forums

Jalen Merrick 2015 OL w UM -offer

P

Paranos

All-ACC
Joined
Aug 7, 2012
Messages
13,610
Jalen Merrick 2015 OL from New Smyrna Beach was offered by Miami recently he has over 24 offers and has been a UM season ticket holder.
https://miami.rivals.com/barrier_noentry.asp?sid=903&script=%2Fcontent%2Easp&cid=1640267

Merrick has only been playing football for 2 years and has a 3.8 gpa per his coach.

http://touch.orlandosentinel.com/#story/os-ucf-latest-as-nsb-ot-jalen-merrick-racks-up-more-offers-20140423/

Alabama has made him their priority #1 OL recruit in FL according to the article, so this will be an interesting recruiting battle, hopefully UM can pull this young man out of Volusia County
http://touch.orlandosentinel.com/#story/os-alabama-latest-to-offer-new-smyrna-beach-ol-jalen-merrick-20140509/

[video=youtube_share;Mo5HXyLPbr4]http://youtu.be/Mo5HXyLPbr4[/video]
 
Advertisement
http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20140512/SPORTS/140519864/1001?p=1&tc=pg

NSB's Jalen Merrick could end up being school's biggest recruit
By Brian Linder
Published: Monday, May 12, 2014

NEW SMYRNA BEACH — Most of college football’s top programs have flocked to New Smyrna Beach this spring to see the big guy with the battle-scarred helmet. And when they lay eyes on 6-foot-5, 300-pound Jalen Merrick, the reaction is almost always the same.

“They’re just like, ‘Wow, you’re big!’” said Merrick, a rising senior offensive lineman.

It’s not just Merrick’s size that wows recruiters. It’s the way the former basketball player moves, and the way he dishes out punishment. That’s how the battle scars came to be, Merrick said, as he whipped his helmet out of his locker. The scratches run deep — cutting through the helmet’s black exterior down to the white underneath — from the front all the way to the mouth of the Barracudas’ logo.

Merrick said the marks are from collisions with helmets, shoulder pads and other players.

“He’s really starting to develop a mean streak,” NSB assistant coach Rodney Barnes said.

Big, athletic and mean seem to be the recipe college recruiters prefer most when it comes to their linemen. And so, Merrick, entering just his second season of football, has been inundated. Perhaps no week was as big as last week. University of South Carolina assistant Steve Spurrier Jr. and Kentucky assistant Jimmy Brumbaugh took in NSB’s practice Wednesday. Their schools offered prior to the spring.

Off the field Wednesday, Merrick picked up offers from Miami, Indiana and Vanderbilt. Ohio State offered Tuesday, Wisconsin early Thursday and Merrick said Alabama offensive line coach Mario Cristobal stopped by and offered Friday.

New Smyrna Beach has churned out some great athletes in recent years — Purdue’s Raheem Mostert, Ohio State’s James Clark and D’Cota Dixon, who signed with Wisconsin in February — but Barracudas coach Lance Jenkins said none of those players blew up as quickly as Merrick has in the eyes of recruiters.

“I’d say we hear from a half-dozen to a dozen schools a day,” Jenkins said.

“But around here, it’s usually Big Ten Thursdays and SEC Wednesdays.”

The list of offers has grown to 22 and includes: Florida, Oklahoma, Georgia Tech, Northwestern, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, West Virginia, Georgia, Rutgers, Michigan State, Mississippi State, South Florida, UCF and Georgia Southern.

“He’s just a big, thick human being,” Jenkins said.

“And he’s a different guy this year. We have a great weight program, and he has really transformed himself. He understands the game a lot more, and the scary thing is, the kid doesn’t turn 17 until December, so he should really be a 2016 guy.”

But Jenkins said Merrick is also such a big draw because he has “followed the yellow brick road of success.”

“The guy we have at Purdue, the guy at Ohio State, the guy we have headed to Wisconsin and Jalen are all 3.5 GPA guys or higher,” he said. “That is the biggest selling point for these guys because if they have the GPAs, you know they are disciplined and they have great character.”

Dixon and Merrick are cousins, and Merrick said they grew up in Oak Hill together competing in fierce backyard battles. Because of the bond, Merrick said he has leaned on Dixon for advice as his recruiting process heats up. And Dixon said he told him to do what is best for him. But, Dixon added, even though he was a big-time recruit in February’s signing class, Merrick’s situation is shaping up to be different.

“He is probably going to end up with double the offers that I had,” Dixon said. “He is probably going to be the biggest thing to come out of here.”
 
Last edited:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/blogs/recruiting/os-chris-hays-the-prospector-skys-the-limit-for-new-smyrna-beach-ot-jalen-merrick-20140513,0,2012927.column?track=rss

The Prospector: New Smyrna Beach OT Jalen Merrick is all the rage among college recruiters
May 13, 2014
by Chris Hays

Three years ago, Jalen Merrick had a dream, and if that dream had come true, college coaches like Mike Krzyzewski or Rick Pitino or Billy Donovan might be swinging by New Smyrna Beach High to check him out as a top recruit.

