Tiger Tuesday: Phillip Merling

Tiger Tuesday features a Clemson athlete from the past that significantly impacted their program.

Phillip Merling – Clemson football Defensive End, 2005-07

• RTR 200 Ranking: 171
• Second-team All-ACC in 2007
• 146 tackles (99 solo)
• 31 tackles for loss
• 12 sacks

Merling is an example of a guy who had to put in the work in the classroom before he could put in the work on the field. He hailed from Saint Matthews, South Carolina, but as a rising senior he relocated to Tennessee, playing at one of the larger high schools in the state. He excelled on the field, but he still needed to work on his academics before he could achieve his goal of playing Division I college football. He enrolled at Fork Union Military Academy in 2004. He was a two-way player at Fork Union, catching five touchdowns in addition to five sacks on defense. He was named their MVP for that season. Multiple schools showed interest in signing Merling, but he already knew where he wanted to play football.

"“South Carolina, Georgia, and Kentucky all looked at me. Other schools did too. But those schools originally wanted me to go to a junior college. Clemson was the only school that advised me to go to a prep school. They stood by me when other schools didn’t. Because of that, I knew I was going to go play at Clemson.”"

Once he arrived at Clemson, he began turning his 2-star rating into something pro scouts would notice. It turned out that a year at Fork Union didn’t just help him with his academics, but it helped him bridge the gap to the college game.

"“I don’t think college was a big adjustment. I came from Fork Union, and there we played at college speed. We played college teams. College was a little faster, but because I came from a prep school, I felt that I easily adjusted to the college game. It was like a red-shirt year for me when I was at Fork Union.”"

Phillip Merling’s path may have been different than most, but it ultimately led to Clemson football and then the NFL

Over the course of three seasons, he played in 38 games, starting 26 of them. As a freshman, Merling was given the 12th Man Award by the team and was named to Rivals.com’s second-team All-ACC Freshman team. As a junior, Merling led all Clemson defensive linemen in tackles and was named second-team All-ACC. You can see highlights of Merling (#94) in this video of the 2007 Chick-Fil-A Bowl against Auburn.

He left after his junior season and was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the 2nd round of the 2008 NFL Draft. The highpoint of his rookie campaign was intercepting Brett Favre to help the Dolphins defeat the Jets and clinch the AFC East. He played well in his first two seasons, but injuries began to take their toll.

Following his playing career, Merling began coaching at Fork Union.