Carlos Locklyn awoke to a text message last month that left him giddy.

“I was excited,” Locklyn said, “like a kid on Christmas.”

It was a message from Ryan Day, who was reaching out about an opening for a running backs coach at Ohio State.

Day’s staff had an unexpected vacancy emerge early in spring practice when Tony Alford, the longtime position coach, left for a similar role with archrival Michigan.

The situation resulted in Locklyn, the running backs coach at Oregon who has seen a meteoric rise in the coaching ranks in recent years, joining the Buckeyes.

He arrived by their 10^th spring practice last week.

“I have to pinch myself every morning that I’m here in Columbus at Ohio State,” Locklyn said. “This is kind of surreal.”

In a span of less than five years, the 46-year-old assistant went from being a member of supports staffs to the running backs coach at a blue-blood program.

Wearing a scarlet-colored quarter-zip sweater affixed with an Ohio State emblem during his news conference, he appeared undaunted by the latest step in his climb.

“My purpose is supporting the people,” Locklyn said. “Whatever logo I have on, I’m still going to be doing the same thing.”

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He inherits a talented group of running backs with the Buckeyes led by TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins.

Henderson, who held off on leaving early for the NFL to return as a senior, has led Ohio State in rushing in two out of the last three seasons, while Judkins, a decorated rusher from Mississippi, transferred in January to bolster the rushing attack.

When asked about managing a depth chart loaded with talent at the top of it, Locklyn referenced his experience at previous stops.

“I’ve seen talented backs,” he said.

Locklyn coached Bucky Irving, an All-Pac-12 running back who surpassed 1,000 rushing yards in each of the last two seasons at Oregon, and incorporated Jordan James and Noah Whittington in the rotation. James ran for 759 yards last fall, and Whittington went for 779 yards in 2022.

“They all function,” Locklyn said. “We learn to play as one. This ain't my first rodeo.”

He added that he known Henderson and Judkins for several years having recruited them out of high school.

Before he left to become the running backs coach at Western Kentucky in 2021, Locklyn was the director of high school relations at Florida State.

“I’m up for the challenge,” Locklyn said, “and the responsibility.”

The Buckeyes might not be as deep in the backfield as they were earlier this offseason with Dallan Hayden reportedly planning to enter the transfer portal next week. But the rest of the backs include freshmen James Peoples and Sam Williams-Dixon and TC Caffey, a walk-on who is also in the mix to see carries, rounding out a room Locklyn describes as “very talented.”

“We’ve got different runners in there,” Locklyn said.

Over the past week, Day has been encouraged by Locklyn’s addition to the staff.

“It was an absolute slam dunk for us,” Day said. “He’s already brought an edge and toughness and aggressiveness that is going to be excellent.”

A former running back at Chattanooga in the late 1990s, Locklyn expressed a genuine passion for coaching the position, a feeling that stems from his playing days.

“I’m only passionate about it,” he said, “because I played it. I loved it. It’s the only position I want to coach. Could I coach other positions? Yeah. I played DB (defensive back) in college too. But I love the running back position, so I want to see it coached well.”

Locklyn considers running backs to be the worst-coached position in the sport and mentioned as much in front of reporters.

“It’s terrible,” he said. “Guys hiring anybody to coach this position that recruits.”

But Locklyn made sure not to label himself as a recruiter.

“I’m an elite relationship builder,” he said, “but I coach the position, I’m a ball coach.”

Both have helped him to reach this stage mentoring backs.

“I get the best out of them,” he said, “because I love the young men.”

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch and can be reached at jkaufman@dispatch.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football: Carlos Locklyn talks managing top-heavy backfield