In the Trenches 587 - Jernaro Gilford Transcript
5/20/2026 7:53:00 AM | MGoBlue Podcasts
Jon Jansen • 00:00
Well, the countdown continues as you listen to this. We are one hundred and eight days away from kickoff in the big house against the Western Michigan Broncos on September fifth. But before we get there, we've got a lot of coaches, a lot of players, a lot of topics to discuss. And today we'll have a seven from seventy seven. And our interview is the cornerbacks coach Gerardo Guilford. All coming up in just a few moments on in the Trenches.
[music builds]
Jeff Laurence • 00:30
Welcome to the official podcast of Michigan Football in the Trenches with Jon Jansen, presented by Meijer, presenting sponsor of the twenty twenty six Michigan football season and proud supporter of hundreds of local sports teams across the Midwest. Nobody covers Michigan football better than the two time captain, national champion and Michigan Athletics hall of Honor inductee.
Jernaro Gilford • 00:52
At the end of the day, I'm trying to win in everything I do so our players know that even once we cross the ten that rectangle, oh, it's, it ain't no friends like we we are competitive.
Jeff Laurence • 01:06
This is in the Trenches presented by Meijer. Once again, here's Jon Jansen.
Jon Jansen • 01:12
Welcome back friends, for another live edition of in the Trenches. And yes, if you're counting down, one hundred nine days from today, if you're listening on the audio version, one hundred eight from when you are hearing this. And we will be kicking off against those big, bad, nasty Western Michigan Broncos, a big matchup to start the season. But before we get there and before I bring in my partner Brian Bush, I want to let you know already out is the Defend the Block this week's edition. That's with assistant coach Mike Boynton junior And I tell you what, it is very exciting that we have the off season is, is, is obviously upon us. It's been upon us for a while but we are whittling it down piece by piece and we are doing it by talking to players, some of them new, some of them old friends. I know we've got Rod Moore coming up in just a few weeks. We've got coaches that, that we're introducing you guys to.
Jon Jansen • 02:19
And on today's edition we've got cornerback coach Jernaro Gilford. So he's going to come up a little bit later in the program but at this time I want to bring in my partner, already mentioned him. Mister Bush. How you doing?
Brian Boesch • 02:32
I'm great. Looking forward to obviously the holiday weekend. We'll talk about that a little bit later. On the podcast side of things, it'll be a little bit quieter the next few weeks. I didn't really take much of a defend the block break, you know, whole national championship thing. So I know. So it's been really fun. Mike Boynton junior The last returning assistant coach who's joined us really over the last month or so. So if you've missed any of those, please check them out. Great reflections on last season and some looks ahead to the upcoming season in the roster that this program has built. We'll take a couple of weeks off here with the holiday coming up after next week. There'll be one more episode on Tuesday, obviously keeping the trenches going. Conqu'ring Heroes, we're hoping, hoping for a Conqu'ring Heroes with Mark Rothstein on the rowing side.
Brian Boesch • 03:21
But if you're following along on the stream, we'll find out later today if they're in the NCAA tournament. Fingers crossed on that. But yeah, exciting stuff all around. Let's get into our seven from seventy seven though, as we start. Jon we kind of figured this would be the case since our last seven from seventy seven, we did indeed learn. Don't count on it being twelve O or twelve O one, but around noon, somewhere in that twelve ten to twelve fifteen range, Michigan and Oklahoma, we knew that the game would be a noon kick or noonish. But we did find out for certain that Fox picked this up. Big noon kickoff noon, Week two. A lot of fan bases get frustrated. I know that, you know, on the Michigan side, there are fans who don't love the fact that some of the biggest games of the season aren't are at noon, not in prime time. But I feel like Michigan's fan base, more than most embraces these early kickoffs.
Brian Boesch • 04:20
Man, I just like it. As a college football fan, you start the day with a huge game that did not exist ten years ago. Noon was just kind of like the hey, you know, we'll see what's out there. And week two, that's going to really be one of the first big games of the college football season because of how light the week one slate is.
