Columbus football coach Chris Merritt named head coach at Bryant University
After leading the Columbus Explorers football team for 18 years and reaching the state championship game twice, coach Chris Merritt is moving on.
Multiple sources told the Miami Herald that Merritt is expected to be named the head coach at Bryant University, a Division I Football Championship Subdivision team in the Northeast Conference. A formal announcement is expected Thursday afternoon. FloridaHSFootball.com was the first to report the news.
Merritt became the head coach at Columbus in 2001 and led the Explorers to the playoffs in all but one season. The Explorers went 24-17 in the postseason under Merritt and reached at least the state semifinals five times over the past eight years.
Columbus finished the 2018 season 14-1, falling in the Class 8A state championship game to Jacksonville Mandarin.
This story was originally published December 20, 2018 at 11:21 AM.
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