The One Hundred Fifty Most Influential People in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Magazine)
BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Drexel University President and former collegiate club water polo head coach Antonio Merlo ranks at No. 56 on Philadelphia Magazine‘s “The One Hundred Fifty Most Influential People in Philadelphia” – one position ahead of Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl winning quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Named President of Drexel in February 2025, Merlo served as head coach of the club water polo teams at Rice University, the University of Pennsylvania and New York University (NYU) and is a three-time recipient of Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Coach of the Year awards.
From 2008 to 2014, he was the head coach of the men’s water polo team of the University of Pennsylvania. He led the Penn Quakers to three championship titles in the Mid-Atlantic Division of the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) in 2008, 2010 and 2013, the 2013 Ivy League Collegiate Club Championship and a fifth-place finish at the National Collegiate Club Championship in 2013. From 2016 to 2019, Merlo was the head coach of the men’s and women’s water polo teams at Rice University. In 2013, 2017, and 2018, he won Coach of the Year in the CWPA men’s Mid-Atlantic Division, women’s Texas Division and men’s Texas Division, respectively.
