The recruiting process is starting to pick up for this standout local prospect in the 2023 class, and Clemson is among the schools that have him on their radar.
Daniel High School (Central, S.C.) wide receiver Eli Merck is beginning to draw interest from a number of Division I teams, including the Tigers.
“It’s been kind of weird, but I guess it’s starting to take off now,” Merck said of his recruitment in a recent interview with The Clemson Insider. “Recently, Mercer has been really interested, Clemson… I went up to Wofford for a junior day. I’ve had a bunch of coaches follow me from a lot of schools, mainly FCS. There’s a couple FBS schools.”
Merck (6-1, 195) attended Clemson’s spring game on April 9 as an unofficial visitor after being invited by members of the Tigers’ staff, namely wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham and co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Wes Goodwin.
“Coach Goodwin and Coach Grisham hit me up probably three weeks before the spring game, and they just invited me out to the spring game,” he said. “It was really fun.”
The hospitality Merck was shown by Clemson’s coaches stood out to him during the spring game visit experience.
“They’re just nice guys,” he said. “They’ll just come up to you and talk to you like you’re a friend and stuff. It’s a family atmosphere.”
Merck had the chance to speak some with Grisham while on campus and came away impressed after their interactions, even though they weren’t able to spend as much time together as Merck would have liked.
“He came up to me and talked to me while I was eating,” Merck said. “He wanted to catch me after the game, but I had to leave. I had some family business to get to, so I couldn’t talk to him unfortunately.”
“He’s a great guy,” Merck added. “He’s a family guy, and I really like that because I want to go somewhere that treats me like family and not just a player.”
Living basically in Clemson’s backyard and attending high school just a few miles away from the university’s campus, Merck has grown up a fan of the Tigers and feels he’d fit right into Clemson’s offense if given the opportunity to play there.
“I’ve grown up right beside Clemson,” he said. “I’ve watched every Clemson game, and I just think that it’d be a nice fit. I could fit into the offense very well, and I could pretty much play any of those receiving positions.”
Merck’s grandfather, Oscar Thorsland, was a tight end for the Tigers back in the day, and it means a lot to him to be getting interest from the team he grew up rooting for and that his grandpa played for.
“It’s so cool,” he said. “I’ve dreamed of being able to go and play college football, and for my hometown team to show interest in me, it’s pretty big.”
Merck surpassed 1,000 yards receiving as both a sophomore in 2020 and junior in 2021 and has accounted for 31 touchdown receptions over his past two campaigns.
He sees similarities between himself as a receiver and Clemson’s Brannon Spector.
“I like the way he plays,” Merck said. “I’ve seen his highlight tape from high school. I think I play a lot like him.”
Merck has played plenty in front of Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, a regular attender of Daniel High School games over the years to watch his sons, and Merck would love the opportunity to play for Swinney in the future as a member of the Tigers.
“He’s been going to pretty much every game I’ve played,” Merck said, “and for him to be my coach, it’d be really cool, and definitely a dream.”
Merck participated in Swinney’s football camp last summer and said he will most likely compete at the camp again in June.
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