EUGENE — Oregon resumed spring practice with an opening on its coaching staff in the wake of Carlos Locklyn’s departure for Ohio State.
Locklyn’s buyout decreased by 50% on the same day the Ducks returned to campus following 17 days off for spring break, creating less than ideal timing for Dan Lanning to be searching for a replacement amid spring practice at UO and elsewhere across the country. But Lanning is taking it in stride.
“I mean, it’s football,” Lanning said. “It’s the reality. Carlos did an unbelievable job for us. My goal is when we bring people here, we get to advance them to the opportunities that make sense for them. I know how great Oregon is and I know this is: the reality is not really concerned about winning the press conference. He did a great job for us here, but when we hired him, he was a relatively unknown coach and did a really, really good job.
“The key for us is who do we replace him with? And this is a great opportunity. Transitions give you an opportunity to get better? So that’s our goal. We’re gonna go get better. We’re going to bring somebody in here that can do a really good job with our organization. We got a lot of young coaches right now in our organization that do an unbelievable job. So moving on, right, excited for the next move.”
On Tuesday, offensive graduate assistant Koa Ka’ai and analyst Jack Smith were working with the running backs during practice. With two more practices this week and 12 more this month, they will continue to work with the players in the interim until Lanning can hire a replacement.
Lanning stressed the need for the right hire and not the fastest.
“The urgency is getting it right,” Lanning said. “You’re not in a hurry to do anything wrong. Now we always have a plan. We know people that we would target for the position but it’s about getting it right. It’s not about being fast. ... The timing is interesting but the reality is we’re a well-oiled machine right now. It’s moving; we’ve got guys that are really doing a good job in that room. So it’s about getting it right. It’s not about sprinting to a date. We don’t have to have somebody tomorrow.”
Locklyn is the fifth member of the Lanning’s original staff that has left, including the second this offseason. Three departures after the 2022 season, Kenny Dillingham, Adrian Klemm and Matt Powledge, were for bigger roles elsewhere and filled by success additions in offensive coordinator Will Stein, offensive line coach A’lique Terry and safeties coach Chris Hampton, respectively.
Lanning said he’ll look for the same model in finding a new running backs coach.
“What’s important? Relationships, guys that connect with players, guys that can develop the position, guys that can recruit and retain talent on our team and more importantly than anything people that fit right,” Lanning said. “It’s about the fit.”
Like the other nine returning members of Oregon’s coaching staff, Locklyn signed a contract extension earlier offseason, which increased his salary from $300,000 to $400,000 annually through January 2026. His buyout to leave Oregon was approximately $733,333 as of Sunday, but dropped to $366,667 as of Monday, and the rest of the staff had similar drops in their buyouts as of April 1.
Lanning said this circumstance is not necessarily making him consider adjusting the dates tied to buyouts for future assistant coach contracts to be more prohibitive during spring practice.
“I’m not really concerned with that,” Lanning said. “At the end of the day here’s what I want: I want people that want to be here and grow here in Oregon. We got an unbelievable situation. How long have backs been good at Oregon? You guys think of the names of the guys that have played here at Oregon. Whether it’s De’Anthony (Thomas) or LaMichael (James) or Jonathan Stewart, like there’s been a long history.
“We got some really good backs on this team right now. So I’m worried about who wants to be here and what we’re gonna be able to do moving forward.”
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