Carlos Locklyn was a four-year letterman as a scholarship player at Tennessee-Chattanooga, but when it came to starting the second chapter of his football career, he embraced a "walk-on" mentality.

After turning his standout collegiate career into an opportunity with the New York Giants, Locklyn's pro career eventually fell short, and the Montgomery, Ala., native entered a new life, working as a police officer, a correctional officer and a government official.

He felt that he still had more to give to game of football, however, so he volunteered as a high school coach at Trezevant High School in Memphis, Tenn., in 2009.

“I was a walk-on coach,” Locklyn said.

Twelve years later, he coaches with that same mentality, of someone who knows nothing is ever promised.

“I still approach this job every day with a walk-on mentality — nobody’s going to give you nothing,” Locklyn said after Oregon's Tuesday spring practice. “So I don’t give my guys anything. I still work like I’m the guy who was showing up at 6 every day, sleeping in my car, changing in the bathroom in the hopes of just getting a locker and another shirt.”