FORT LAUDERDALE — North Carolina has enjoyed a pretty good run of recruiting quarterbacks since Mack Brown returned to Chapel Hill four years ago.
First, he flipped Sam Howell, a top-100 recruit, away from Florida State. Howell put in three quality seasons as a starter before becoming a 2022 fifth-round pick.
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Last year, Drake Maye, another top-100 recruit, took over and won the ACC Player of the Year award as a redshirt freshman. He’s expected to be one of the top quarterbacks selected in the 2024 draft.
Michael Merdinger — who committed to the Tar Heels on Sunday — isn’t nearly as highly regarded as Howell and Maye. He’s ranked 1,286th in the 247Sports Composite, a low-end three-star prospect from Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Cardinal Gibbons with only six varsity starts under his belt.
That low ranking, however, is not what makes Merdinger unique among Power 5 quarterback commits.
Merdinger, assuming he enrolls at North Carolina, will become what is believed to be the first Israeli-born athlete to play in the FBS.
Merdinger grew up playing soccer in Israel and speaking Hebrew until his family moved to South Florida when he was 8 years old. A family friend, he said, gave him a football as a gift. His dad encouraged him to start studying the game on YouTube. The first video he watched was Joe Montana explaining how to throw a ball.
Thank you God
Thank you Tar Heel Nation
I’M HOME!!!@CoachMackBrown @ChipLindsey11 @Redskins32 @FootballGibbons pic.twitter.com/FwIJ8o5cWs— Michael Merdinger (@michaelm_18) May 7, 2023
“That’s kind of how it started,” said Merdinger, who was born in Tel Aviv and said he moved to South Florida because his father, a jeweler, was looking for new business opportunities. “I started going out to the tennis courts in my condominium in Aventura and kept throwing and throwing until the ball started spinning the right way.”
Merdinger said he played a season of flag football before his father signed him up to play tackle when he was 10.
“At first I was one of the kids who wasn’t good at anything, so I played on the defensive line,” Merdinger said. “We only had 12 players. Second year, I played with a 13-under team and I was only 11. I played D-line and backup quarterback. I wasn’t good at all. After seventh grade, I started training with a quarterback coach and working on my fundamentals.”
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So why did the Tar Heels take a chance on a quarterback currently ranked 83rd at his position the 2024 cycle? New offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey has had his eye on Merdinger for well over a year and believes he’ll be a great fit in the Tar Heels Air Raid offense.
“Chip saw him last year when he was recruiting our quarterback (Dylan Rizk) to UCF,” Cardinal Gibbons coach Matthew DuBuc said Tuesday.
“He called me a month ago and asked me about Mike’s availability and how he was doing. He came down in December and then again and thought he fit the mold of what they’re looking for. Mike’s 6-2, 205 pounds and has a lightning-quick release. He is an extremely hard worker. Some people were kind of speculative because he only made one start for us, but Mike’s played a lot. Now, he’s taking over. It’s his team.”
Merdinger was starting to pick up some steam on the recruiting trail before he received the North Carolina offer last weekend while on an unofficial visit in Chapel Hill. Illinois and Minnesota had already offered him, and Michigan State was on the verge of being the next Power 5 team to jump in, according to Dubuc.
DuBuc, who has a 73-14 record as a head coach and led Cardinal Gibbons to three state titles in four years from 2018 through 2021, probably deserves the benefit of the doubt when it comes to his opinion on quarterbacks who can run the Air Raid.
He’s coached three Power 5 quarterback signees at Cardinal Gibbons: Peyton Bender (2014 Washington State signee who started two seasons at Kansas), Nik Scalzo (2019 Kentucky signee) and Rizk (2023 UCF signee).
DuBuc, who played receiver and running back at Texas Tech in the mid-1990s and then in the Canadian Football League, began his coaching career in Texas and spent a lot of time talking to the offensive masterminds who have run the Air Raid for decades. The list includes the late Mike Leach, Dana Holgorsen, Sonny Dykes, and Lincoln Riley.
