Notre Dame just signed one of the best recruiting classes in the history of the program. The majority of the players who signed have enrolled early and the biggest one of the group is offensive lineman Tyler Merrill.
Big isn’t actually a strong enough adjective to describe Merrill. He’s a massive young man who doesn’t look like he should still be in high school. At 6-6 329, he’s already listed as the second heaviest player on the team. It’s not hard to figure out why his nickname is Big Oak.
Where other freshmen arrive and have to focus on adding significant weight before they’re ready to compete at the college level, it’s a different story for Merrill. His physical development goals are focused on being able to move the way he wants to as he gets ready to play guard at Notre Dame.
“I definitely want to become quicker,” Merrill stated. “That’s one of my main goals and with that comes maintaining and maybe even losing some weight. Just kind of build more muscle.
“I want to be that agile, but big guard. Kind of how we already have Sully Absher. I kind of model myself after him right now and kind of just be that big guard on the interior who is quick on his feet and strong. That’s what I really want to focus on. Make sure I have my mental right, of course. As far as physically, maybe just getting quicker and getting up to par with strength and just go ball.”
It makes sense that Absher is the veteran player who Merrill is trying to emulate right now. They have almost identical frames with Absher being 6-7 325. However, there’s a former Notre Dame guard that describes the kind of mentality that Merrill admires and just mentioning that player’s name shows what kind of player Merrill wants to become.
“I want to be a big bruiser type, big guard who can be quick on his feet. I like to model myself after Quenton Nelson, he’s one of my role models. I strive to be like him. I want to be that big guy on the field who can get stuff done.”
Even at his size, Merrill has a long way to go before he gets compared to Nelson as a player at Notre Dame. He’s getting adjusted to the pace of college football and doing his best to focus on the details.
“Definitely the speed of how everything moves. Workouts, practice, even class,” Merrill said when asked about the biggest adjustment for him at Notre Dame.
“Things do move along pretty quickly, so you’ve definitely got to make sure you are living the moment and making sure you are aware of what you’re doing and how you do it because everything matters a little bit more. Everything is more under a microscope. It’s been an adjustment, but I think I’ve been doing okay so far.”
The workouts have been something he has had to adjust to as well with him having to concentrate more on the little things that are specific to him and his position.
“It’s less of a…I’m used to a very physical and intense workout, but it’s more of a disciplinary and intentional workout,” Merrill admitted about the work he’s done with Director of Football Performance Loren Landow. “A lot of things are focused on smaller details versus getting you tired and making sure you’re exhausted.
“A lot of things I do are a lot more intentional in my workouts, which I really like. It might not build overall as much intense, crazy cardio. And that comes along, I feel like. But right now it’s really working out more of the mind and your discipline. The little things that really matter.”
Merrill is getting used to everything new at Notre Dame, but he isn’t going through it alone. He has 23 other freshmen who are dealing with the same thing and it’s made the transition a lot easier.
“It’s a great resource I feel like. You can talk to a lot of guys about their experiences and different things they do to adjust. And kind of use their information to build your own routine,” Merrill said about having so many other early enrollees.
“I know my roommate Jonaz Walton and I have two guys who are literally down the hall (Sullivan Garvin and Devin Fitzgerald) that I hang out with and we talk. We go out together and it’s a lot of fun.
“There’s a lot more guys to lean on and do things without having to ask older guys or other people who have different experiences than you. Everyone’s on the same level when we come in.”
Though he doesn’t have to rely on the older guys as much because of the support of the other freshmen, it doesn’t mean that the veterans on the team haven’t welcomed the new guys. The older players made everyone feel welcome back when these freshmen were recruits and it’s continued from there.
“The official visit last year in the summer really helped. I got integrated with a lot of the guys, even guys I don’t normally see often, like some of the defensive guys. I don’t see CJ (Carr) all the time, but we hung out at his house on the OV. Stuff like that was awesome because once I got here it was just like familiar faces and people that I’ve already known and introduced me to them.
“So I already knew what I was getting into coming here and everyone’s great. They all welcome us and there’s never been any issues with anything. I felt like we kind of came in and they were really accepting. I really appreciate that, honestly.”
Merrill committed last January. He said that, “The blocks kind of just fell into place and I really felt like this was the place for me and I felt the most comfortable here.”
He might stand out because of his size, but Big Oak is adjusting to everything new and fitting in just fine at Notre Dame.
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