In his second season as an Illinois Wesleyan assistant in 2011, Simon Merlia will be working with the defensive backs.
Merila played collegiately as an outside linebacker at Pacific Lutheran (Wash.) before transferring to Oregon State University.
While attending Oregon State, Merila was an assistant football coach at Corvallis (Ore.) High School, where he also taught science in 2009-10.
A product of Astoria (Ore.) High School, Merila graduated magna cum laude from OSU in 2009 with a double major in nutrition science and education.
He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in exercise physiology at Illinois State University.
Updated August 2011
