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Oregon running backs coach Carlos Locklyn as the Ducks begin spring football practices in Eugene, Oregon on Thursday, March 10, 2022. Credit: Sean Meagher (via TNS)

After previous Ohio State running back coach Tony Alford left for rival Michigan, head coach Ryan Day was left looking for the fourth new position coach for its 2024 campaign. 

Only 19 days after Alford announced he was moving on from Ohio State, the Buckeyes signed Carlos Locklyn to a two-year contract according to ESPN insider Pete Thamel Monday evening. Locklyn spent the two previous seasons in Eugene with the Oregon Ducks. 

Locklyn coached the Ducks to the third-best running attack last year with 5.9 yards per carry, which only trailed Liberty and LSU, and the sixth-best ground game with 5.5 yards per carry in 2022.

Before Locklyn coached for the Ducks he spent time as the running back’s coach at Western Kentucky in 2021. He previously spent three years at Memphis where he progressed from weight room assistant in 2017 to Director of High School Relations in 2019 and served as the Director of High School Relations at Florida State in 2020.

He now joins newly hired offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, linebackers coach James Laurinaitis and safeties coach Matt Guerrieri as the fourth new assistant coach for the Buckeyes in their offseason campaign. 

This announcement comes after Locklyn signed a two-year deal with the Ducks that extended him through the 2025 season on March 16.

The Buckeyes are back to being fully staffed with nine assistant coaches ahead of their spring game April 13 at noon.