Ohio State Football: Locklyn is beginning to garner attention as a recruit

The new running backs coach at Ohio State University is working to make up ground on recruits.

Carlos Locklyn, the Oregon running backs coach, makes phone calls to his players on Tuesday during Ducks practice. The Register-Guard/Ben Lonergan / USA

Carlos Locklyn, who was hired by Ohio State earlier this week, replaced Ryan Day as the running backs coach for the football team. The clock is running out on a couple important running back recruits for the 2025 class as he settles into Columbus.

The fact that Locklyn already has a close bond with West Coast native and the class’s top running back, Jordan Davison, is fortunate for the Buckeyes. The California prospect showed interest in Ohio State and Oregon, but more recent 247 Crystal ball picks have favored Texas.

Hopefully, Davison, who visited Columbus last week, would view the Buckeyes differently now that they have established a relationship. Davison has been recruited aggressively by previous running backs coach Tony Alford for a few years now, indicating that Ohio State has had him as their top back on the roster for a long.

The Buckeyes must find a different option in the class as the Davison recruitment moves forward since they risk losing multiple backs following the 2020–21 campaign.

Bo Jackson, a four-star running back from Cleveland, might be the best choice for that position. Given that Jackson and Ohio State both have past relationships with Locklyn, 247 Sports recently selected Ohio State as Jackson’s crystal ball.

The No. 66 overall pick in the ’25 class, Jackson, would be a huge boost for the Buckeyes, who are looking to add at least one highly regarded running back. Being from Ohio and having a great name is the icing on the cake.

Last but not least, Ohio State will have a difficult time finding another four-star running back from the Cleveland area. Marquise Davis, a star tailback for Cleveland Heights, is not really close to Locklyn because Oregon was not involved in his recruitment.

However, Tony Alford was, and Michigan is now in a strong position to get him. In addition to Ohio State, Michigan, Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky, USC, Penn State, Mizzou, Texas A&M, and West Virginia were featured in the top 10 list released by Davis lately.