Jon Jansen • 04:40
Yeah, it's going to be a premier matchup. We'll kick the day off with it. In the Michigan fan base, obviously they're going to be more welcoming to this because they're a very educated fan base. And so the smarter you are, the more you are to accept the things that are great in this world. And there's nothing better than a quote unquote, noon twelve fifteen, whatever it is, as long as it's not noon hour. Those are by far the best starts and I'm excited about it. I don't know what it means for that Western Michigan game I know we've had, you know, Middle Tennessee, we've had some of those matchups that have gone at seven thirty or eight o' clock to start the season and so be it. But to have some of these big matchups, I hate sitting around all day long waiting and thinking and agonizing over, you know, the start of a game that's that, that everybody wants to see.
Jon Jansen • 05:28
And I understand the, you know, hey, what it means to have a primetime game. The Fox has made that noon slate a prime time window. And you go right from whether it's game day, big noon kick, whichever pregame that you're watching. We all know that you're listening to Brian and Jack and myself and Doug on the pregame show. But it's, it's going to be exciting no matter what time these games are, because there's so many question marks. What is Michigan football going to be this year under the guidance of Kyle Whittingham, this new coaching staff, the transfers, like there is so much. And we'll find out a little bit in that first week against Western Michigan, but, you know, the, the results of that game, whatever they might be, how reliable are they? And then all of a sudden, hey, Oklahoma coming to town. I can't wait. And I'm so excited that it's going to be in that noon hour.
Brian Boesch • 06:22
I wonder if Michigan's climate will greet the Sooner fans like they did the Texas fans a couple of years ago. Remember, it was like thirty eight degrees.
Jernaro Gilford • 06:31
Yeah.
Jon Jansen • 06:32
For a noon kick. And, and, and all of the, the Longhorn fans are walking around in, in, in their hoodies and because it was
Brian Boesch • 06:42
September, they're thinking, well, you know, I've heard it's cold up here, but not in September.
Jon Jansen • 06:46
Right? Right. So it's. Yeah. Hey, I, I sure hope so. It would be awesome. And, and I can't wait for, for the Sooners to come to town.
Brian Boesch • 06:55
Yeah, Marcus, I wish every game was at noon. You're preaching to the choir here. Take some more comments as we go along. But yeah, Marcus, you, you would fit well in our broadcast crew, there's no doubt. All right, number two, before we get there, I do want to say Fox has the tendency of. Because the week one slate's bad in the Big Ten, there is very little of interest. I'm wondering, because Michigan, Oklahoma is week two, will Fox pinpoint Michigan and Western Michigan to be the big noon kick on that Saturday as a vehicle to really promote week two? They do it almost every with either Michigan or Ohio State at noon the week before? The game again. I don't know anything. I know some things, but about this, I don't know anything.
Jon Jansen • 07:40
You want me to jump in right now?
Brian Boesch • 07:42
No, I'd rather you not. That'd be great. We're live. I can't edit this, but I do think there's a, there's a real chance that we could have back to back news. I don't want to get your hopes up, John. Oh, man. I'll tell you what down there, cowboy.
Jon Jansen • 07:57
Yeah, that would be amazing. And hey, start that the, the. The tailgate show, the pre game at, at nine o' clock in the morning. Let's get up a crisp, cool September morning. The tailgates are going. We've got the. Hey, whether you're right around the stadium or you're at Pioneer or you're one of the houses along the way there on Main street, you start to smell the tailgates and you start to hear the band and the Victors playing. You got the flags flying. No better way to wake up and start a season that way.
Brian Boesch • 08:33
Fingers crossed. All right, number two on our seven from seventy seven. There's not a whole lot else going on right now and we can't get into some of the exact results of what Michigan has done on the recruiting trail. On this podcast you can follow along with plenty of the recruiting reporters, experts, prognosticators out there and I'm sure you've seen some names maybe that are familiar to Michigan fans who have been able to verbally commitment. Nothing's official yet. My question to you, John, is how have you interpreted some of the momentum, some of the recruiting prowess that Michigan's new staff led by Kyle Whittingham has been able to attain here in this first real chance to dig in, right. January, that was a fire drill. A lot going on. This more about the way that Whittingham and company work want to structure how they build at least from a recruiting standpoint in high school.
