After receiving a call from Bill Belichick, North Carolina Tar Heels lacrosse commit Gary Merrill announced his commitment to play college football for the school as well.
Merrill was a top lacrosse recruit in the country but was barely recruited for football, so why did Belichick offer him?
Gary Merrill: Bill Belichick’s Next Two-Sport Star?
According to Inside Lacrosse recruiting rankings, Merrill was the No. 2 prospect in the 2025 recruiting class. But as dominant as he was on the Lacrosse field for St. Anthony’s High School, he was arguably better on the football field.
In his senior year at St. Anthony’s, Merrill was the starting QB. His stat line is arguably one of the craziest you’ll ever see. He finished the season with 1,762 passing yards and 19 passing TDs. On the ground, Merrill was even more dominant, running for 1,955 yards and 32 scores. Those numbers were enough to earn him Gatorade Player of the Year.
It’s doubtful he’ll be a QB at UNC, but with Merrill’s athleticism, he can pretty much play anywhere Belichick sees fit.
Believe it or not, this isn’t Belichick’s first time finding a gem from the lacrosse field.
Belichick’s Connection to Lacrosse
Belichick is a certified lax guy. He has long watched and appreciated the game and has deep ties to it.
He played both football and lacrosse in high school and then in college at Wesleyan. All three of Belichick’s children also played college lacrosse. Belichick’s daughter, Amanda, is now the head coach for Holy Cross women’s lacrosse, and he often attends her games.
This also isn’t the first time Belichick has taken a lacrosse player and put them on the football field. In 2016, Belichick signed relatively unknown free agent WR Chris Hogan.
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In college, Hogan played lacrosse at Penn State before transferring to Monmouth his senior year. At Monmouth, he played both lacrosse and football and bounced around the NFL from 2011-2016.
Hogan became a starter on the Patriots, racking up 1,500 yards and 12 TDs in his three seasons there.
There is no doubt that Belichick will be able to find a way to use Merrill on the football field, and it’s easy to imagine he will be at most of the UNC lacrosse games in the spring.
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