 | Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Chris Merritt" American football – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Bryant |
| Conference | CAA |
| Record | 27–41 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | (1969-12-07)December 7, 1969 (age 55)[1] |
| Playing career | |
| 1988–1992[2] | Indiana |
| 1994–1995 | Gavle Red DevilsSweden |
| 1996-1997 | Hamburg Blue Devils |
| Position | Free safety |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1993 | Eastern Illinois (assistant) |
| 1996–1998 | Hamburg Blue Devils (DC) |
| 1999 | Stuttgart Scorpions |
| 2000 | Thiel (DB) |
| 2001–2018 | Christopher Columbus HS (FL) |
| 2019–present | Bryant |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 27–41 (college) 52–11–1 (GFL) 165–49[n 1] (high school) |
Chris Merritt (born December 7, 1969) is an Americanfootball coach and former player. He was named to the position as the head football coach atBryant University in December 2018. He came to Bryant after serving 18 years as head coach atChristopher Columbus High School inMiami, Florida, posting a record of 165–49 in 18 season there. He also served five years atThiel College as the defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator and two years atEastern Illinois University as an assistant coach. He also played and was a coach in theGerman Football League with theHamburg Blue Devils winning theGerman Bowl andEurobowl championships.
Merritt played college football atIndiana University Bloomington where he was four year letter winner. He played professionally in SwedenSuperserien in 1994 and 1995 seasons. He the played and was a coach in theGerman Football League where he guided theHamburg Blue Devils, winning 3Eurobowl titles in 1996, 1997 and 1998, aGerman Bowl in 1996 and three-straight Charity Bowl Championships. Merritt is the franchises all-time leaders in wins and winning percentage[3]
He then coached theStuttgart Scorpions andTheil.
In 2001 he became the head coach ofChristopher Columbus HS, during his tenure he led the school to two state finals appearances (2014, 2018), five Regional Championships, 14 District Championships and an 80-4 record in district competition in the largest high school classification in the state of Florida. In addition, Merritt's program has produced over 100 collegiate football players in 18 seasons. He also received a plethora of honors including being inducted into the Columbus High School Hall of Fame in 2018, named the Nike Coach of the Year in 2005, the Miami Herald Coach of the Year in 2014 and the Warren Henry South Coach of the Year in 2017.[4]
He was then hired as head coach ofBryant for the 2018 season, in 2021 he went 7-4 and was named a finalist for theEddie Robinson Coach of the Year award. during the 2025 season he led the program to their first ever win over a FBS program on September 6th 27-26 overUMass.[5]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryant Bulldogs(Northeast Conference)(2019–2022) | |||||||||
| 2019 | Bryant | 4–8 | 3–4 | T–5th | |||||
| 2020–21 | Bryant | 2–2 | 2–2 | T–3rd | |||||
| 2021 | Bryant | 7–4 | 5–2 | 2nd | |||||
| 2022 | Bryant | 4–7 | 2–3 | T–3rd | |||||
| Bryant Bulldogs(Big South–OVC Football Association)(2023) | |||||||||
| 2023 | Bryant | 6–5 | 4–2 | T–3rd | |||||
| Bryant Bulldogs(Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference)(2024–present) | |||||||||
| 2024 | Bryant | 2–10 | 0–8 | T–15th | |||||
| 2025 | Bryant | 2–5 | 0–3 | ||||||
| Bryant: | 27–41 | 16–24 | |||||||
| Total: | 27–41 | ||||||||
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christopher Columbus Explorers()(2001–2018) | |||||||||
| 2001 | Christopher Columbus | 9–3 | 1st | ||||||
| 2002 | Christopher Columbus | 4–6[n 1] | 3rd | ||||||
| 2003 | Christopher Columbus | 7–4 | |||||||
| 2004 | Christopher Columbus | 7–3 | 4–0 | 1st | |||||
| 2005 | Christopher Columbus | 9–1 | 5–0 | 1st | |||||
| 2006 | Christopher Columbus | 7–4 | 4–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 2007 | Christopher Columbus | 11–1 | 5–0 | 1st | |||||
| 2008 | Christopher Columbus | 8–1 | 4–0 | 1st | |||||
| 2009 | Christopher Columbus | 9–2 | 5–0 | 1st | |||||
| 2010 | Christopher Columbus | 11–1 | 5–0 | 1st | |||||
| 2011 | Christopher Columbus | 11–2 | 3–0 | 1st | |||||
| 2012 | Christopher Columbus | 8–5 | 3–0 | 1st | |||||
| 2013 | Christopher Columbus | 7–5 | 4–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 2014 | Christopher Columbus | 14–2 | 6–0 | 1st | |||||
| 2015 | Christopher Columbus | 12–2 | 4–1 | 1st | |||||
| 2016 | Christopher Columbus | 7–4 | 4–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 2017 | Christopher Columbus | 10–2 | 4–0 | 1st | |||||
| 2018 | Christopher Columbus | 14–1 | 4–0 | 1st | |||||
| Christopher Columbus: | 165–49[n 1] | ||||||||
| Total: | 165–49[n 1] | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
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