Marshall University Athletics
MCGILL: Opportunity meaningful for local Locklear
10/4/2018 10:23:00 AM | Football, Word on the Herd
Offensive lineman played 74 snaps in last week's win at WKU
By Chuck McGill
HerdZone.com
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Alex Locklear is listed on the football roster at 330 pounds, the second-biggest player on the team. His love for Marshall, however, is second to none.
"Marshall football has always been a huge part of my life," the junior offensive lineman said this week. "It's right down the road from where I'm from, and I wanted to stay home and play ball. I was fortunate enough to do that."
In the Doc Holliday era, incoming freshmen are introduced to the program by watching the movie "We Are Marshall" when they first step on campus. Locklear was at the premiere as a young, impressionable kid. He knows people who were part of the Young Thundering Herd. He was coached by former MU football players. This means more to him because it has been ingrained in him since he first picked up a football.
Perhaps that's why, when faced with a fight-or-flight scenario, Locklear dug his heels in deeper. He is a redshirt junior, and last Saturday at Western Kentucky he received his second career start (the first also came against WKU in the 2016 regular season finale). He watched and waited for an opportunity, and then subbed for injured sophomore Tarik Adams at right tackle and played 74 snaps in a 20-17 win in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Levi Brown was reminded the football program's strength coach, Luke Day, who shared a quote on the white board about how a season's success usually comes down to the backups.
"People are going to have to step up and fill a position," said Brown, a junior center. "Locklear stepped in and played with unreal emotion. He was pumped up the whole time, and it was different than it had been because Tarik is such a quiet guy.
"Locklear comes in there like it's a high school football game and plays like he's hated the team his whole life. It was his time to shine."
Locklear, 22, made no attempt to subdue his emotion. He played physical and loud. He punished the opposition during the play, and then verbally after. By Monday morning, when it was time to speak with assembled media inside the press box of Joan C. Edwards Stadium, Locklear described those emotions and why being on the field meant so much to him.
"Everything is centered around our team, and I love being on this team," Locklear said. "The feel in the locker room; being around the guys. It's more of a friendship than your teammate. Whenever you get out there and you get to have fun with your friends, it's hard to explain. You work out with these guys and you go through the most grueling workouts in the offseason, and then you get to go out there and play ball. Obviously, I was pretty excited."
Locklear is originally from the Fort Gay, West Virginia and Louisa, Kentucky area. He moved here in 10th grade and started attending Spring Valley High School, where he turned into a three-star prospect with wide recruiting interest. He zeroed his attention on the college football program in his backyard.
"I love the people around here," Locklear said. "I love the people of Huntington. I grew up with this. It was perfect for me to stay here and be able to play in front of my high school coaches, friends and family."
Locklear's father was an accomplished baseball player and mother played basketball at Bridgewater. Locklear and his brother, Riley, seemed destined for football. Even as a child playing flag football, Alex Locklear towered over his peers.
That was part of the challenge when he came to Marshall and had to wait to play.
"You can get lost in it, but you have to worry about you," he said. "You have to be ready whenever the time comes. That's something I was happy to do so I could be ready when my teammates needed me.
"People hit you up and tell you that you should play more, but you have to zone that stuff out. You have to have selective hearing. So, I just went to work, and that's all you can do. On the offensive line, especially, there are going to be some injuries. You have to be ready."
Chuck McGill is the Assistant Athletic Director for Fan/Donor Engagement and Communications at Marshall University and a six-time winner of the National Sports Media Association West Virginia Sportswriter of the Year award. In addition to HerdZone.com's Word on the Herd, McGill is the editor of Thundering Herd Illustrated, Marshall's official athletics publication. Follow him on Twitter (@chuckmcgill) and Instagram (wordontheherd).
