Dave Merritt

{{Short description|American football player and coach (born 1971)}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = David Merritt

| current_team = Kansas City Chiefs

| position = Secondary coach

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1971|9|8}}

| birth_place = Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 1

| weight_lb = 237

| high_school = Raleigh (NC) Millbrook

| college = North Carolina State

| draftyear = 1993

| draftround = 7

| draftpick = 191

| pastteams =

Miami Dolphins (1993)
Phoenix / Arizona Cardinals ({{NFL Year|1993|1995}})
Rhein Fire ({{RHE season|1997}})

| pastcoaching =

Tennessee-Chattanooga (1997)
Outside linebackers
Virginia Military Institute (1998)
Defensive ends & outside linebackers coach
Virginia Military Institute (1999–2000)
Defensive line coach
New York Jets ({{NFL Year|2001}}–{{NFL Year|2003}})
Defensive assistant & linebackers coach
New York Giants ({{NFL Year|2004}})
Defensive assistant & quality control coach
New York Giants ({{NFL Year|2005}})
Defensive assistant
New York Giants ({{NFL Year|2006}}–{{NFL Year|2017}})
Secondary coach & safeties coach
Arizona Cardinals ({{NFL Year|2018}})
Defensive backs coach
Kansas City Chiefs ({{NFL Year|2019}}–present)
Defensive backs coach

| highlights =

5× Super Bowl champion (XLII, XLVI, LIV, LVII, LVIII)
First-team All-ACC (1992)

| statlabel1 = Tackles

| statvalue1 = 1

| statlabel2 = Fumble recoveries

| statvalue2 = 1

| pfr = MerrDa20

}}

David Merritt (born September 8, 1971) is an American professional football coach for the Kansas City Chiefs for the National Football League (NFL) and former linebacker who served as the defensive backs coach for the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL. He was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the seventh round of the 1993 NFL draft.{{Cite web |title=1993 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1993/draft.htm |access-date=March 31, 2023 |website=Pro Football Reference |language=en}} He played college football for the NC State Wolfpack.

Merritt also played for the Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals and has been a coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Virginia Military Institute and for the New York Jets.

Early life

Merritt was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. He attended Millbrook High School (Raleigh, North Carolina). Merritt was a member of the Millbrook High School inaugural Hall of Fame class in 2012

Coaching career

=New York Jets=

In {{nfly|2001}}, Merritt joined the New York Jets as a defensive assistant and linebackers coach.{{Cite web |last=Trezevant IV |first=Ezekiel |date=February 12, 2024 |title=Former Giants Assistant Coach Wouldn't Mind Returning to New York One Day |url=https://www.si.com/nfl/giants/news/new-york-giants-dave-merritt-kansas-city-chiefs-john-mara |access-date=February 16, 2024 |website=Sports Illustrated |language=en}}

=New York Giants=

Merritt was hired by the New York Giants as a defensive assistant and quality control coach in 2004. In 2006, he was promoted to secondary and safeties coach. Merritt won Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLVI with the Giants, both times defeating the New England Patriots.{{Cite web |last=Battista |first=Judy |date=February 4, 2008 |title=Giants Stun Patriots in Super Bowl XLII |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/04/sports/football/04game.html |access-date=February 16, 2024 |website=The New York Times |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Battista |first=Judy |author-link=Judy Battista |date=February 6, 2012 |title=Giants Beat Patriots in Final Rally |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/06/sports/football/super-bowl-resilient-giants-edge-patriots-to-win-super-bowl-xlvi.html |access-date=February 16, 2024 |website=The New York Times |language=en-US}}

=Arizona Cardinals=

On February 21, 2018, Merritt was hired by the Arizona Cardinals as their new defensive backs coach.{{Cite web |last=Alper |first=Josh |date=January 24, 2018 |title=Cardinals to hire Dave Merritt as secondary coach |url=https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/cardinals-to-hire-dave-merritt-as-secondary-coach |access-date=February 16, 2024 |website=NBC Sports |language=en-US}}

=Kansas City Chiefs=

On February 8, 2019, Merritt was hired by the Kansas City Chiefs as their new defensive backs coach. Merritt won his third Super Bowl ring when the Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV.{{Cite web |title=Super Bowl LIV - San Francisco 49ers vs. Kansas City Chiefs - February 2nd, 2020 |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/202002020kan.htm |access-date=February 19, 2023 |website=Pro Football Reference |language=en}} Merritt got his fourth championship ring with the Chiefs as they defeated the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII.{{Cite web |title=Super Bowl LVII - Philadelphia Eagles vs. Kansas City Chiefs - February 12th, 2023 |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/202302120phi.htm |access-date=February 19, 2023 |website=Pro Football Reference |language=en}} Merritt won his fifth Super Bowl when the Chiefs defeated the 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII.{{Cite web |last=Maaddi |first=Rob |date=February 12, 2024 |title=Patrick Mahomes rallies the Chiefs to second straight Super Bowl title, 25-22 over 49ers in overtime |url=https://apnews.com/article/super-bowl-2024-score-chiefs-49ers-49b5dca51c05ab0f259cef0d7da76c2d |access-date=February 14, 2024 |website=AP News |language=en}}