Ryan Day “Extremely Excited” About New Running Backs Coach Carlos Locklyn

Ohio State hired its new running backs coach in Carlos Locklyn and head coach Ryan Day spoke about the hiring for the first time on 97.1 The Fan on “Morning Juice.”

“First off, we wanted to find someone who really wanted to be at Ohio State at a high level. Carlos does that. He checks that box,” Day said. “He brings a lot of energy to the table. The great news is, during the recruiting process, our guys knew who he was so there’s already a little bit of a relationship there.”

Day said they interviewed more than seven people for the position and has 10-12 identified as coaches who “fit the profile” they were looking for, but ultimately the process narrowed the search down to Locklyn.

Locklyn spent two seasons with Oregon as the running backs coach, leading a top-30 rushing offense under head coach Dan Lanning after one season in the same position at Western Kentucky in 2021. Before then he was a weight room assistant, an offensive analyst, and a director of high school relations at Memphis, working his way up through the ranks quickly after coaching at the high school level for years.

“I love that about him,” Day said. “Some of us in this profession came up not in a football family. They grew up and kind of had to figure it out on their own and he’s one of those people. When you really listen to how he came up in this thing, he’s very appreciative of all of the opportunities that he’s got, but he’s earned them all and he’s deserved them all. He really earned and deserved this opportunity.”

The Ducks running back Bucky Irving had two straight 1,000-yard seasons and entered his name into the 2024 NFL draft after rushing for 1,180 yards and 11 touchdowns last season.

Now Locklyn is coming to Columbus where he will get to work with TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins with Dallan Hayden, James Peoples and Sam Williams-Dixon also on scholarship at the position.

“We’re extremely excited for the room,” Day said. “I think he’s going to have a great impact on our team, a great impact on recruiting. I think he’s going to be a tremendous coach.