TCU football assistant heads to L.A. Rams as Frogs look within for his replacement
TCU football is back in the market for an assistant coach.
Ra’Shaad Samples is joining the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams staff as the running backs coach. The departure is a blow to first-year coach Sonny Dykes as the 27-year-old Samples is regarded as one of the top recruiters and a rising star in the industry. Samples, the son of longtime Dallas area high school football coach Reginald Samples, followed Dykes from SMU to TCU and had four titles (assistant head coach, run game coordinator, recruiting coordinator and running backs coach).
Dykes also saw defensive line coach Chidera Uzo-Diribe bolt for the reigning national champion Georgia Bulldogs this offseason.
TCU would like to keep its top assistants, of course, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing when the reigning Super Bowl champions and CFP champions target your program.
“It’s the hard part of the business,” TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati said. “You obviously want to retain your top assistants, and you do everything possible in that regard, but sometimes there are great opportunities that come along for them, in the best interests of their career, where you have to wish them the best and quickly turn the page.”
The good news for TCU is that it may not have to look far for Samples’ replacement. Offensive analyst and recruiting coordinator Bryan Carrington appears ready to become a position coach at this level.
Carrington is an elite-level recruiter with running back coaching experience. He served as a running back quality control analyst at USC last season, helping mentor Keaontay Ingram. Ingram led the Trojans with 911 yards rushing and earned All-Pac 12 honors. Carrington also was a driving force in USC landing former TCU running back Darwin Barlow.
Barlow posted on Twitter about Carrington being a candidate to become TCU’s next running back coach, writing: “One of the best, no better person for the opportunity.”
Last offseason, Carrington spent time with the Rams as a coaching fellow and learned under then-running back coach Thomas Brown. Brown is being elevated on the Rams’ staff, which is why there’s an opening for Samples. Carrington has also spent time working alongside running back coaches including Mike Jinks (USC), Stan Drayton (Texas) and Kenneth Pope (Houston).
While working at Texas in 2020, Carrington helped the Longhorns land running back Bijan Robinson. Robinson is among 11 five-star recruits that Carrington has helped sign at his previous stops since 2016.
At TCU, Carrington played a role in bringing in transfer running backs Emani Bailey (Louisiana) and Trelon Smith (Arkansas). He’s also built relationships with top 2022 recruits including four-star wide receivers Jordan Hudson and DJ Allen and safety Chace Biddle.
As far as Samples, sources said, he had turned down overtures from other college programs including Alabama and Texas to stay with TCU this offseason. But then the Rams came calling and the appeal of joining the Super Bowl champions and coaching in the NFL was an opportunity he wasn’t going to pass up.
TCU will start spring practices on March 22 with the spring game set for Friday, April 22, at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
This story was originally published March 4, 2022 at 10:25 AM.