Jon Jansen • 09:23
Yeah, I mean so just to recap the, you know, the December class that signed early signees, early enrollees, those that, that signed again or, or you know, signed for the first time but did waited until that first Wednesday in February like that class was in place and most of those guys stuck. So it was really just a matter of this coaching staff selling themselves. They didn't have to sell the university, they didn't have to sell the program, they had to sell themselves. And now you're starting to get into, hey, when these coaches. And this is going to be the bigger question that I have over the, you know, the next few years. When you looked at the rosters that Coach Whittingham had put together at Utah, not a lot of Midwest guys. And so, you know, do they, are they able to create those relationships? It's not that they didn't try. It's just that, you know, they had their footprint.
Jon Jansen • 10:15
Michigan's is obviously much bigger and much more impactful. And so it, it really looks like they're starting to put together some really nice four, five star recruits and then getting some legacies as well. You mentioned it. Right. And, and, and everybody knows what we're talking about. But to be able to go out there and impact the program in a number of different ways and it's, it's really exciting to see everything that this, this, this staff is doing, whether it's on the recruiting trail, it's at practice, it's in Schembechler hall. But you know, obviously we're talking about the recruiting trail right now, being able to stack four stars on top of four stars. And yeah, you're going to have some three stars in there. And I'm not a big fan of the star system, but it's. How do these players fit into the mold that the staff sees, the, the needs that they foresee in the future?
Jon Jansen • 11:10
We saw what they could do in the, on the trail in regards to transfers. Now we're starting to see the prowess that, that the brand and paired with this coaching staff can bring in.
Brian Boesch • 11:21
All right, number three on our seven from seventy seven. Switching gears in a way where we talk about what is, I think the biggest topic in college football right now, and it has been for a few years. Big Ten meetings wrapping up this week, potential expansion of the College Football Playoff. My initial question to you is, are you surprised at how, again, I don't want to say it's unanimous, but even in the Big Ten, it seems like a good chunk of coaches are on board with the potential extension of the playoff to double its size from twelve to twenty four. Does that aspect surprise you? It, it has been the case in the acc, Big twelve, sec. We're going to see. They might be, they might be the beacon of hope for a couple of guys who want to see it stay put at twelve. But are you surprised that the coaches are so much on board?
Jon Jansen • 12:15
Well, I think there's probably, I mean, I have no way to back this up. I'm just giving you my opinion. They have probably been told from a higher power that this is the path that the, the, the Big Ten wants To, to pursue. So if, and they've been presented with, hey, more teams means more revenue. You guys want to be able to spend money on your rosters. You know, this is the path to increase that revenue. And, and the Big Ten has performed extremely well in the college football playoffs. Obviously, you know, you've got the, the three reigning big, you know, not just Big Ten champs, but the, the three reigning national champs are all Big Ten teams. So the more teams means more revenue. And, and I know that there are some coaches that are looking at it as, it depends on the program you're from, but it could, you know, be job stability if you are one of twenty four versus one of twelve.
Jon Jansen • 13:07
And we'll talk about that a little bit more down the road, but that's, that's all part of it. But I do believe that there has been a, hey, you know what? We're all part of the Big Ten. We better put a united front together. We've, we've said publicly the Big Ten wants twenty four, so wink, wink, coaches, you better say you want twenty four as well.
Brian Boesch • 13:28
So along those lines, number four, the question I have in all of this is just because a CFP doubles in size, do we anticipate that a playoff appearance or a one and done in the CFP will be interpreted the same way by a fan base, by an athletic department, by an athletic director in terms of job security? Like I understand the basic concept of, hey, if you make the playoff, you're probably going to have a better chance to keep your job than not keep your job. But if we inflate it and in my estimation, bloat it to twenty four, are we all naive in thinking that I, I should. I don't think we are. Are, are they naive enough in thinking, oh, hey, I get into the playoffs, this really helps me keep that job, get an extension, get more money, stuff along those lines. And I'm not saying the Indiana birth that led to a national championship, right? Like that's. It can happen where it, you know, a playoff berth allows you to level up.
