University of Rhode Island

Joe Merullo joined Jim Fleming's staff in July of 2018 as Rhode Island's Director of Football Operations.

Merullo came to Rhode Island from Iowa State, where he worked in several roles with the athletic department. He spent two different stints working with the football program. From January 2018 through May 2018, Merullo was a volunteer player personnel assistant. In the role, he accompanied student-athletes at community outreach events, promoted "Cyclones in the Community" via social media, assisted with student-athlete housing assignments and helped academic support staff to schedule study hall and tutoring sessions for the student-athletes. He also monitored training tables, work with the nutrition staff and assisted the program's NFL Liaison with pro-days and player inquiries.

In his first stint with the program, Merullo was a student assisant to the team's recruiting and operations staff. Among his duties were providing tours and game day experiences for recruits and completing set up for daily practices.

Between his two tours with the football program, Merullo completed an internship with the Iowa State Communications office. He assisted with post-game media interviews for the football team, tracked player participation and statistics during home football games and researched statistics and records for the men's basketball and football teams. He also managed social media strategic plans and developed public relations and marketing strategies to promote ISU athletics.

Merullo earned his bachelor's degree in Public Relations with a minor in Speech Communication from Iowa State in May of 2018.

Updatd 8/8/2018