The Ohio State Buckeyes are looking to remain within the top tier of the Big Ten despite the massive conference realignment that has happened to the conference. And on Monday, Ohio State fired their first shot at one of their new conference rivals, hiring away one of their assistant coaches.
Perhaps the most impactful immediate addition to the conference comes by way of the Pac-12 and the Oregon Ducks, who have been perrenial contenders to make the CFP Playoff for much of the last decade.
Oregon is coming off of a 12-2 season this past year under second-year head coach Dan Lanning. And with their move to the Big Ten, they could be in the mix right away near the top of the conference standings.
The Ohio State-Michigan rivalry has obviously been well documented for quite some time now. But with Oregon’s move, there could now be a rivalry building between Ohio State and Oregon in the future.
If this rivalry does indeed come to fruition, it is the Buckeyes that fired the first shot on Monday. According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Ohio State has agreed to a deal with former Oregon running backs coach Carlos Locklyn to become their new running back’s coach.
Sources: Ohio State has agreed to a two-year deal with Carlos Locklyn to be the school’s new running backs coach. He comes from Oregon and has worked various roles at Memphis, Western Kentucky and FSU. 247 first reported deal.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) April 1, 2024
Locklyn has been the running back’s coach at Oregon each of the last two seasons. And in that time, Oregon has had the one of the best offenses in the country thanks to their successful balanced offensive approach.
This latest move for Ohio State marks a complete transformation of their offensive system entirely. Locklyn will be joining new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, who is of course a former Oregon coach as well.
