Follow Coach Merritt on Twitter: @CoachMerrittEU
Recruiting Areas:
• North Carolina (Cleveland / Hickory / Boone), Ohio (Columbus), South Carolina, Georgia (Augusta)
Matt Merritt joined the Phoenix staff in February 2017 following one season as the running backs coach at Ohio Dominican University.
Elon relied on a trio of talented running backs in Merritt’s first season with the Phoenix as Malcolm Summers, De’Sean McNair and Brelynd Cyphers combined to rush for 1,894 yards and 14 scores in 2017. Summers, who was limited to just six games due to injury, earned all-league accolades and was the nation's leading rusher for several weeks during the 2017 season.
In 2017, Elon’s rushing attack averaged 164.5 yards per game, an increase of nearly 40 yards per game.
Merritt's second season in 2018 saw Jaylan Thomas earn CAA Offensive Rookie of the Year accolades with Summers also taking home All-Conference honors. Thomas Led the team with 761 yards for the season across eight games. Summers played in the team's first five games, leading the nation in rushing with 591 yards and three touchdowns before missing the rest of the season due to injury. In all, Elon's running backs ran for 1,960 of the team's 2,195 for the season with 16 of the 22 touchdowns on the ground.
In 2016, ODU rushed for 1,398 yards and 16 scores as four different players ran for at least 260 yards. Merritt coached one all-league honoree.
Prior to his stint at ODU, Merritt was the assistant running backs coach and offensive graduate assistant at Ohio State University since 2013. During Merritt's time at OSU, the Buckeyes won the 2015 national championship, the 2016 Fiesta Bowl and a Big Ten championship. They also made an appearance in the 2014 Orange Bowl.
Merritt helped coach wide receivers, running backs, special teams and the defensive scout team during his time at Ohio State. He played a role in the development of Ezekiel Elliott and Curtis Samuel while with the Buckeyes, in addition to coaching Carlos Hyde and Braxton Miller.
Before heading to Ohio State, Merritt spent two years as the running backs coach at St. Charles Preparatory, where he also coached special teams. He also spent a year and a half as an assistant coach at Capital University, where he played running back and wide receiver.
During his playing career, Merritt had 542 rushing yards as Capital qualified for the playoffs in 2007. He tallied 1,099 career rushing yards and 12 touchdowns and helped Capital make a pair of Division III playoff appearances.
Merritt earned his bachelor's degree in education from Capital before picking up master's degrees in sport management from Ohio State and coaching education from Ohio University.
