Miami Hurricanes hiring running backs coach from team they’ll meet on road in September

The Miami Hurricanes have found their new running backs coach from the team they’ll play on Sept. 21 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

UM will name USF running backs coach Matt Merritt as the Canes’ running backs coach, the Miami Herald confirmed through a source.

Merritt will replace former UM assistant Tim Harris Jr., who recently left to take the offensive coordinator/wide receivers job at UCF. Merritt is also listed on his USF bio as the associate head coach and run game coordinator.

Last season , USF had the 32nd best rushing offense of 130 FBS teams, averaging 182.8 ground yards a game. According to the USF website, the Bulls garnered 12 team and 16 individual records as USF ranked 17th nationally in total offense.

The Canes (7-6 in 2023) finished with the 44th best rushing attack, averaging 173.2 under Harris.

Before USF, Merritt served as the Georgia Southern running backs coach. In 2021, he served as a senior offensive analyst for Tennessee. He also coached running backs at James Madison, Elon and Ohio Dominican.

Merritt was an assistant running backs coach at Ohio State from 2013-’15. The Buckeyes won the national championship after the 2014 season.

Last season, UM’s running backs were led by Henry Parrish Jr. (625 yards and six touchdowns in 11 games), who averaged 6.3 yards a carry; Mark Fletcher Jr. (514 yards and five touchdowns in 10 games), who averaged 4.9 yards; Donald Chaney Jr. (478 yards and two touchdowns in 11 games), who averaged 5.1; and Ajay Allen (361 yards and five touchdowns in nine games), who averaged 5.2.

Chaney has transferred to Louisville, but four-star prospect Jordan Lyle flipped from Ohio State to sign with Miami in December after totaling more than 1,500 rushing yards and helping St. Thomas Aquinas win its fifth straight state championship, Lyle was the Miami Herald’s Broward County Offensive Player of the Year for Classes 4M-3M.

Fletcher sustained a left-foot injury against Rutgers in the Pinstripe Bowl, but coaches hope he’ll be ready for the season after surgery/rehab.

The Canes also have three-star running back Chris Wheatley-Humphrey, out of Hollywood South Broward High, and they’re hoping Tre’Vonte Citizen — out for two seasons after a major knee injury — finally returns to his elite high school form.

With the high-end speed of soon-to-be redshirt freshman Chris Johnson Jr., Merritt should have a strong cast of Hurricanes runners.