Carlos Locklyn leaving FSU football staff to coach RBs at Western Kentucky

In his Twitter bio, Carlos Locklyn refers to himself as a "walk-on coach."

Well, he might be on full scholarship now.

Locklyn, who came from Memphis with FSU head coach Mike Norvell to serve as the Seminoles' Director of High School Relations, is leaving for his first full-time college coaching position.

He is expected to be named running backs coach at Western Kentucky.

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"It's been a long journey," Locklyn told Warchant.com this weekend before announcing his departure publicly Monday morning. "I've always been confident I would get an opportunity to coach in college. Ever since Coach [Josh] Storms and Coach Norvell took me in, I've put my head down and gone to work. I was not going to be denied. I have a true passion for coaching."

That passion was what led to Storms opening his door to Locklyn just over four years ago. At the time, the former Tennessee-Chattanooga star running back was coaching high school football in Memphis and working nights in law enforcement. Storms was the University of Memphis' strength and conditioning coach.

After receiving a "cold call" email from Locklyn, Storms offered him an unpaid position on his staff as a weight room volunteer. For an entire year, Locklyn would work his law enforcement job through the night, then go immediately to Memphis to serve in his volunteer position.

He later was hired as an offensive analyst on Norvell's staff and then was named Director of High School Relations with the Tigers.

For the past year, Locklyn has held that same role at Florida State. And while this was a challenging first year for Norvell's staff, Locklyn said it has been extremely rewarding for him professionally.

*ALSO SEE: Locklyn shares 'passion to serve' as FSU director of high school relations

He didn't have any on-field responsibilities, but Locklyn often went out of his way to spend time observing FSU running backs coach David Johnson -- in meetings and on the practice fields. And he plans to implement much of what he learned when he coaches the running backs at Western Kentucky.

"I learned so much from Coach 'YAC' (Johnson) this year," Locklyn said. "I already felt like I knew the Xs and Os and understanding how to coach the position. But he is so good at managing the room and how he operates with the kids. He holds them accountable in everything they do. I want to be like Coach YAC. Getting to be around him was one of the best things that's happened to me."

As excited as he is about getting his first opportunity to be an on-field coach at the FBS level, Locklyn admits it will be difficult to leave Norvell's staff.

"Our relationship is a little different," Locklyn said. "The hardest part of all of this is leaving a man I consider family. He didn't know me four years ago, and he allowed me to come into his program. I consider him family. And he has given me a wealth of information that I will use throughout my career."

*ALSO SEE: Follow-up on Locklyn's departure and FSU filling his position

Locklyn, who served as the liaison between FSU's staff and high school coaches throughout the region, also will miss helping Norvell turn around the Seminoles' struggling program. Even though everyone on the staff was disappointed with the 3-6 mark of 2020, the departing staffer said he has no doubt FSU will be back to its winning ways in the near future.

"People probably don't realize what they have here in Coach Norvell," Locklyn said. "How hard he works. Those values he preaches -- service, sacrifice, respect -- he lives that. And I'll always follow that approach.

"I'm proud to say I'm a part of the Mike Norvell coaching tree. And I know that he's going to flip the culture at Florida State back to where it was. I'm 100 percent confident in that. I look forward to watching them play every week, and I'll be the biggest 'Nole fan out there."

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