Miami is losing another key piece of its offensive staff, with running backs coach Matt Merritt headed to the NFL.
Merritt has accepted the Arizona Cardinals' running backs coach job. The Cardinals recently hired Mike LaFleur as head coach, and Merritt is expected to be part of LaFleur's first staff as the franchise rebuilds.
Sources: Miami running backs coach Matt Merritt has accepted a job as the Arizona Cardinals running backs coach. He led a running backs room last year at Miami that included star tailback Mark Fletcher. Merritt's time in college included stops at Ohio State, Tennessee and USF. pic.twitter.com/RY2gn7nI1M
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 5, 2026
Matt Merritt accepts Arizona Cardinals' running backs coach job
Merritt previously worked at Ohio State (2013-15), Ohio Dominican (RB/special teams in 2016), Elon (RB/special teams in 2017-18), James Madison (running backs coach in 2019), Tennessee (2021 as a senior offensive analyst), Georgia Southern (2022), and USF (2023).
Merritt spent two seasons with the Hurricanes and was in his second year on staff in 2025. Mario Cristobal brought Merritt aboard in February 2024 after a strong season at South Florida.
Miami's lead back Mark Fletcher Jr. finished the 2025 season with 1,192 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns on 216 carries.
He played at Capital University (Division III) and then jumped into coaching right away, first as a graduate assistant at Capital in 2010 and then on the high school level at St. Charles Preparatory in Ohio (2011-12), where he coached running backs and special teams. At Capital, he ran for 542 yards in 2007 and finished his career with 1,099 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, part of two playoff teams.
At Ohio State he worked as a graduate assistant and offensive GA. He helped out with running backs, receivers, special teams and scout work during that run, which included OSU's CFP title season in 2014. Merritt was also on the 2019 JMU staff that went 14-2, won the CAA and reached the FCS national title game.
Merritt has previously done NFL coaching fellowships with the Bengals (2016) and 49ers (2019), and the 2019 stop overlapped with LaFleur's time on San Francisco's staff.