That dream is gone, but this is not a tale of woe. Merrick is indeed a top recruit, but instead of meeting basketball coaching kings like Coach K and Pitino, Merrick is far more likely to see Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Will Muschamp or George O’Leary.

“It feels really good,” Merrick said with a chuckle.

He chuckles about it a lot. It’s an amazing turnaround from the basketball goal he once had.

He’s still just kind of taking it all in, trying to comprehend how he went from a kid with a hoops dream to suddenly being one of the top offensive tackles in the state of Florida after only two varsity football seasons.

“It really just came out of nowhere,” Merrick said of the sudden attention.

He loved basketball, but he just kept getting bigger, so he took his shot at football one day and he liked it. He liked the thought that he was allowed physical contact and he didn’t have to worry about picking up that fifth foul.

“There’s a lot more contact in football and that really was the issue for me, because I used to probably foul out a lot in basketball. Can’t foul out in football,” Merrick laughed. “It transitions over a lot though, like a lot of the footwork that goes along with basketball kind of helps you in football.”

The 6-foot-5, 317-pounder’s athleticism is what impresses the scouts. He runs a 5.1-second 40-yard dash, has a vertical leap of 31 inches and he’s strong as an ox, benching nearly 400 pounds and pulling and power-cleaning 300.

He’s a big, mobile tackle with great fundamentals. He’s gifted in the classroom as well as on the field, sporting a 3.8 GPA.

New Smyrna Beach head football coach Lance Jenkins sums it up as well as anyone: “He’s just one, big, agile, smart human being,” Jenkins said. “The sky is the limit.”

Merrick laughed when all of these big-time colleges started courting him. He doesn’t know how to react. So when Alabama came calling Friday, he didn’t even know how to describe how he felt.

“I’m lost for words right now,” he texted shortly after Crimson Tide offensive line coach Mario Cristobal visited the school first thing in the morning

“Coach Cristobal came and I was his first stop on his way to see Martez [Ivey], Christian Pellage and Abdul Bello.”

Ivey (Apopka), Pellage (Brooksville Nature Coast) and Bello (Montverde), along with Tampa Plant’s Jake Fruhmorgen, are considered the top four offensive linemen in the state. Merrick is not far behind. Ivey, who is ranked No. 1 in the country by 247sports.com, is ranked No. 3 in the Sentinel’s 2015 Florida Top 100, while Fruhmorgen is 17, Bello is 20, Pellage is 44 and Merrick is No. 46.

“I’m trying to just stay level-headed. I’m getting a lot of advice from some of the previous guys like D’cota Dixon. He’s really helping me get used to the process a lot,” Merrick said.

Former teammate Dixon signed with Wisconsin in February and the graduating senior has been through the recruiting shuffle. This year is Merrick’s turn, and he’s by far the biggest recruit in Volusia in the 2015 class — in both size and attention, with 24 FBS scholarship offers, and counting.

“Yeah, I think there are a lot of schools on the verge of offering,” Merrick said. “There are a lot of them who have been talking to me and want to come down in the spring. A lot of them just want to know who I am because I kinda popped up out of nowhere.”

He has offers from Florida, UCF, Miami, Ohio State, Georgia, West Virginia, South Carolina, Michigan State and Wisconsin, just to name a few. He doesn't have a Florida State offer just yet, but he said he thinks the Seminoles would like to evaluate him more.

Merrick has no favorites right now and there surely will be more offers with spring practice just getting in gear. Florida and UCF are on him quite heavily. Merrick visited Gainesville in March.

“It’s a really good school. Going into it I had no idea what was going to happen,” Merrick said. “They gave me a tour of the school and I watched the practice and then I was talking to coach Summers [offensive line coach, Mike], and then I ended up in Coach Muschamp’s office and he broke the news that he was going to offer me a scholarship.

“Florida coach’s like my upside and the potential that I have. They said that I have a lot of the necessary tools and that you can’t teach 6-5, 317 pounds,” Merrick laughed.

As for UCF, he’s already quite familiar with local recruiter Sean Beckton, the Knights receivers coach.

“Coach Beckton was always up and down the hallways at school when he was recruiting D’Cota last year,” Merrick said. “So he was really familiar with my face and he saw a lot of the development things in me, from the first game of last season on out to the last. He’s a real great guy.”

As the offers keep trickling in, Merrick will have a tough decision to make, but he's already made one right decision. He once thought basketball was his ticket, but he’s glad he changed his mind.

“That was definitely a big decision and it obviously was worth it,” Merrick said.
 
Derek Tyson ‏@DerekTysonESPN 3m
OT Jalen Merrick has a current top 5 of #Bama, #FSU, #Gators, #Gamecocks, and #Canes
 
Advertisement
Landing this Merrick and Austin Clark to close out UM's 2015 OL class would be a great close an give UM the tools to keep RB Dexter Williams in the class.

