Matt Merritt

Matt Merritt (born January 5, 1988) is an American professional football coach who is the running backs coach for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the running backs coach at the University of Miami from 2024 to 2025.

Merritt played college football at Capital University as a running back from 2006 to 2009 and he previously served as an assistant coach at the University of Miami, University of South Florida, Georgia Southern University, University of Tennessee, James Madison University, Elon University, Ohio Dominican University, Ohio State University and Capital University.

Early life Merritt was born in Germany, where he lived until the age of 11. His father is a native of Detroit, Michigan, and his mother is from Liberia. The family later moved to Belgium, where Merritt attended the International School of Brussels from 1999 to 2004. At age 16, Merritt moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and finished his education at Indian Hill High School, graduating in 2006. During his time in Belgium, he played for the Raiders American football team and won a championship title.

Coaching career Early career Early collegiate and high school roles Merritt began coaching as a graduate assistant at Capital University in 2010. He then spent two seasons as a running backs coach and special teams coordinator at St. Charles Preparatory School (2011–2012).

Ohio State From 2013 to 2015, Merritt served as an offensive graduate assistant and assistant running backs coach at Ohio State. During this time, the Buckeyes secured the 2015 National Championship and the 2016 Fiesta Bowl, and Merritt helped develop players like Ezekiel Elliott, Curtis Samuel, and Carlos Hyde.

Ohio Dominican In 2016, he was the running backs coach and special teams coordinator at Ohio Dominican.

Elon Merritt established himself as a key offensive assistant while working under Curt Cignetti at two different programs. He first served as Cignetti's running backs coach and special teams coordinator at Elon from 2017 to 2018, where the Phoenix earned back-to-back FCS playoff berths.

Tennessee In 2020, the postponement of the NCAA FCS season to spring 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic led Merritt to depart James Madison. He had originally accepted the running backs coach position at UCF under Josh Heupel; however, when Heupel was subsequently hired as the head coach at Tennessee. Merritt ultimately joined Heupel in Knoxville as a senior offensive analyst for the 2021 season.

Miami In 2024, Merritt joined Mario Cristobal's staff at the University of Miami. During the 2025 season, Merritt was instrumental in coaching a Hurricanes offense that ranked first nationally in total yards and points, leading the team to a 13–3 record and an appearance in the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship game.

Personal life Merritt is married to Brittanie Merritt and they have two sons, Daniel and Thomas. His father is from Detroit, Michigan, and his mother is from Liberia. Merritt is fluent in German and French.