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“As far our offense is concerned, Bender was the guy that did it all and could do it all without being a runner,” DuBuc said. “Mike goes back to the days of Bender, where there’ll be a little bit more ball distribution, based on a quick release and quick decision making.”
As the backup to Rizk last season for an 11-2 team, Merdinger completed nearly 70 percent of his pass attempts for 721 yards, nine touchdowns and one interception. In his only start, a 33-0 win over Calvary Christian, Merdinger was 21-of-34 for 239 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He’s also credited with five runs for 34 yards on the season.
“He’s a high IQ guy with 5.1 GPA who can process the field fast,” DuBuc said. “In the film room, he’s locked in and knows exactly what’s going on. As a backup, he was doing things at a very high level. Anything he does doesn’t surprise me. He knows where to go based off pre-snap reads. He does a good job eliminating one side of the field. As far as arm strength, there’s two quarterbacks I’ve had where you can hear the ball when it comes out of his hand — it’s Mike and Peyton. And Chip Lindsey is going to run exactly what Mike’s skill set provides.”
Merdinger started the first two games of his sophomore season at Deerfield Beach High before a coaching change landed him on the bench for a game. He said he made three more starts shortly after that and was benched again. After the season, he transferred to Cardinal Gibbons, where he knew he’d be the backup and have to wait until his senior year to start.
“I was forced to man up and grow thick skin,” Merdinger said. “It kind of made me the man I am today.”
Recruit | TM | Size | 247 Comp | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Luke Kromenhoek |  | 6-4, 185 | 4-star (10th) | Savannah, Ga. |
Jakhari Williams |  | 6-2, 188 | 4-star (16th) | Macon, Ga. |
Davi Belfort |  | 5-10, 185 | 3-star (29th) | Fort Lauderdale, Fla. |
Cedrick Bailey |  | 6-7, 185 | 3-star (34th) | Hollywood, Fla. |
Deuce Adams |  | 6-1, 170 | 3-star (39th) | Austin, Texas |
Jeremy Hecklinski |  | 6-1, 175 | 3-star (46th) | Marietta, Ga. |
Judd Anderson |  | 6-6, 210 | 3-star (61st) | Gray, Ga. |
Michael Merdinger |  | 6-2, 195 | 3-star (83rd) | Fort Lauderdale, Fla. |
Of the 50 quarterback recruits committed to FBS programs through Tuesday, Merdinger ranks second-to-last in the 247Sports Composite. None of the rankings, though, bother him. He knows it is because he hasn’t played very much.
“Mike didn’t have a lot of snaps, but physically the kid is really good. He’s been like that since the 10th grade,” longtime South Florida recruiting analyst Larry Blustein said. “In the classroom, he’s unbelievable. He has all the intangibles to be really, really good. The only thing he’s lacking is experience. But he’s a kid I think has a chance to be pretty special down the road.”
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Blustein says Iowa commitment James Resar of Jacksonville Bishop Kenny, a three-star recruit ranked No. 586 overall, is the top quarterback in the state. He has UCF commitment Riley Trujillo, a three-star from Jacksonville Bartram Trail who is No. 702 overall, next on his list. Blustein doesn’t believe Merdinger will catch either of them, but he can climb up the national rankings with a good season.
DuBuc said Merdinger needs to learn to take what the defense gives him. That should be a focus for his senior season.
“Sometimes you think you can make every throw, and what we’re really trying to do is have him check the ball down when he has to,” DuBuc said. “You have to be patient enough not to get sucked up and hoist up verticals all the time. You can be really good, too, when you do check it down in a good spot so the back can catch, tuck and go.”
Merdinger, who picked up his first offer, from Georgia Tech, prior to his sophomore year, is under the impression he’s the only quarterback North Carolina will take this cycle. He said he’s fully committed to playing for Brown and Lindsey next season.
“They’re not going to take two (quarterbacks) — I’m the only guy,” Merdinger said. “I made my decision because I want a fair chance to start and make an impact as soon as I get there. I don’t want any politics. I want the best guy to play. I love competition. It makes the quarterback better. It makes the team better. That’s what I’m all about.”
(Photo: Manny Navarro: The Athletic)