Brian Boesch • 14:25
But we're talking about the twentieth through twenty fourth best teams in the country. Those types of programs, they're not excited about that in a lot of cases, especially if it is the, what, seventh or eighth best team in a Big Ten or an sec.
Jon Jansen • 14:40
Well, it all depends on the program. And if you are a Michigan, Ohio State, if you're a Notre Dame, if you're a, you know, pick any of the quote unquote, blue blood power programs, then just making it is not going to be good enough. You're going to have to make it to the championship game. You have to at least make it to the semifinals on a regular basis. You're going to have to make and win a national championship. But I mean, just go to all of the coaches that have been around a long time and I love Kurt Ferentz, but he's, you know, he's made a career out of having a really good program. How many championships have they won national championships. Now all of a sudden, hey, instead of just winning the Big Ten once every decade or make an appearance in the Big Ten championship game once every four or five years now if you make the college football playoffs, if it's a twenty four team experience and you make it once every three or four years for some programs, that's that, that's kind of where they feel they belong.
Jon Jansen • 15:45
And so yeah, it will provide some stability and some, some length of contracts, new contracts, maybe some upward mobility if you're a program that makes it once and then all of a sudden, hey man, this the new hot coach. We're going to go ahead and steal him at a bigger program. Yeah, for those type of programs, which is outside of maybe seven or eight, that's going to be a legitimate feather in their cap for the coaches to keep their job. So I do see the benefit of it, you know, for, for those coaches.
Brian Boesch • 16:20
The other aspect, I think that'd be interesting in a twenty fourteen. Remember back when there were, it was just the BCS and it was the top two and all that. I mean you would see Boise State was regularly in the top ten, a few times in the top five. They were the number two team in the country at one point. And now in this, you know, four team playoffs, we saw Cincinnati get there, but any team that was outside of the power conference realm normally hovered somewhere in that eight to fifteen range. I know a lot of people throwing out the. Oh, what would the twenty fourteen playoff look like if last year's rankings were applied? I have a pretty strong feeling the committee would change things. And instead of seeing James Madison, North Texas, Tulane, a few of these other non power conference teams, those would trickle away and we would have more of the seven and five, eight and four, Big Ten and SEC fodder.
Brian Boesch • 17:12
I've, I've made this point several times. If you've been with us since the start of in the trenches, A, thank you, I'd like to shake your hand but B, I apologize for repeating this. Last year's Michigan team would have made the playoff And I just can't sit here and tell you with a straight face that that's the right thing to happen. Not because I don't want to see Michigan in the playoffs, but because it is, it is, is not fulfilling what the previous three teams for Michigan did to earn a playoff spot. I don't want to sully that. And what Michigan did for three years with a team finishing whatever they finished in the end of the regular season, nineteenth or whatever, and then they're going on the road to face what, Vanderbilt or something in the first round. Like will we be following it, watching it? Of course, absolutely. But does it change things?
Brian Boesch • 17:58
Of course. And along those lines, I want to get to number five because Patrick kind of alluded to this and Patrick always with good comments. We appreciate you tuning in. Expanding to twenty four will eliminate the decades long importance of rivalry games, especially the game. Now you can debate in terms of the importance, but as we get to number five hundred seven from seventy seven, there will be unintended consequences of this decision. And one of them unquestionably would be maybe not the importance, but the stakes for that season in rivalry games. And last year's Michigan Ohio State game would not have had the similar stakes that it possessed. And obviously a bunch of people made this point of Scott Bell has done it regularly. The twenty twenty three game will be the most important game in Michigan Ohio State history. Unless they meet a national championship game down the road, like in terms of the regular season game, we're never getting to that point again because we all know how this works.
Brian Boesch • 18:53
Playoffs are not going to decrease in size. So Jon, how do you interpret all of that in particular with a game that means so much to you, Michigan, Ohio State, which you want to stay is that final Saturday in November?
