Ohio State is hiring Oregon running backs coach Carlos Locklyn to the same position the Buckeyes on a two-year deal.
Locklyn recently completed his second season at Oregon under head coach Dan Lanning, helping the Ducks to a top-30 rushing offense in each of the last two years. He replaces former running backs coach Tony Alford, who left for Michigan in March.
Locklyn, a former running back at Chattanooga, also spent time as a running backs coach at Western Kentucky in 2021, and held roles at Florida State (2020) and Memphis (2017-19) after several years coaching at the high school level.
With the Ducks, Locklyn coached Bucky Irving, who entered his name into the NFL Draft after back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, icnlduing 1,180 yards and 11 touchdowns this past season for Oregon.
During the course of the search, Ohio State had also reportedly reached out to Alabama’s Robert Gillespie, Oklahoma’s DeMarco Murray and Temple head coach Stan Drayton – a former assistant coach with the Buckeyes – before deciding on Locklyn. And while it took nearly a month to arrive at the decision, head coach Ryan Day said Ohio State would be deliberate with the search.
“I think it has the potential to be the best offensive staff in the country, and that’s what our goal should be,” he said. “We’re at Ohio State. We want to have the best offensive line room, the best running backs room, the best (defensive backs) room. We also want to have the best staff. I think if we make the right hire here, we can do that.”
Locklyn will have no shortage of talent to coach up at Ohio State, with running backs TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins expected to split carries and Dallan Hayden, James Peoples and Sam Williams-Dixon also on scholarship at the position.
