Carlos Locklyn has only had his position as the running backs coach at Ohio State for a little over a week, and he’s still dealing with the excitement he felt when he first got the job.
“I’m pretty excited,” Locklyn said. “This has been a journey. I’ve had to pinch myself every morning that I’ve been here in Columbus, at Ohio State. It’s kind of surreal for me. It’s a great place, great people, great young men, so I’m excited.”
He’s looking forward to bringing his mindset to Ohio State that he has carried with him everywhere he’s been in his life, whether that’s as a football coach or a police officer. He wants to not only make the players better, but also be able to build strong relationships with them.
“I get the best out of them because I love the young men,” Locklyn said. “My main focus is to change the hearts and minds of them. I just got through reading Coach (Jim) Tressel’s Winners Manual, and something I took from that book is you have your purpose and you have your goals. My purpose is to serve and pour into them. Then my goals as a football coach all will take care of themselves.”
Head coach Ryan Day has said multiple times now that he’s excited about Locklyn starting in this position, but the longer Day gets to know Locklyn, the more he believes it was a great hire.
“When you hear about Carlos’ story, it’s captivating, where he’s come from,” Day said. “Then you start to listen to his overall knowledge of the position, his aggressiveness in recruiting, the impact he’s had on people, the relationships he’s had with people. It was an absolute slam dunk hire for us.”
Locklyn recruited each of Quinshon Judkins, TreVeyon Henderson and James Peoples when they were in high school, so he already knows who they are as players and has a relationship with them. He said he’s still getting to know TC Caffey and Sam Williams-Dixon, but Day said the players who knew him were excited when they heard he would be the new running backs coach.
“There wasn’t really much in terms of having to introduce them in the room. They all knew exactly who he was,” Day said. “When they heard that he was one of the finalists, it was immediate, you could see it in their eyes that they were excited about it.”
Those types of relationships Locklyn builds with recruits and with his players are what makes him think he is going to be great at both recruiting and coaching. His mindset is that he’s going to work as hard as he can every day he works.
“Guys hire anybody to coach this position that recruits. Carlos Locklyn is not a recruiter. I’m an elite relationship builder,” Locklyn said. “But I coach this position – I’m a ball coach. That’s who I am. I’m going to pour into these kids. I think they’re seeing it now. I jumped in day one, I’m ready to coach.”
If you enjoyed this story, you will love Buckeye Sports Bulletin, the newspaper “For The Buckeye Fan Who Needs To Know More” since 1981. For five free trial issues of Buckeye Sports Bulletin with no obligation, click here. Your trial subscription will also include our big Football Preview Issue as well as free access to our website.
