Carlos Locklyn Discusses Noah Whittington, New Oregon Backs in Spring Football

Oregon held its tenth practice of spring football and we had a chance to speak with running backs coach Carlos Locklyn about his group.

“We got two of the probably top five backs in the Pac here at Oregon,” Locklyn said. “Bucky might be the quickest one in the room. Noah by far is the fastest one in the room. It’s good having a good one-two punch--they feed off of each other.”

Of that one-two punch, Irving, who Locklyn described as the “alpha male in the room," ranked eighth in the country at 6.7 yards per carry during his 1,000-yard 2023 campaign. Locklyn noted that Noah Whittington established himself as the second punch and has put on weight since the end of the season to further improve his body, preparing him to make an even larger contribution next season.

“Last year Noah played around 192, he’s like 203 pounds now,” Locklyn said. “I don't think guys like hitting him a whole lot. He looks good. I think the kid has like seven or eight percent body fat.”

Touching on his two new coming early enrollee freshmen Jayden Limar and Dante Dowdell Locklyn expressed optimism about their growth and prospective futures.

“They pick up everything well, they run hard,” he said. “But the biggest thing with both of them is they are great listeners.”

Locklyn explained how he holds Irving to a high standard of leadership. He feels that the players should take on his own gritty personality and so far has been pleased with how they've competed with each other for reps.

We know one thing for sure about Locklyn's position group: nothing will be given and everything will be earned.

"I'm not giving you nothing, you're going to earn it. I tell them all the time, the tools I'm giving you now are gonna help you later on in life."