When Carlos Locklyn was hired at Oregon he said, "As long as you've got true passion, strong faith, a will to serve others and work hard, you can do anything you want in life."
Locklyn has all of these, something he's proved in every step of his football journey. Six years ago he was an unpaid intern working in the weight room at the University of Memphis. Today he's running backs coach at Oregon, where in March Dan Lanning and the Athletic Department raised his salary to 300k a year.
Make yourself indispensable. When Carlos Locklyn was a junior running back at the University of Chattanooga in 1998, the team ran short of cornerbacks, so he moved to defense. That season he tied for the team lead in interceptions with four. Four games into his senior year the team suffered a run of injuries at running back, so Carlos moved back to offense. In 7 games he ran for 867 yards, a school record 123.9 yards per game. His 6.5 yards-per-carry average ranks fifth on the program’s all-time list.
Keep showing up. Locklyn graduated from UC with a degree in Criminal Justice. He had an NFL tryout with the New York Giants but got cut after an injury. He spent a couple of years in the Arena League, then decided to go into coaching. After some success working at Memphis-area high schools he decided he wanted to break into college coaching, where his knowledge of the game could develop into a career and a full-time job.
Supporting his family by working nights at a correctional facility, he talked his way into a spot as an unpaid assistant in the weight room at Memphis, working for Mike Norvell. Dan Lanning was on the same staff.
Former Tiger strength and conditioning coach Josh Storms told John Brice of Football Scoop, “He’s volunteering, interning for us in the weight room. So he’s working law enforcement at night, then coming in in his (tactical) vest, full kit in the mornings, changing in the bathroom, showering in the facility, changing back into his kit and vest to go back to work. He was grinding to do it the hard way – and balancing life with a wife and twins at home.”
Locklyn earned a promotion to High School Recruiting Coordinator, then followed Norvell to Florida State in the same job, then got hired as the running backs coach at Western Kentucky.
Football is a relationship business. Locklyn said to Brice, “Football is just secondary to me, the relationship part of relating to people and the kids is what I live for."
When he got the job at Oregon, Coach Lanning put together a Zoom call of running backs Locklyn had mentored at his previous stops. All five had made it to the NFL.
A little #ThrowbackThursday of when I called a GAMECHANGER and offered him a job… with some guys he knew. 😉 @Locklyn33 pic.twitter.com/ba8D23VClq
— Dan Lanning (@CoachDanLanning) February 17, 2022
Along with his inexhaustible knowledge of technique and fundamentals, it's the authentic conviction that makes Locklyn so good at his job. It also makes him the most interesting interview in the football building.
Friday is a big day at Oregon fall camp.
— Brenna Greene (@BrennaGreene_) August 11, 2023
The best quote on the whole team will be talking to the media.
Nope, it's not Dan Lanning.
Nope, it's not a player.
It's running backs coach Carlos Locklyn. pic.twitter.com/KaKNRhOwOg
Oregon RB coach Carlos Locklyn has some THOUGHTS today on the state of the position:
— Brenna Greene (@BrennaGreene_) August 12, 2023
"We talk about making knowledge your greatest talent... Being just as smart as a QB... The RB position is the worst coached position in football... There's some guys who are recruiters of the… pic.twitter.com/VhOMRy86lb
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