A former Notre Dame football player has finally found himself a new home. And now that former Irish Tobias Merriweather has found his new home, it marks his third stop in as many years.
Merriweather played two years for head coach Marcus Freeman’s squad and always showed flashes of someone who could be a go-to receiver in the right offense. However as the team kept reaching into the transfer portal for wide receivers, the Washington state native decided to look for greener pastures. In 2024 he believed that to be the Cal Golden Bears.
Can a fresh start in the Big 12 revive this ex-Notre Dame receiver’s stalled career?
However, after catching just 11 passes for 125 yards and 1 touchdown, the former Notre Dame football wideout decided he needed to look elsewhere. He entered the transfer portal for a second straight year this spring. Now he’s decided on his third team in three years, as he’ll be a Utah Ute.
Cal transfer WR Tobias Merriweather has signed with Utah, ESPN has learned.
— Max Olson (@max_olson) May 5, 2025
The former ESPN 300 recruit has 26 career catches for 450 yards and 4 TDs during his time at Cal and Notre Dame. pic.twitter.com/zLPosFnLgc
Coming out of high school, Merriweather was rated a four-star prospect with a 95 rating and the No. 121 talent nationally in the 2022 recruiting class, according to 247 Sports’ composite rankings.
“Merriweather is a lengthy receiver with optimal height and range, with a large catch radius, soft hands that can pluck passes from all angles and glides when in the open field. He’s smooth in his routes and in and out of his breaks, adjusts well to throws and flashes great body control,” 247 Sports’ Brandon Huffman wrote in his official scouting report.
One of the reasons the former Notre Dame star likely chose Utah is that the Big 12 team has had to completely revamp its offense, including its receiving corps. Head coach Kyle Whittingham has many new players who are expected to compete for starting spots.
Merriweather joins Creed Whittemore from Mississippi State, Justin Stevenson from Wyoming, Ryan Davis from New Mexico, and Larry Simmons from Southern Miss. They’ll join holdovers like Luca Caldarella and Daidren Zipperer.
If the former Notre Dame football player can recapture the spark he had coming out of high school, he could see significantly expanded playing time for the Utes who face a Big 12 conference that tends to be light on defense.