Even in pee wee football, Riverdale QB Eric Locke was on the cutting edge of offense
The Tennessean High School Football All-Decades project began in February with a 1960s team being named followed by the 1970s, which included Cookeville's Richard Locke.
The 1990s team revealed Monday included Locke's son Eric, a quarterback from Riverdale. It became the first father-son duo in the project and Eric credited his dad for helping him leave such a substantial mark during his career, which included being a two-time Mr. Football winner and leading Riverdale to the Class 5A state championship.
A few years after his playing career ended Richard Locke became a youth football coach and made his son Eric Locke his quarterback. It turns out Richard was an innovative, forward-thinking coach and that worked in his son's favor.
Richard created an offense for his little tykes, back when most teams either simply dropped back to throw or stuck to the run, that had Eric doing it all in the type of wide-open, fast-paced scheme that is popular today.
The training helped Eric get a jumpstart on the other kids his age and motivated him to develop a versality that eventually led to him becoming one of the state's top high school prospects. The way Eric saw it, the more he could do with the ball in his hands, the better he would be.
"Even in pee wee with my dad as the coach we were running a spread offense out of shotgun and throwing out of that and doing a lot of (run-pass option) stuff too," Locke said. "That was a long time ago, like maybe back in the '80s. We were doing a lot of cutting edge stuff that you see today just trying something new, and it worked. We were successful with it."
Richard, who went on to play at Memphis where he was a three-year starter, died in 2020.
Both Richard and Eric are part of The Tennessean's high school football all-decade team project. Richard, a Cookeville graduate, was part of the 1970s team. And Eric is one of the many highlights of the 1990s team.
The Lockes are the first father-son duo to be named in the project. Eric said his dad was crucial for helping him leave such a substantial mark during his career, which included being a two-time Mr. Football winner and leading Riverdale to a Class 5A state championship.
Former Riverdale coach Gary Rankin picked up on Eric's unique skillset as soon as he arrived at Riverdale. He made Eric the Warriors' backup quarterback when Locke was a 14-year-old freshman. Eric started two games that season when Rankin was in the process of building Riverdale into a state power that would win two championships and finish runner-up twice in the 1990s.
"Eric was one of the strongest kids that we had, as quick as they come, and one of the toughest competitors I've ever coached," Rankin said. "He was so dedicated. I used to come in to the office on Sundays to look at film or whatever and Eric would be on the field running sprints."
Eric said Rankin, who went on to become the winningest high school coach in Tennessee history and is currently at Boyd Buchanan in Chattanooga, made sure once he became a starter Rankin made sure he reached his potential on the field. That meant molding the offense to fit what Locke did best including his knack for improvising on the field.
"Coach Rankin basically told me, 'Once you break through I can only get you to a certain point based off of blocking scheme and other things,'" Eric said. "He would say, 'After that, it's on you.' He made that known so that was pretty much my mindset. I embraced that and said lets go out there and see what me and my teammates can do."
The plan worked. Locke accumulated an astonishing 3,661 career passing yards along with 3,488 rushing yards and 95 touchdowns. He as the USA Today Tennessee High School Player of the Year and twice named to the Associated Press All-State team.
"I can remember sitting in a meeting one time with Eric and I was on the board doing something and I said, 'If this happens and this happens, they've got us outnumbered and we're probably in trouble," Rankin said. "I looked at Eric and he said, 'Nah coach, they'll be in trouble.'"
After playing wide receiver at Alabama and Tennessee Locke spent eight years in the Army. He got involved in the IT field and went to work for HCA and is now employed by the city of Murfreesboro.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Eric Locke, a former Alabama, Tennessee football player cutting edge at early age
