Carlos Locklyn Will Face An Immediate Test

There will be no honeymoon period for Ohio State’s new running backs coach as Carlos Locklyn comes into one of the top running back rooms in the nation but also a running back room that will look very different in 2025 and it will be a priority to help shape what the future will look like.

Next year will see the one-two punch of TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins at the front of the line but the 2024 season will be the last for both backs and then the status of the room is a great unknown.

Dallan Hayden should be in the mix, even if questions remain about his usage in the Ohio State offense. Additionally, Ohio State will have James Peoples and Sam Williams-Dixon, both in first-year action in the program in 2024.

The Buckeyes saw two committed running backs bolt late in the process, both to Miami as South Floridians Mark Fletcher and Jordan Lyle both left Ohio State’s class to sign with the Hurricanes of Miami.

That doesn’t mean that Ohio State is two running backs short in its count, but it did create a season where Ohio State did not take a scholarship back and last year the Buckeyes took only two compared to the three that they were expected to take.

Enter Locklyn, who will have a big part in shaping what the future of the room looks like.

Ohio State is among the favorites of several top backs both in-state and nationally and while Ryan Day served as the interim running backs coach, having a full-time running backs coach in place is important as more players are starting to go public with their decisions.

Start of in the state of Ohio with both Bo Jackson and Marquise Davis both heavily considering the Buckeyes. Jackson was on Ohio State’s campus this past weekend, even without a running backs coach being named.

Additionally, Ohio State has been heavily involved with Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei running back Jordon Davison, one of the nation’s top backs according to most services.

Locklyn offered Davison while at Oregon, so there should be a great level of familiarity between all parties. Davison, like Jackson, was on campus this past weekend for the Buckeyes and had a chance to spend more time with Day and the Buckeyes as the past weekend was quite successful for the Buckeyes on the recruiting front.

But what happens with Jackson and Davis? The Buckeyes are intrigued with both, as is past running backs coach Tony Alford, who is now at Michigan.

There is a belief that Ohio State could have made a huge push with Jackson this past weekend and that the wheels could be in motion as Locklyn is still unpacking his boxes at the WHAC.

Locklyn offered several backs from West of the Mississippi River, and could he implore Day and the Buckeyes that these are some of the players that they need to pursue, coupling the work that Lockyln did at Oregon along with all of the advantages that are in place at Ohio State?

Or does Locklyn work from the existing board that Ohio State has and take the limiter off in 2026 when the new coach can start with a fresh board?

Either way, it is imperative that Ohio State gets it right in this 2025 cycle due to the numbers that are staring at them in the face, or the Buckeyes may be looking closer at the Transfer Portal than anything else.

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