Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
1/23Inside-5 share
1 of the team's 23 inside-the-5 carries (4.3%).
Michael Merdinger
Michael Merdinger is a quarterback at Minnesota who has not played in Minnesota's 8 games this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Liberty.
Where Merdinger comes from
- Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Cardinal Gibbons
- About 1,500 miles from Huntington Bank Stadium
- Three-star, No. 1,048 in the 2024 class; signed with North Carolina.
Where Merdinger fits
Minnesota lists 6 quarterbacks this season.
Minnesota quarterbacks with a game this season
Minnesota is 5-3. Next: vs UCLA, Sat Nov 7.
Similar players
Same class and position
From Cardinal Gibbons
Also from Fort Lauderdale, FL
Played for two head coaches across two seasons and two programs. One game to point at: 212 passing yards and 13 rushing yards against Kennesaw State — Week 14, 2025.
Style of play
Style of play
Where to follow
Career stats
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Liberty | 21 | 41 | 51.2% | 350 | 8.5 | 1 | 0 | 131.0 | 41 |
| 2024 | North Carolina | 9 | 12 | 75.0% | 86 | 7.2 | 0 | 1 | 118.5 | -- |
| Career | 30 | 53 | 56.6% | 436 | 8.2 | 1 | 1 | 128.2 | 41 |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Liberty | 19 | 28 | 1.5 | 1 | 20 |
| 2024 | North Carolina | 5 | −31 | −6.2 | 0 | 1 |
| Career | 24 | −3 | −0.1 | 1 | 20 |
Game log
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 5 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | CMP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | YPA | QBR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 3 | L 13-23@ Bowling Green | 0/1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | |
| Wk 4 | L 13-31vs James Madison | 2/6 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 3.5 | 24.6 | |
| Wk 5 | L 7-21@ Old Dominion | 6/11 | 77 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 13.2 | |
| Wk 10 | W 59-30vs Delaware | 1/2 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 20.0 | 98.9 | |
| Wk 14 | L 42-48vs Kennesaw State | 12/21 | 212 | 1 | 0 | 10.1 | 66.1 | Season-high 212 yds |
| Total | 21/41 | 350 | 1 | 0 | 8.5 | — |
Signature game
Week 14 · 2025
L 42-48
212 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 66.1 · 13 rush yds (8 car) · 1 TD
With E. Dickens — 267 rush yds (43 car) · 4 TD · 1 rec · 16 yds · M. Morgan — -11 rush yds (1 car)
Signature plays
The plays that mattered most
- Week 14 · Kennesaw State · 2nd and 6 · Q4 · EPA +5.21Merdinger to Blue: a 59-yard touchdown pass.
- Week 14 · Kennesaw State · 3rd and 13 · Q1 · EPA +4.30Merdinger to Mobley: a 40-yard pass.
- Week 10 · Delaware · 3rd and 6 · Q4 · EPA +3.45Merdinger to Monteiro: a 40-yard pass.
- Week 5 · Old Dominion · 1st and 10 · Q3 · EPA +2.63Michael Merdinger pass complete to Donte Lee Jr. for 53 yds to the ODU 11 for a
- Week 14 · Kennesaw State · 2nd and 8 · Q4 · EPA +2.21Merdinger to Mobley: a 16-yard pass.
- Week 14 · Kennesaw State · 2nd and 10 · Q3 · EPA −2.19M.Merdinger rush middle for 11 yards loss fumbled by M.Merdinger at LU45 recovered by LU M.Merdinger at LU39, End Of Play
4 more plays
- Week 5 · Old Dominion · 3rd and 2 · Q1 · EPA +2.08Michael Merdinger run for 12 yds to the ODU 45 for a
- Week 4 · James Madison · 2nd and 8 · Q3 · EPA +1.87Michael Merdinger run for 11 yds to the LIB 49 for a
- Week 14 · Kennesaw State · 3rd and 10 · Q2 · EPA +1.70M.Merdinger rush right for 20 yards gain (A.Ford)
- Week 4 · James Madison · 3rd and 5 · Q3 · EPA +1.59Michael Merdinger run for 6 yds to the LIB 36 for a
Teams and coaches
2024North Carolina6-7HC: Mack Brown · Run-leaning
2025Liberty4-8HC: Jamey Chadwell · Run-heavy
Our ratings
Splits
Home and road splits, scheme and staff
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 5 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home3g | 91.0 | 0.3 | 11.2 | 0.0 |
| Road2g | 38.5 | 0.0 | 3.5 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 32.7 | 0.0 | 3.5 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 126 | 0.5 | 15.1 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Jamey Chadwell
Pass share
38.7%
314 pass / 498 run
Plays / game
67.7
12 games
Scheme: Run-heavy.
Awards
Player standing · 2025
41 pass attempts and 19 carries in 5 games
Fewer passes and runs a game than most FBS quarterbacks who play every week.
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Starter
The No. 1,048 recruit in the country is starting at quarterback in the Big Ten.
Three seasons, three schools
- 2026 Minnesota FleckYear 3 · on the roster, no stat line
- Jan 2026 Entered the transfer portalLiberty to Minnesota
- 2025 Liberty ChadwellYear 2 · 5 games
- Jan 2025 Entered the transfer portalNorth Carolina to Liberty
- 2024 North Carolina BrownYear 1 · 1 game
- High school Cardinal GibbonsFort Lauderdale, FL · Class of 2024Three-star, No. 1,048 in the 2024 class. Signed with North Carolina.Also from Cardinal Gibbons: Troy Stellato (UNLV), Ahmad Moten (Miami), Colton Heinrich (Georgia) and 13 more.
Moves
- Transferred from North Carolina to Liberty, Jan 10, 2025.
- Transferred from Liberty to Minnesota, Jan 2, 2026.
2024
- Signed with North CarolinaThree-star, out of Cardinal Gibbons
2025 5 games
The role got bigger.
- Transferred to Libertyfrom North Carolina
2026
- Transferred to Minnesotafrom Liberty
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
3 coachesPlayed for 3 head coaches at 3 schools: Mack Brown, Jamey Chadwell and P.J. Fleck.
Next stop · Transfer
Transferred to Minnesota
2024North Carolina
2025Liberty
2026Minnesota