Lions' Tashard Choice on working with best friend Kelvin Sheppard: 'I may fight him'

(Photo courtesy the Detroit Lions)

Allen Park — Even during some of the Detroit Lions’ early offseason practices, the energy is elevated, the sideline noisier. But it’s not the players who are the driving force behind the ramped-up intensity. No, it’s Detroit’s revamped coaching staff.

At its heart is a newcomer to the staff and two coaches in new roles. Without question, receivers coach Scottie Montgomery's voice is more recognizable this offseason than it has been the past two years, when he helmed the running back room. Maybe it’s a reflection of the personalities he’s now leading, but Montgomery’s increased chirping is unmistakable.

Then there’s Tashard Choice, the team’s first-year running backs coach, who you could hear over everyone at the first practice open to the media this offseason repeatedly barking, “Barbeque chicken! Barbeque chicken!"

The taunt originated with NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, who used the phrase to encapsulate his physical dominance. On a podcast, O’Neal explained how he’d use the delicious summertime dish to describe when he was being defended by someone who couldn’t check him, so he’d devour them like barbeque chicken.

In those moments, Choice is amping his guys up, but he’s also needling Kelvin Sheppard, Detroit’s recently promoted defensive coordinator. The longtime friends are reveling in the opportunity to work together and compete against one another, just as they used to on the practice fields in Buffalo and Indianapolis more than a decade ago.

“That's my buddy,” Choice said. “It is funny, man. I tell y’all this, man, y’all don't understand how close we really are. And it is so cool because I talk to Shep every day — even when I was at Texas, at Georgia Tech — I talked to him every single day.”

As players, Choice arrived and finished his NFL career before Sheppard. Choice entered the league as a fourth-round draft pick for Dallas in 2008 and was done by 2014, having played for four teams in six seasons. Sheppard, who was drafted by the Bills in 2011, played for six teams in eight seasons, logging his last snaps with the Lions in 2018.

While Sheppard was still lacing them up, Choice had already transitioned to coaching. He originally tried his hand at media broadcasting before former Lions quarterback Jon Kitna reached out to see if Choice had an interest in helping out with the high school team Kitna was coaching.

At the first practice, Choice shared a strategy with the kids that he utilized as a professional — picking one thing to focus on during each practice. When he returned to help out again a week later, one of the kids sought him out to share how the advice resonated. Several years later, that player, Jalen Reagor, would be selected in the first round of the NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Choice was hooked. He interned with the Cowboys in 2016, then transitioned to the college ranks, where he had stops at North Texas, Georgia Tech, and Texas before the Lions came calling. At his previous stops, he worked directly with two of the best running backs college football has produced in the past five years, Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs. Choice will have the opportunity to work with the latter again in Detroit, and he's looking forward to pushing the young superstar to an even higher level.

“Having an opportunity to get around him now, coaching, I'm going to be harder on him even more,” Choice said.

Texas was a good gig, but when Detroit checked in this offseason, it was an easy call to take. Choice had watched how Dan Campbell had hand-selected Sheppard for an opportunity four years earlier, invested in his development and promoted him twice, most recently to defensive coordinator.

“From afar, you love to see that,” Choice said. “That's one of the things that drew me in here because I saw one of my closest friends go from ground zero to see where he's at right now. It's the coolest thing alive, man. I'm excited for him because I know how he's built, and I know what he wants to prove for himself. You know what I mean? I know how good he relates to the players and the coaches. Everybody loves Shep Dog.”

Now, instead of supporting each other from a distance, Sheppard and Choice can work side by side in pursuit of a shared goal. And they’ll eagerly push each other to achieve it.

“I may fight him,” Choice said when asked what the dynamics might look like during training camp. “It's funny. When you're in them lines, I hate him as a player on the team, but I love him at the same time. You know what I mean?

“You'll see, that's how we are,” Choice said. “That's the pushing part. Because we know when they're going against him, they're going to need that. My players are going to want to feed off of me. I'm going to feed off of them, and he's the same way.”

Sheppard will be ready and waiting for Choice to bring it.

“Oh, it's gonna be great,” Sheppard said. “Not only with him, Scottie, the whole gang. I know they’re gonna be waiting on me. I’m gonna be waiting on them. But that's what drives this place, is that right there. And that's why he has fit in so well. It's like he's been here all along,

“…Scottie told me the other day, ‘This dude is out of his mind,’” Sheppard said. “I'm telling you, I don't think he's ever had a bad day. And if he has, he's never let that show when he walks into a building or when he walks into a locker room. He's always going to be the energetic guy, the motivating guy. But I tell everybody, he's a better human being than he is a football player or a coach, and that's why the players gravitate to him. That's why the teammates gravitate to him.”