Merci Falaise was hired as Maryland’s General Manager for Player Personnel in November 2023.
Falaise played a major role in Maryland’s 2026 signing class ranking among the Top 25 nationally in average player rating by both 247Sports and Rivals/On3. The class was highlighted by edge rusher Zion Elee, the highest-rated signee in program history and the No. 2 overall recruit nationally according to ESPN.
Falaise also played a key role in securing a Top 25 recruiting class in 2025, with both ESPN and 247Sports placing Maryland among the nation’s elite. 247Sports rated the class as the highest in program history by average player ranking, with three signees landing on Maryland’s all-time Top 25 commits list. ESPN ranked seven members of the class in its Top 300 — the most for the Terps since the service began football recruiting rankings in 2006.
On the field, Maryland produced 13 All-Big Ten selections in 2025, with 10 of those honorees coming from recruiting classes signed since Falaise arrived in College Park.
Falaise joined Maryland after spending six seasons at NC State (2017–23), serving as Director of Player Personnel/General Manager from 2021–23, becoming the first Black individual to hold that title in the Power Five. He previously worked as the Wolfpack’s Director of Recruiting and Assistant Director of Player Personnel from 2017–21. During his tenure, NC State signed six of its Top 25 all-time commits as ranked by 247Sports and posted its two highest-rated recruiting classes by average player ranking in 2022 and 2023. The 2023 class featured the program’s most four-star signees in a decade, while the Wolfpack produced 11 first-team and 30 total All-ACC performers from recruiting classes beginning in 2018.
A Washington, Ga., native, Falaise was selected for the NFL Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellowship with the San Francisco 49ers in both 2020 and 2022 and was named a “Personnel and Recruiting Rising Star” by On3 in 2022.
Prior to NC State, Falaise spent three seasons on the football staff at Tennessee, where the Volunteers signed three Top 10 recruiting classes. He also served as offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Garden City Community College in 2014, personally signing 48 players and coaching Tyreek Hill, the nation’s top-ranked JUCO prospect at the time.
Falaise began his coaching career at Georgia Military College as an assistant coach overseeing the offensive line and tight ends, followed by two seasons at the high school level in Georgia at Washington-Wilkes High School and Greene County High School.
A former standout player, Falaise started his collegiate career at Georgia Military College, earning first-team NJCAA All-America honors before transferring to NC State. He earned his bachelor’s degree in sports management from NC State and completed a master’s degree in management and leadership from Liberty University in 2012.
