is on the practice field.
From the individual portion of practice to one-on-ones and team drills, Choice is fired up -- full of praise and criticism for his unit, on each possession.
While some players might still be adjusting to his style, in his first season on the Lions' coaching staff, Pro Bowl running back Jahmyr Gibbs is all too familiar with his bubbly approach and effortless swagger. In fact, it's now normal.
"It means a lot. We've been close since I was 16 or 17. It's crazy because I'm 23 now and we just ended up together," Gibbs told ESPN. "It's really great having a familiar face. Usually when you get new coaches, it's somebody you don't know, so I didn't want to have to relearn that dude so having him, everybody loves him in the building. He just gives off energy and great vibes.
"If I'm ever slacking off, he's gonna say something. It's going to be quick, too, and he'll say it loud so everybody can hear it. He always holds me accountable and always has, but that's what you should want."
Gibbs and Choice were first connected at Georgia Tech, where Choice -- who starred as a running back from 2005 to '07 -- recruited and coached Gibbs from 2020 to '21, before the Lions running back transferred to Alabama for the 2022 season. Gibbs counts Choice as one of the greatest influences on his football career. And now that the two are reunited in Detroit, the coach has promised to pull even more out of a player who, in a breakout second season, led the league in touchdowns (20) and emerged as one of the NFL's biggest offensive threats.
"When I saw Jah, I knew he was different. For him not to reach the best that he can be, I'm cheating him. I'm cheating everybody who watches the game of football. And for me, the game of football then brought me from where I'm from," Choice said. "It helped me and my family, and how hard he worked in college, and it's helped him and his family. But for him, that ain't good enough for us.
"I promise you all he cares about is winning. That's why he left Georgia Tech. He cares about winning," Choice said. "In the meantime, I'm letting him know, 'You hold an obligation for every kid, all your cousins, your family, to be the best.' And that's what he's going for. Like, I don't know what the end going to be, but I do know if he stays healthy and stays who he is and don't change as far as his mindset on the game of football, dog, he can do whatever he wants to."
FANS OF DALTON High School in northwest Georgia were witnessing history in August 2019. In the midst of a 62-10 Catamounts win, Gibbs, the star running back, was on the verge of breaking the school's single-game touchdown record.
And it was only the third quarter.
"You have seven [touchdowns], eight is the record ... what do you want to do?" running backs coach Adam Martinez asked Gibbs.
"I'm gonna get eight then I'm gonna shut it down," Gibbs responded.
Gibbs indeed scored his eighth TD to cap a 420-yard day -- an area record -- and then, true to his unassuming nature, quietly stayed on the sideline for the rest of the game.
"You would think a guy like that would be celebrating," Martinez said. "Nope, just humbly quiet, sitting on the sideline, shakes your hand, tells you he loves you and goes back to work."
In Detroit, Gibbs has remained similarly low-key and unassuming -- a direct contrast to the eye-catching speed and electrifying play style that has drawn comparisons to Pro Football Hall of Famer and former Lions great Barry Sanders.
On a 70-yard touchdown against the Tennessee Titans in Week 8 last season, Gibbs reached a max speed of 22.03 mph -- the fastest top speed that any Lions player had reached as a ball carrier since 2016, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Over the past two seasons, Gibbs has 148 offensive touches in which he reached a max speed of 15-plus mph, which is second most in the NFL behind Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson (176) -- another Choice devotee from their time together at Texas, and who will be across the sideline when Detroit visits Atlanta for their preseason game on Friday (7 p.m. ET).
Due to Gibbs' comfort of keeping to himself, connecting with him on a personal level, especially as a teenager, wasn't easy for most college coaches throughout the recruitment process.
Gibbs, a late riser who eventually became the No. 2-ranked running back in the country, said Choice set himself apart by recruiting him early in the process and identifying him as strictly a running back -- not a cornerback like other schools were doing at the time, due to his small stature (5-foot-9).
Additionally, Gibbs said Choice drew from personal experiences as a former NFL player and college star to build a bond. It also helped that, while a player at Georgia Tech, Choice played alongside a similarly humble superstar in eventual Hall of Famer and Lions great Calvin Johnson.