Go Canes
 
He said this before his top 5 came out

OT Jalen Merrick, from New Smyrna Beach, FL, this week said Miami was definitely near the top of his list and he was strongly considering the Canes. His father is a UM alum and he’s attended every game since he was a kid.

Did not know his dad was a UM alum. i wonder how much that means to him. i haven't seen any buzz about that relationship
 
850Cane said:
He said this before his top 5 came out

OT Jalen Merrick, from New Smyrna Beach, FL, this week said Miami was definitely near the top of his list and he was strongly considering the Canes. His father is a UM alum and he’s attended every game since he was a kid.

Did not know his dad was a UM alum. i wonder how much that means to him. i haven't seen any buzz about that relationship
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing. **** gotta love the family connection it is in his blood. Hopefully he commits to UM before the OL spots are filled for 2015.

Go Canes
 
Merrick's High school team New Smyrna Beach lost their spring game Friday night to Palm Beach Central by 2 points. Hopefully this young man will commit sooner rather than later and end up losing his spot at UM. But I am thinking he is enjoying the recruiting process with offers rolling from almost every SEC school and quite a few others.

New Smyrna Beach falls in double overtime to Palm Beach Central
http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20140530/SPORTS/140539900?Title=New-Smyrna-Beach-falls-in-double-overtime-to-Palm-Beach-Central

Taken from another article
http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20140602/SPORTS/140609928?p=2&tc=pg

For much of the first three quarters in the loss to Palm Beach Central, NSB looked overmatched. But then, the Barracudas came to life late and showed plenty of fight — something you love to see in a young team. There is still plenty of work to do, but Darrynton Evans showed that he is a weapon and, despite struggling to create much running room early, Jalen Merrick and the veteran offensive line wore Central down.

Sounds like he is a workman type of player that can lead an OLine group.
http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20140602/SPORTS/140609928?p=2&tc=pg

Go Cane
 
Advertisement
Paranos said:
Hopefully this young man will commit sooner rather than later and end up losing his spot at UM.


But I am thinking he is enjoying the recruiting process with offers rolling from almost every SEC school and quite a few others.
Click to expand...

If he waits and we fill up and it our loss not his if he has offers from every school in the country. Don't understand that logic, I want him and hopefully we fight and keep a spot for him.
 
ThePlant said:
Paranos said:
Hopefully this young man will commit sooner rather than later and end up losing his spot at UM.


But I am thinking he is enjoying the recruiting process with offers rolling from almost every SEC school and quite a few others.
Click to expand...

If he waits and we fill up and it our loss not his if he has offers from every school in the country. Don't understand that logic, I want him and hopefully we fight and keep a spot for him.
Click to expand...

I agree
 
Advertisement
Consigliere said:
We have 4 OL currently committed. We likely won't take a 5th.
Click to expand...

If he wants in then take him and drop the private school kid from Pennsylvania or just take 5 OL in this class and figure out the roster management next summer. If we want to keep Dexter Williams then we need to recruit quality linemen. Don't think for a minute UF isn't using that angle.

Go Cnes
 
This guy followed me on twitter today, any one else get a follow? It surprised me because I have never tweeted at him! I don't really tweet that much at all. Don't know much about him, but I remembered his name from here.
 
Advertisement
wherrera8 said:
This guy followed me on twitter today, any one else get a follow? It surprised me because I have never tweeted at him! I don't really tweet that much at all. Don't know much about him, but I remembered his name from here.
Click to expand...
Yeah he followed me too. Maybe he wants to commit just tryna get cane fans aboard. I know the WR Chatman from Louisana followed me also I saw on 247 someone predicted him to Miami FWIW
 
wherrera8 said:
This guy followed me on twitter today, any one else get a follow? It surprised me because I have never tweeted at him! I don't really tweet that much at all. Don't know much about him, but I remembered his name from here.
Click to expand...

He is probably just keeping an eye on the snitch he heard about what you did to Olsen. He is visiting Miami tomorrow
 
Consigliere said:
We have 4 OL currently committed. We likely won't take a 5th.
Click to expand...

We're recruiting and offering OL like we plan to take 5 or 6.The 2 late additions to last years class both had grade concerns and might not qualify.My only concern is there's no KC or Darling or the kid we lost to stanford in the guys we have committed that can jump right in the 2 deep and start as sophs.The 4 so far,Linder and the 2 late additions are project types that will need time to develop and we might need them sooner.
 
Talked to his cousin yesterday...his family is diffinitely "guiding" or "encouraging" him to pick Miami. Like previously stated, his dad is a big fan of the []_[] and he's very familiar with the program. There are some former UF guys that are from his small town (oak hill)... Such as Daryl Dixon, Tim Beauchamp, LaDarius Halton, so he hears a lot of pro UF talk. But, according to his cousin, we are in great shape to land him.
 
Advertisement
Back
Top