Miami was left with a void at running backs coach after Tim Harris Jr. headed back to UCF, and now they’ve got their guy.
Matt Zenitz of 247Sports reports that Miami is expected to bring on University of South Florida’s Matt Merritt as their new running backs coach. Merritt served as USF’s running game coordinator in 2023 and was at Georgia Southern as their running backs coach in 2022. He’s also had stops at JMU, Elon and Ohio State.
Last season at USF, Merritt helped lead the Bulls to the third-best rushing attack in the AAC. USF’s overall offense ranked 17th in the nation and set numerous program records.
The intriguing piece that he’ll bring to the table is his work with mobile quarterbacks, as Bulls quarterback Byrum Brown ran for 809 yards and 11 touchdowns on the season. It will be interesting to see if Zentiz is able to work alongside Miami’s Shannon Dawson to get Washington State transfer Cam Ward out in the open field on designed runs.
Merritt will also inherit an insanely talented running back room, featuring Henry Parrish Jr. and Mark Fletcher Jr. . With a handful of other talented backs as well in the room, Merritt will join ahead of spring practices to work out how this depth chart will look going forward.