Football Practice Report: April 20

When he took the job as running backs coach at Oregon, Carlos Locklyn made a pledge to one of his predecessors in the job. Every day since, he’s worked hard to keep it, by driving home a simple message to the Ducks’ backs.

“When you come in this room,” Locklyn said following the Ducks’ spring practice Thursday, “you are going to compete. I made a promise to Coach (Gary) Campbell — I said that I am going to charge myself with bringing this room back where it’s supposed to be at. So I tell these kids all the time, you come here, you’re going to earn it.”

Locklyn has gone about assembling a position group with the depth and talent to foster heated competition. From last year’s team, the Ducks return two players in Bucky Irving and Noah Whittington who combined for nearly 1,900 rushing yards; each rushed for five touchdowns, as did yet another returner this spring, Jordan James. New recruits Dante Dowdell and Jayden Limar joined the fray this offseason, and the unit is bolstered by some talented, hard-working non-scholarship guys as well.

For the newcomers Dowdell and Limar, Locklyn has drilled down this spring on details like how to get in and out of a cut, and how to protect the ball while running in traffic. But above all else, Locklyn has been driving home the pledge he made to Campbell, who coached Oregon’s running backs for parts of four decades.

“You’re going to earn it in my room,” Locklyn said. “That’s it — you’re going to earn it. And (the freshmen) are starting to get that. Both of them are picking up everything well — they’re running hard — but the biggest thing with both of them, they’re great listeners. They listen to the older guys, they’re taking in coaching, they’re doing a really good job there.”

The new backs are listening to the vets, and the vets are doing more talking. On the field, Irving has focused on becoming a better pass blocker this spring, and Whittington has added mass while trimming body fat to maintain his elite speed. But Locklyn is looking for them also to impart his message of competition on the newcomers.

“The biggest part is helping them become better leaders,” Locklyn said. “Showing the young guys the standard, and what the standard is.”

Campbell helped establish that standard at Oregon, and Locklyn is intent upon maintaining it, and building on it. He has assembled a group of backs who look quite capable of doing…