Dave Merritt, the Kansas City Chiefs’ defensive backs coach, was arrested Wednesday evening and charged with misdemeanor domestic battery, according to local authorities.
An Overland Park, Kansas, police officer arrested Merritt at about 8:50 p.m. Wednesday, and he was booked into the Johnson County jail at about 10:25 p.m., officials said. No bond has been set.
On Thursday morning the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office filed a complaint accusing Merritt of having "unlawfully, knowingly, or recklessly" caused bodily harm to a daughter, the filing states.
Merritt, 54, has been the Chiefs’ defensive backs coach since 2019. He previously held NFL coaching jobs with the Cardinals, Giants and Jets and had a brief NFL playing career after being a 1993 seventh-round pick of the Dolphins.
The Chiefs said they are aware of the arrest and have no comment. League officials said Merritt will likely be put on leave and that the NFL will begin an investigation into a potential violation of the personal conduct policy.
The timeline of events is compact: the arrest at about 8:50 p.m., the booking into the Johnson County jail at about 10:25 p.m., and the complaint filed the next morning. Those timestamps frame both the criminal case and the personnel decisions confronting the team and the league this week.
The charge is a misdemeanor domestic battery allegation. The complaint filed by the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office centers on an accusation that Merritt caused bodily harm to a daughter, using the exact phrase that he acted "unlawfully, knowingly, or recklessly." Beyond that wording, the public record released Thursday offers few additional details about the incident or the alleged injuries.
The friction in this case lies between the urgency of the criminal complaint and the immediate consequences for Merritt’s professional life. The Chiefs employ him in a high-profile role, and the league enforces a conduct policy that can lead to discipline independent of criminal outcomes. At the same time, the complaint is a charging document, not a conviction, and the legal process that follows will determine what prosecutors can prove in court.
For the Chiefs, the practical next step is clear: Merritt’s status with the team is suddenly in question as the NFL begins its inquiry and team officials weigh whether to place him on leave. For Merritt, the legal path forward will play out in Johnson County courts where no bond has yet been set and the complaint names a family member as the alleged victim.
The case threatens to overshadow Merritt’s role with a team that has relied on his unit since 2019. His coaching résumé — stops with the Cardinals, Giants and Jets and a brief playing stint after being selected in the 1993 draft — is now being judged against a criminal complaint and a league investigation. How the Chiefs and the NFL respond in the coming days will determine whether Merritt remains on the sideline or is removed from his duties pending legal and league review.
Merritt faces the immediate task of responding to criminal charges that allege bodily harm to a daughter. The league’s review and any team action will likely be the definitive developments that decide whether he can continue in his current role while the legal case moves forward.
