Notre Dame Football Recruiting: Rivals250 Wide Receiver Tobias Merriweather Commits To Fighting Irish

After struggling to recruit at the wide receiver position in the 2019 and 2020 classes, the Fighting Irish signed a strong group in the 2021 cycle and continued that momentum with a big addition to their 2022 class today.

Vancouver (Wash.) Union playmaker Tobias Merriweather announced his commitment to the Fighting Irish Wednesday. He chose Notre Dame over Stanford, and also had offers from Michigan, Nebraska, Oregon, Tennessee, USC and Washington, among others.

Merriweather took an official visit to Notre Dame June 11-13, which ultimately put the Fighting Irish over the top. Notre Dame’s overall pitch was effective in its simplicity.

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“They just tell you what you’re going to get,” Merriweather’s father, Dom, said. “There’s no pomp and circumstance. It’s not really a sales job. It’s like, ‘Here’s our locker room and our weight rooms.’ You have the best of everything, but at the end of the day, it’s Notre Dame.

“The core is you have a Notre Dame degree, graduate 95 percent [of players] and we’re trying to win a championship. I think that fits Tobias’ personality. He told Coach [Brian] Kelly that culturally it’s a good fit for him.”

Merriweather built a strong relationship with the Notre Dame staff, especially wide receivers coach Del Alexander.

“I think he’s a good guy with a good approach and intentions,” Tobias Merriweather said. “He wants to win games and develop his players.”

Merriweather is Notre Dame’s second wide receiver commitment in the 2022 class, joining Ponchatoula (La.) High’s Amorion Walker. Both are All-Americans, with Walker receiving an invite to play in the Under Armour Game, while Merriweather will compete in the Adidas All-American Bowl and the Polynesian Bowl. Notre Dame hopes to pull off another receiver recruiting win on Saturday, when Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei pass catcher CJ Williams announces his pledge.

Merriweather is Notre Dame’s 20th commitment in the 2022 class. Nine of the Irish’s verbals are on the offensive side of the ball. He gives Notre Dame its 15th four-star commitment of the 2022 cycle.

Rivals ranks Merriweather as the No. 2 prospect in Washington, the No. 21 wide receiver and No. 155 overall recruit in the country. As things currently stand, Merriweather will be Notre Dame’s lone player on its roster from The Evergreen State next year.

During a six-game junior season, Merriweather caught 28 passes for 415 yards and six touchdowns. He had 666 all-purpose years and nine total touchdowns, plus four interceptions as a defensive back. Scorebook Live named as a Washington first-team all-state offensive performer.

“There’s speed. Then there’s Merriweather speed,” Todd Milles wrote. “The four-star had a tremendous season out wide, as well as special teams, where he ran back two kick returns for touchdowns.”

Merriweather was named the The Columbian’s All-Region Male Athlete of the Year with his play in football, basketball and track as a junior. He won district titles in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter races.

During Merriweather’s sophomore season in 2019, he caught 43 passes for 766 yards and five touchdowns.

His older sisters Jai’Lyn and Dai’Lyn both run track at the University of Oklahoma.