Davis Merritt was promoted to Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers Coach in the spring of 2026, after previously serving as WKU's Co-Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers Coach in 2025 and as Inside Linebackers Coach during the 2023 and 2024 seasons. The 2026 season will be his fourth at WKU.
Merritt led one of the top defenses in Conference USA in 2025 as Co-Defensive Coordinator, which helped the team to a 9-4 overall record and a victory in the 2025 New Orleans Bowl.
The Hilltoppers finished the regular season second in the league in scoring defense, allowing just 23.4 points per game. WKU had the second-best pass defense efficiency in the conference in the regular season at 113.9, and was second in the league in passing yards allowed at just 221.4 per game. WKU had the second-best third down defense in the conference, allowing opponents to convert just 35.3% of the time, and the best fourth down conversion defense, allowing opponents to convert just 32.1% of the time. The fourth down defense ranked sixth nationally. WKU allowed the second-fewest first downs per game in CUSA in 2025 – 20.4 per game. The Hilltoppers were strong in the red zone defensively, allowing opponents to score touchdowns just 34.7% of the time once reaching the red zone, the third-best mark nationally behind only Indiana and Ohio State – the No. 1 and No. 2 seeded teams in the College Football Playoff. The Hilltoppers had a pair of players receive All-CUSA Honorable Mention recognition on defense in 2025 – Harper Holloman and Jaylen Lewis.
In 2024, Merritt helped coach WKU to berths in the Conference USA Championship Game and the Boca Raton Bowl. The Hilltopper defense was fourth in CUSA in scoring defense in 2024, allowing an average of 24.6 points per game, and ranked third in the category against league opponents during the regular season at just 20.1 points allowed through those eight games. The Hilltoppers finished second in the league in pass defense last season by allowing just 176.1 yards per game, and held opponents under 100 yards passing four times during the regular season. The Hilltoppers were third in the league in turnovers gained in 2024.
Merritt coached linebacker Darius Thomas to All-Conference USA Honorable Mention Honors in the 2024 season.
Merritt joined WKU in March of 2023 as Inside Linebackers Coach, after a successful two-year run at Georgia where he helped the Bulldogs win back-to-back National Championships.
In his first season at WKU, Merritt helped lead one of the top defenses in the country when it came to producing takeaways. The Hilltoppers recorded 26 turnovers gained, which led Conference USA and ranked tied for seventh nationally. WKU's 11 fumble recoveries were seventh nationally and the 15 passes intercepted were 15th in the country – marks that ranked first and second in CUSA, respectively.
At Georgia, Merritt served as a Defensive Quality Control Coordinator while helping assemble one of the most dominant defenses in all of college football.
In 2022, Georgia went a perfect 15-0 with a win over LSU to claim the SEC Championship before moving on to the Peach Bowl where the Bulldogs beat Ohio State in the College Football Playoff Semifinal to move on to the National Championship. The Georgia defense provided an elite performance in the championship game, limiting TCU to just one score in a dominant 65-7 victory.
Under Merritt’s leadership, Georgia’s defense was just as good the year before when they defeated Alabama, 33-18, to claim their first of two-straight National Championships. The 2021 Bulldog defense surrendered just 6.7 points per game, including three shutouts and eight games in which they allowed seven points or less. Following that dominant season, Georgia saw eight defensive players drafted into the NFL, including five first-round picks in the 2022 draft. Two of those eight draft picks were Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean who both played linebacker under Merritt.
Before his time at Georgia, Merritt spent the 2020 campaign at Ole Miss as a Senior Defensive Player Personnel Analyst. That was after a three-year stint at Florida Atlantic as a Defensive Quality Control Assistant. FAU won two Conference USA Championships and two bowl games during that span.
Merritt began his coaching career at Mississippi State as a Student Assistant, working primarily with defensive backs from 2011-13. He then went to Ole Miss for his first run with the Rebels where he was a Volunteer Assistant for the 2013 campaign before serving as a Graduate Assistant from 2014-16. During his time at Ole Miss, the Rebels won the 2015 Sugar Bowl against No. 16 Oklahoma State. Originally from Hattiesburg, Miss., Merritt owns a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from Mississippi State. He is joined in Bowling Green by his wife, Kathleen, and two daughters Molly and Ellie.
