Dannie Merida was promoted to Associate Head Coach of FIU men’s soccer in April of 2022 after serving as an assistant coach for two seasons with the program.

He helped lead the Panthers to one of the most successful seasons in program history as FIU captured the 2022 American Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championships and a run to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.

Merida's efforts have garnered national praise as he was named a 2022 College Soccer News Top Assistant Coach and the FIU coaching staff as a whole was named the united Soccer Coaches Regional United Soccer Coaches NCAA D-I East Region Staff of the Year.

Merida, who owns 13 years of collegiate coaching experience, helped guide the Panthers to one of the program's best seasons ever in 2021 which included a Conference USA Regular Season Championship and a berth to the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32.

During the 2021 season as an assistant coach, Merida helped the Panthers earned a 12-2-2 regular-season record an undefeated 7-0-1 mark in C-USA play, while also securing the most points ever (22) in the league standings since joining C-USA. Merida also helped the Panthers defeat a No. 1 ranked opponent for the first time in program history, when FIU downed defending NCAA champion Marshall in the final game of the regular season to claim the league's regular-season title.

Under Merida's guidance, FIU went on to earn an at-large bid as the No. 13 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament and secured a first round bye, marking only the third time in history that FIU has advanced automatically to the Round of 32, and the program’s 11th appearance in the national tournament. 

During the 2021 regular season, Merida also helped FIU earn a No. 12 national ranking while being Top-25 in national polls for 10 consecutive weeks. The Panthers also achieved their highest RPI ranking (No. 13) since the 2003 season after playing six nationally ranked teams and two additional squads that received votes.

Merida helped the Panthers posted a perfect 7-0 record at home in 2021, including a dominating 4-1 victory over No. 1 Marshall, a shutout 1-0 win over No. 12 VCU,  and a 4-0 clean sheet victory over #RV Charlotte - a program FIU had never beaten since joining C-USA. The Blue & Gold earned the No. 1 seed in the C-USA Tournament after battling in a league field that went on to produce four NCAA Tournament teams (FIU, Kentucky, Marshall, Charlotte), which stood second nationally behind only the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

Coach Merida's defensive acumen also helped FIU secure seven shutouts during the 2021 season, marking the program's most clean sheets since the 2003 campaign. Offensively, Merida helped the Panthers lead the country in shot-attempts (17.62 per game) in 2021, while also ranking second nationally in shots-on-goal per game (7.75) and Top-25 in several other offensive and defensive categories.

In a 2021 campaign that saw 15 Panther newcomers on only a 30-man roster, Merida helped developed talent that garnered 25 individual player awards throughout the season. Merida helped recruited the 2021 C-USA Freshman of the Year Bernardo Dos Santos Monteiro, while FIU also saw 10 All-Conference awards, 4 First Team All C-USA honorees, two C-USA All-Tournament Team members, six C-USA Player of the Week honors, three National Player of the Week honors (Top Drawer Soccer and CollegeSoccerNews.com), and four United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region Team members.

Merida helped haul in the No. 30 ranked class in 2021 (Top Drawer Soccer). At the mid-point of the 2021 season, TopDrawerSoccer.com ranked three of FIU's newcomers in its Men's Top-100 Freshman list including Dos Santos Monteiro (No. 23), Julian Hodek (No. 69), and Edgar Aguilar (No. 76).

Merida became the first hire of head coach Kyle Russell's staff back in March of 2020 and immediately put together one of the top recruiting classes in the nation, garnering No. 16 by TopDrawerSoccer.com. Merida later helped FIU post a 4-4-1 mark in the shortened 2020 COVID season which took place in Spring of 2021, while also helping the Panthers earn six All-CUSA accolades and three C-USA Player of the Week awards.

The Blue & Gold own a 16-8-3 overall record since Merida joined the program in 2020

Merida landed at FIU after spending the previous nine seasons with the Stony Brook University men's soccer program of the America East Conference. Raised in Miami Dade County, Merida returned home to where his coaching career initially began, and where he once graced the pitch as a Panther with the FIU men's soccer team.

Merida served as the associate head coach of SBU men's soccer from 2017-19, helping guide the Seawolves to an AE regular-season title in 2018, while garnering SBU the honor of 2018 AE Coaching Staff of the Year. Prior to earning his promotion with SBU, Merida acted as the top assistant coach for the Seawolves from 2011-2016. In the 2016 campaign, Merida guided the Seawolves to a No. 1 seed in the AE Tournament, posting a 9-6-3 record (5-1-1 AE) during a season in which the AE Conference ranked No. 3 nationally in RPI behind only the ACC and the PAC-12. In 2011, Merida helped the Seawolves capture an AE Tournament crown, propelling SBU to its third-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.

During his nine years at SBU, Merida saw the Seawolves qualify for the AE Conference Tournament in seven different seasons. Overall, Merida coached 30 AE All-Conference players, 10 All-Region players, SBU's first-ever men's soccer All-American, one MLS draftee, three AE Rookies of the Year, two AE Midfielders of the Year, one AE Striker of the Year and one AE Man of the Year.

Prior to coaching at SBU, Merida served as a top assistant coach at Lewis University (Chicago) in 2010, where he helped the Flyers become the Great Lake Valley Conference regular-season champs, earning as high as a No. 3 Division II national ranking by the NSCAA. Merida's first collegiate coaching job was at Lincoln College in Lincoln, Illinois, where he spent the 2009 campaign as the associate head coach for the Lynx and guided the program to an NJCAA top-15 national ranking.

Before heading north to Illinois, Merida began his coaching career in Miami, previously serving as the associate head soccer coach of both Miami Palmetto Senior High School and Miami Killian Senior High School. In 2008, Merida's Killian squad earned a No. 2 ranking in Florida and a No. 8 national ranking by ESPN. Merida also acted as head coach of South Kendall Soccer Club from 2006-2009.

Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Merida spent two seasons on the pitch as a student-athlete for FIU men's soccer from 2004-05, where he helped a top-25 ranked Panther squad secure a 2004 Atlantic Soccer Conference Championship, as well as a berth to the NCAA Tournament. Merida transferred to FIU following his freshman season at Elon University in 2003.

In 2008, Merida earned a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education from FIU. Merida is joined in Miami by his wife Nicole, daughter Gabriella (4 years old), and son Daniel, Jr. (4 months).