Despite spending years of his life in Germany, Tyler Merrill’s a Pennsylvania kid who’s quite familiar with Penn State football.
The four-star, 6-foot-5, 310-pound lineman resides in Mehanicsburg. He plays at Cumberland Valley High School.
He has offers from many big time schools, such as Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State, Pitt, South Carolina, Syracuse, Temple and West Virginia.
Penn State’s also on the list. PSU offered Merrill in May. When the team played its first game since then against West Virginia Saturday night at Beaver Stadium, Merrill was watching from the sidelines.
Always a great time in Happy Valley! Thank you again @chrismahon_ and the rest of the psu staff for the great time! @CVHS_Football @coachoswalt pic.twitter.com/2TVNGMjhP6
— Tyler Merrill (@BigOak2026) September 3, 2023
Merrill had visited Penn State on a few occasions before, and always looks forward to returning.
“It’s always great to be back,” Merrill told Nittany Sports Now via direct message.
Merrill was born in Germany. He lived there until he was five before coming to Pennsylvania. His father, Matt’s, home state. When Matt Merrill took a job in Germany in 2015, the family stayed there again for a while before returning to the United States for good in 2018.
Where was the first college football game Tyler Merrill attended upon returning to the States?
Beaver Stadium.
Merrill went with his family to Penn State’s 2018 season opener against Appalachian State. Penn State won that game in overtime.
Merrill enjoyed the day. But the 11-year-old wasn’t thinking about playing at Penn State or anywhere else in college football at the time.
Now, he’s the No. 2 interior offensive lineman in the country from his class per 247Sports’ composite rankings.
So if Merrill wants to play at Penn State, there’s no reason to think he can’t.
At Saturday’s game, Merrill “felt more involved” and said a lot of Penn State’s coaches recognized him.
Merrill’s talked with most of Penn State staff. He said the only one he hasn’t had a discussion with is the head coach, James Franklin.
He’s been to two college games, and both were at Beaver Stadium.
Not a bad place to start, eh?
“I love just the atmosphere,” Merrill said, “like I can see why people say it’s the best atmosphere in college football.”
Merrill said he still hasn’t made any decisions on his recruitment with it being still early in the process.
