Longhorns Country

Report: Former Texas Longhorns Assistant Interviewing With Dallas Cowboys

The coaching connection between the Texas Longhorns and Dallas Cowboys remains alive and well.

Isa Almeida

Arizona State Sun Devils WR coach/passing game coordinator Ra'Shaad Samples instructs his players during spring football practice at the Kajikawa practice fields in Tempe on March 16, 2023. Ncaa Football Asu Spring Football Practice
Arizona State Sun Devils WR coach/passing game coordinator Ra'Shaad Samples instructs his players during spring football practice at the Kajikawa practice fields in Tempe on March 16, 2023. Ncaa Football Asu Spring Football Practice / Cheryl Evans/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK
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A former Texas Longhorns assistant coach is receiving interest from the Dallas Cowboys, who recently interview UT running backs coach Tashard Choice for a potential role on head coach Brian Schottenheimer's staff.

Per reports from Nick Harris of the Fort Worth-Star Telegram, the Cowboys are set to interview Oregon Ducks running backs coach Ra'Shaad Samples for the same role. He previously served as an assistant wide receivers coach at Texas under Tom Herman in 2018 before moving on to SMU.

Samples, a Dallas native who played collegiate football for Oklahoma State and Houston, took his first then-Power 5 coaching job on Forty Acres. Samples started as a player in Stillwater, but after a transfer to Houston and multiple concussions, took on a student assistant role for the Cougars.

Ra'Shaad Samples
Oregon running backs coach Ra'Shaad Samples works with the team during the Ducks’ fall camp Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex in Eugene, Ore. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

Samples stayed in the Lone Star State. After his time at Houston was done, he moved to Austin to work as an assistant wide receiver coach alongside Corby Meekins and Drew Mehringer, as well as an on-campus recruiting coordinator.

Samples currently works as an assistant head coach and running backs coordinator at Oregon, where Mehringer serves as the wide receivers coordinator. He spent three years at SMU, one at Arizona State and one familiarizing himself with the NFL in 2022, with the Los Angeles Rams, before taking the job in Eugene.

"Coach Samples is one of the brightest young coaches in all of football, and it is easy to see why he has had such a rapid rise through the coaching ranks," Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said when hiring Samples. "He is a dynamic personality who will bring out the very best in our student-athletes both on and off the field, and he will recruit relentlessly to bring the best young men we can find to our program. I am excited to see the impact Ra'Shaad has on our players' development as we continue to build upon the storied history of running backs here at Oregon."

Oregon ended the regular season undefeated, claiming its first Big 10 title in the team's maiden year in the conference.

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Isa Almeida
ISA ALMEIDA

Isa Almeida is a writer covering the Texas Longhorns for SI/Fan Nation, having joined the team on June 1, 2024. Raised in Southeast Brazil, Isa is now a third-year Journalism student at the University of Texas at Austin. Fluent in both English and Portuguese, Isa brings a diverse background and a wealth of knowledge to her writing. In addition to her work with SI/Fan Nation, Isa also covers the soccer and women's basketball beats for The Daily Texan. Her journalism journey is firmly rooted in her academic pursuits and her passion for sports.

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