2026 Notre Dame offensive line recruit, is planning two trips to South Bend: one for a spring practice this month and another for the spring game next month.
The Pennsylvania native hopes to join offensive line commits Sullivan Garvin and Ben Nichols for spring practice.
“I think we’re all planning on going on the 26th together,” Merrill tells me. “That’s our current plan, but it could change in the future because we don’t have anything booked or anything like that.
“It will be good. I believe I bonded with both at Junior Day. I believe that simply staying as close to them as possible will be crucial. It will give me two people to lean on as we go through this journey together. It’s going to start changing here pretty soon once I get to university, and I’ll be there (in January).
Merrill revealed his verbal commitment to the Irish shortly after that Junior Day trip in January, and he’s excited to go on to the next stage of the recruiting process as a Notre Dame commit.
“It’s definitely going to be a different chapter in my story for sure,” adds the author. “I believe that getting straight into it and failing quickly is the greatest way to become comfortable. It’s like being a freshman in high school again. Preparing to be the new man is, I believe, the next step in my college career. This summer, I definitely want to stay in touch with all of my friends and so on, but I also want to focus on my senior year and make sure everything runs well and that I have a wonderful senior year, as well as prepare myself to be comfortable.
“I spoke with Coach (Joe) Rudolph the other day. We were just talking about how the boys’ spring vacation is coming up soon, so we talked about that and just learned more about the tiny things. What time do guys usually go to class? Are guys living on or off campus? Something like that. I believe those questions will be answered more as the year progresses and I come closer to my arrival.”
Merrill is working on getting a couple of top targets from his home state to join him in South Bend.
“I am really trying to get Joey O’Brien and Messiah Mickens on the train. I believe those two players would be excellent additions to Notre Dame, and they would certainly fit in here.”