"He lived it. He started for the Dallas Cowboys and was an All-ACC running back," former Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins told ESPN about Choice. "He's from the south side of Atlanta, and he wears that with pride. He's genuine. He is real. He connects with people from a genuine, emotional level and people know that they can trust him.
"That's something in life that once you have, there's very few people in this world that you can genuinely trust that their word is what they say it is, and Tashard is one of those people and he's really good at what he does."
Choice also emphasizes his spiritual connection with players, which has drawn him closer to Gibbs and the rest of the Lions running backs room, including David Montgomery, Craig Reynolds and Sione Vaki.
Being willing to display that vulnerability, along with his teaching, has helped him stay bonded with his former players.
"The impact Coach Choice had on me, it wasn't just personal, it was a godly impact. I had him for one year, my junior year of college, and it was the best one year I had with a position coach just because he was a big brother to me," said Robinson, who was a consensus All-American and won the Doak Walker Award in his lone season with Choice at Texas. "And he was a father figure for me. He just set the example for me, in so many different ways.
"He just changed my perspective on football. He changed my perspective in life. And for somebody to love somebody so strong without even knowing them yet, I just realized that's what Coach Choice brought to me and for him, from day one, to take me under his wing and make me a guy that he can trust and that I can trust, it was an immediate just love bond from two godly men immediately."
LIONS HEAD COACH Dan Campbell introduced his staff for the 2025 season in February. After hitting a record-setting 15-win mark in 2024, Detroit lost eight assistant coaches this offseason, including coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn.
Campbell began targeting Choice as early as 2022 as a potential addition to his staff.
"There was a chance I thought I was going to lose [former Lions running backs coach [Duce [Staley] after the second year and so he's somebody that was on my radar, but it's just that the timing wasn't right," Campbell said. "And then you kind of keep tabs on him, you watch him, everywhere he's been -- certainly he's been at Texas now -- you look at the backs that come out of there and what they're doing and the way they're coached.
"He just understands how to teach, how to coach, how to motivate, and so the timing was right."
Choice is now tasked with leading a group headlined by a superstar duo in Gibbs and Montgomery -- nicknamed Sonic & Knuckles -- who have become one of the most successful RB tandems in recent NFL history.
Gibbs and Montgomery have each recorded at least 1,000 scrimmage yards and 10 scrimmage touchdowns in each of the past two seasons. They are the first running back teammates in league history to each record at least 1,000 scrimmage yards and 10 scrimmage TDs in multiple seasons, consecutive or not, per ESPN Research.
Under Choice, as well as new offensive coordinator John Morton, the Lions say they aren't reinventing the wheel, but there is a chance they will attack defenses with both Gibbs and Montgomery on the field together.
They have installed some different packages, such as "Pony 21," which consists of two running backs on the field at the same time.
"It's crazy because with them being such great teammates and them both being guys that's got the 'wants' -- meaning they want the ball -- they want to be the guy in the game," Choice said. "We've got some different stuff to make sure both of them get a chance to get the football to run the football and be in there together, but the biggest thing that I try to preach to them is to make the most of your opportunities."
Paced by Gibbs and Montgomery, the Lions have a league-best 56 rushing touchdowns over the past two seasons. The only other teams with more than 50 rushing touchdowns in that span are the Buffalo Bills (54) and Philadelphia Eagles (51), and Detroit isn't expecting that production to drop off.
"[Former running backs coach] Scottie [Montgomery] did a great job of bringing everything out of us," Montgomery said. "But I think with Coach Choice playing running back and being a running back, and with that being his main job, he's able to show us different things or to evolve us to another level at the running back position that we hadn't seen yet."
For Gibbs, it isn't surprising that they've reached this level together as he tries to help push them toward his desired standard -- greatness -- and the franchise's first Super Bowl title.
"Having those kinds of roots and those kinds of relationships, that's very unique honestly," Sanders said. "So, for them to be able to do that, I know it's special for them and it's a combination that's worked before.
"If you look at what Jahmyr has been able to do and then seeing Coach Choice being able to get hired on, we're looking for even greater things in the future. We're looking for greater things."