Well, that didn't last long.
Shades of the short-lived Kliff Kingsbury Era, USC has lost new running backs coach Tashard Choice to Texas about a week after he was initially hired by the Trojans after spending the last three years at Georgia Tech.
Choice had arrived at USC last Saturday to help recruit four-star running back Jovantae Barnes on his official visit.
Rumors started circulating Saturday morning as Choice removed all mentions to USC from his social media accounts, and Texas officially announced his hiring Saturday evening.
USC had never officially announced his hiring, but he had reflected the title of Trojans RBs coach on his social media account and there was no doubt once he joined the recruiting efforts last weekend.
It remains unclear what prompted the move to Texas.
Choice played for the Dallas Cowboys during his NFL career, but he is from Georgia originally and was a star at Georgia Tech, which explained his time there on the coaching staff.
Regardless, USC again has one position to fill on Lincoln Riley's coaching staff.
The school has not formally announced any hirings aside from defensive coordinator Alex Grinch and outside receivers coach Dennis Simmons, who flew with Riley to Los Angeles for his introductory press conference a few weeks ago. But the other coaches have been recruiting for the Trojans as well.
Here's how the staff looks at this point:
Defense
Alex Grinch (from Oklahoma) -- defensive coordinator/safeties
Jamar Cain (Oklahoma) -- presumably defensive line
Roy Manning (Oklahoma) -- was cornerbacks coach at OU, but has also coached outside linebackers
Brian Odom (Oklahoma) -- inside linebackers
Donte Williams (USC) -- role will depend on how he and Manning are slotted but potentially cornerbacks
Offense
Brandon Jones (Houston) -- offensive line
Dave Nichol (Mississippi State) -- inside receivers
Dennis Simmons (Oklahoma) -- outside receivers
Zach Hanson (Tulsa) -- tight ends
TBD -- running backs
**It's not clear yet who will coach special teams; Riley is his own play-caller.
The reports of Jones' hiring came out Friday, with The Athletic's Bruce Feldman first to report the news. It looked then that Riley's staff was complete, but he referenced in his recruiting press conference later that afternoon that he was looking forward to finalizing the staff so that it could be announced.
"That's a process that's gone very well. A lot of pieces that we're extremely excited about. It is also still ongoing and our plan is that once we wrap up the coaching staff, which we're getting pretty close on, then we'll make an announcement as far as roles, responsibilities, and do the entire group as a whole," Riley said Friday. "I can't say enough about the people that we've added up to this point, the job they've done and you can already see some of the cohesion within the staff. A lot of great energy, people that are excited to be here, to be a part of what's going to happen here at USC."
