Ryan Day Hires Carlos Locklyn as Ohio State’s Running Backs Coach

Photo via TNS/Sean Meagher

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State head coach Ryan Day has hired Carlos Locklyn, who has spent the last two seasons at the University of Oregon, to be the Buckeyes’ new running backs coach.

In addition to his stint at Oregon, Carlos Locklyn also coached collegiately at Western Kentucky, Florida State and Memphis. A native of Montgomery, Ala., he began his coaching career as the offensive coordinator at four Memphis-area high schools.

Under Locklyn’s guidance, Oregon has had one of the premier rushing attacks in college football the last two seasons. In 2022 and 2023, the Ducks were ranked in the top 30 nationally in rushing yards per game, finishing as high as No. 12 in 2022 (215.7 yards/game). Individually, Locklyn developed Bucky Irving into an All-Pac 12 running back who had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons under his guidance and is projected to be selected in this month’s NFL Draft.

Locklyn came to Oregon after one year of coaching running backs at Western Kentucky, where he was part of a historic offense that paved the way for the Hilltoppers to reach the Conference USA championship game. Western Kentucky ranked second in the FBS in scoring offense (44.2 points/game) and was second nationally in total offense (536.2 yards/game). Locklyn coached multifaceted running backs for the Toppers’ Air Raid offense, led by Noah Wittington, who rushed for 617 yards, and Adam Cofield, who rushed for 373 yards and totaled 176 receiving yards.

Prior to taking his first on-field college coaching role, Locklyn served as the director of high school relations at Florida State in 2020. He helped the Seminoles recruit the No. 20 class in the nation according to Rivals and the No. 22 class in the country by 247Sports. From 2017-19, he worked in a variety of roles at Memphis, including weight room assistant, offensive analyst and director of high school relations.

Locklyn’s eight-year high school coaching career as an offensive coordinator began in 2009 at Trezevant High School and continued at stops that included Westwood High School, Manassas High School and Cordova High School, all of which are in the Memphis, Tennessee area.

A four-year letterman at Chattanooga, Locklyn rushed for 1,555 career yards and still holds Chattanooga’s single-season record of 123.9 yards rushing per game. As a junior, he played cornerback and tied for the team lead in interceptions.

Locklyn graduated from Chattanooga with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. He and his wife, Victoria, have twins; son Donovan and daughter Dorian.

 Ohio State Official Press Release