Report: Cardinals hiring Miami’s Matt Merritt as new RBs coach

The Arizona Cardinals are hiring former Miami Hurricanes running backs coach Matt Merritt to the same position, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Merritt marks the latest coach linked to the Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur’s growing staff after the team added offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett a day prior.

K.J. Black has also been requested for an interview over Arizona’s quarterbacks coach opening. Former NFL quarterback Matt Schaub is another possibility at QBs coach, per CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz.

The running backs coach just wrapped up his second season with the Hurricanes that ended with a national championship loss to the Indiana Hoosiers.

Merritt played a part in running back Mark Fletcher’s tear of 1,192 yards and 12 touchdowns on 216 carries last year. Running back CharMar Brown chipped in another seven scores and 474 yards as the No. 2 option.

As a team, Miami averaged 4.3 yards per carry and totaled 28 touchdowns. One of the main figureheads in Miami’s trenches last year, Francis Mauigoa, has been commonly mock-drafted to the Cardinals’ No. 3 overall pick this offseason and would be a familiar face for Merritt.

His other coaching stops include USF (2023), Georgia Southern (2022), Tennessee (2021) and James Madison (2019-20), Elon (2017-18), Ohio Dominican (2016) and Ohio State (2013-15).

On top of coaching college, Merritt also completed a pair of Bill Walsh Diversity Fellowships with the Cincinnati Bengals (2016) and San Francisco 49ers (2019).

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