Family, community, sports shaped Merrick McCool’s Ole Miss career.
Merrick McCool joked that he was only kidding himself by taking visits to other colleges – including his mother Leighton’s alma mater, University of Tennessee – before confirming his decision to attend Ole Miss.
Both of McCool’s grandfathers and his father, Campbell, are Ole Miss alumni and he grew up a baseball’s throw from campus.
“There just wasn’t anything else Oxford-enough,” McCool said. “This has always felt like home.”
Family Roots Run Deep
That sense of family and community anchors McCool’s life. He grew up attending Ole Miss baseball games and enjoying everything a college town offers. He was being mentored by Micah Ginn, creator of the Ole Miss sports series “The Season,” and turned that into an award-winning version at Oxford High School.
Brother Davis graduated from Ole Miss in 2020, and younger brother Wyatt is finishing his freshman year. His grandfather, Curtis Wilkie, returned to campus to teach at the School of Journalism and New Media following a celebrated career covering national politics. Now, McCool is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in integrated marketing communications.
In fact, he was fortunate enough to take Wilkie’s final class at Ole Miss. Though McCool heard Wilkie’s stories of following presidential candidates on the campaign trail while growing up, taking the class offered context for that work.
“I’ve heard his stories, read his autobiography – he’s done so much in his life,” McCool said. “But to hear him and Charles (Overby) talk was incredible.”
The class covering political journalism was taught in the late stages of the 2020 election. It was intense and met just one day a week. With Overby, Wilkie applied history to the unfolding election season.
“It gave me a new perspective on his work,” McCool said.
Community is Family
For McCool, family is more than the people you are related to.
“Living in Stockard (Hall) and among the community in that building prepared me for the way I live now, always having an open-door policy and getting to know people,” he said.
His time in Stockard Hall is among his favorite memories of campus.
“There’s a strong culture with a group of people all going through the same challenges,” he said.
McCool found connections and camaraderie among this group of people who would not otherwise come together, working through the same issues and trying to find their footing. Like Stockard, his fraternity was a group that would not likely get together on their own.
Phi Delta Theta offered mentorship and leadership opportunities. McCool got involved and became a leader, serving as chapter historian and then guiding philanthropy efforts.
His work propelled the fraternity’s “Casino Night” fundraiser, generating $70,000 for the LiveLikeLou Foundation for ALS Research. The foundation honors Lou Gehrig, a Major League Baseball player whose stellar career was cut short by the disease. Gehrig was a member of Phi Delta Theta.
McCool’s efforts earned the Brendt Coker Scholarship from Phi Delta Theta. McCool also recently was inducted into the Student Hall of Fame.
Community Beyond Campus
As a college freshman, McCool trained as a volunteer firefighter for the Lafayette County Fire Department. The volunteer firefighter course required about a semester of work, almost 90 hours of physical training and time at the Mississippi State Fire Academy outside Jackson.
Whenever possible, McCool responds to structure fires and other emergency calls throughout the county.
The training was challenging work and the ongoing commitment substantial, but McCool’s dedication was not surprising to those around him. His family knows McCool achieves goals he sets, and they’ve let him discover his own paths.
“In my mind, there no excuse for me to not be the best at something,” he said.
Leveraging Opportunity
As an Oxford kid growing up so close to Swayze Field, McCool frequented Ole Miss baseball games with his family, often sneaking in though he was a season ticket-holder. He grew to love baseball and other sports, along with the bevy of stories woven into each contest.
McCool befriended Ginn while working on a community film called “The Hanging of Big Todd Wade,” in preparation for the Oxford Film Festival. Ginn is associate athletics director for sports production and creative services at Ole Miss.
Inspired by the Ole Miss version, McCool and high school classmate Andrew Gardner created a similar documentary series for football, basketball and baseball at Oxford High School. Shortly after, McCool began working on the Ole Miss production too.
“We got to work with professional gear on a top-quality production,” McCool said.
And he was hooked.
McCool suggests that students new to the Ole Miss community leverage every opportunity presented.
“There are so many ways to get involved and so many ways to make your own path,” he said. “If you want to do something, there is no reason not to.
“Seek someone out. Don’t get discouraged.”
McCool knows about seeking out those opportunities. As a freshman, he applied for an internship at NFL Films, the country’s premier sports documentary production company.
Although internships typically are reserved for seniors, he was invited to NFL Films to interview. The interviewers were so impressed with his experience and passion that they held a spot for him in his senior year, when he would be closer to the job market.
The following year, he earned an internship with ESPN Films to work on the “30 for 30” and “SEC Storied” series in Bristol, Connecticut.
Then everything changed.
Disruption
The COVID-19 pandemic came along to change those plans, and the entire ESPN staff began working virtually, which was not viable for the ESPN Films role. McCool was transferred to the social media department, and he leveraged his opportunity, even though it did not go as planned.
“I tweeted from the @ESPN account on my second day in the internship, which surprised me,” he recalled. “But I found that no one at ESPN, especially in social, was there to suppress creativity.”
McCool gained a full set of valuable, unexpected experiences.
“It taught me how to live on a regular work schedule and how to be independently creative when needing to be,” he said.
He still sees graphics used on ESPN social, knowing that they originate from templates he created with other professionals at the company.
Throughout his time on campus, McCool continued his work with Ole Miss Sports Productions, contributing to “The Season,” social media and in-venue video. Along the way, he earned five Emmy nominations for his work.
And he finally got his NFL Films internship.
McCool spent six months with NFL Films in New Jersey. He was sent to games and other NFL events to film. He met Jay-Z and was in Alicia Keys’ recording studio. And McCool became the first intern in NFL Films history to shoot a game, covering the Cowboys and Eagles in week 18.
He also got to work at the Super Bowl, capturing the opening ceremony flyover from just outside the stadium before heading into the stadium to support other camera operators.
McCool soaked in the lessons on cinematography and teamwork, but he also gained perspective that cemented his love for Ole Miss.
“In New Jersey, I missed sitting on my front porch and waving to everyone,” he said.
There is No Place Like Home
For McCool, Ole Miss is one big family. He will miss that sense of community most but vows to stay connected. He looks forward to staying connected to professors, mentors, fraternity brothers, classmates and colleagues.
“I feel like years from now, I’ll still be able to talk with my professors, to walk into the fraternity house, and feel welcomed, and to feel like I belong,” he said.
“There’s no time limit on how long you’re a member of the Ole Miss family.”
By Dana Engelbert