Jon Jansen • 19:08
Well, I mean just think about we've the NCAA has done everything they can to destroy what makes college football great and whether it's conference expansion, it's playoff expansion, and I know some of this is the committee versus the ncaa, but hey, there's a plenty of bullets to go around. Take your share where they have eliminated a lot of rivalry games to begin with and de emphasized other rivalry games. And now all of a sudden when it pertains to the game, the greatest rivalry in all of sport, you can't tell me that one of the unintended consequences that would tear apart part of the fabric is in that game. If both programs have, you know, there's not much to be gained, there's not much to be lost by who wins and loses that we don't see something that happens in the NFL or we don't see something that happens in, in, in the NBA where you rest your starters because you don't want to get them hurt in what is now quote unquote.
Jon Jansen • 20:13
And I can't believe I'm saying this, punch me when you see me. Good luck with that. But an irrelevant game like that to me is absolutely bizarre. So what I think the fix will be and it's going to again it takes away from rivalry weekend. That's the beauty of the. One of the beauties of the college football season is that you're going to move those games. They're still going to happen. But instead of happening on Thanksgiving weekend, or it used to be the weekend before Thanksgiving, now what is it going to happen in week three? Four.
Brian Boesch • 20:50
You know you hated me making the argument back. It was a while back. But if, if it goes to twenty four, it would probably behoove Michigan, Ohio State in terms of just stakes within a season. I don't like it traditionally but stakes within a season to move it to sometime in October. And I hate saying that.
Jon Jansen • 21:07
Yeah, I mean it's, it's. Do you move it to the week before the rankings come out or do you quiet down there, Brian. Stop, stop barking at me. Or do you, do you move it to the first Big Ten game of the year? Now you get your three non conference games that you better use that as hey, we got to get all the wrinkles ironed out. You better make sure that you're playing at a peak level. So by the time week four comes around, you're into it. That's the game that's going to be at noon. It's going to be in the big house or it's going to be in the horseshoe the like. I mean I don't know what that looks like. I just know that it's not going to be the last, the last game of the season anymore.
Brian Boesch • 21:48
What if it were week one? You could legitimately prep again. I, I hate talking about this because it should be. And here's the thing Mark is saying here, a lot of rivalries have already been de. Emphasized. I would argue the twelve team setup is the last beacon of keeping all these rivalries relevant because there can be scenarios where you are. It's not as much as twenty three eleven zero versus eleven zero. But, but you know we, we saw the previous year Ohio State lost to Michigan and still got in the playoffs. So a fourteen playoff didn't guarantee the stakes. But at least with twelve, you're fighting for a buy. You're fighting for a potential spot in the Big Ten championship game, which, hey, we talked about how playoff wise it didn't matter. But still, the Ohio State Indiana game was one of the most highly watched games in college football last season.
Brian Boesch • 22:37
And, and there is a difference between home game versus road game in the first round of the playoff. Like, there are stakes there unquestionably. So there have been a little bit of rivalries de emphasized. Unfortunately, the problem with all this, I'd say the rivalry issue right now is that conferences have taken away rivalries. That's the problem. Yeah. But boy, week one, if you could sit there and go, okay, I know, again, I don't love it, I want to keep it at twelve. Let's, why don't we allow. We. How long did we wait to change the bcs? Like, let's let this thing just live for a while and see what we've got and see how it develops.
Jon Jansen • 23:20
Well, I do think it'll live for a little bit longer than, than, than we're seeing right now because there's not going to be. While all the Big Ten coaches have, have, you know, read the memo and they're following suit. You know, the SEC coaches will probably read their memo and say, well, hey, if, if, if, if our commish says that we want to keep it at twelve, then we're going to follow suit as well. And part of that is, do we believe that there are eighteen Big Ten coaches that all believe that it should stay at or that it should go to twenty four? Maybe, maybe, maybe they do. I doubt it. Do you believe that all SEC coaches believe it should stay at twelve? Probably not.
Brian Boesch • 24:00
And so probably somewhat circumstantial. Right. Kyle Whittingham at Utah would have been probably a coach who would have benefited from an expanded playoff earlier more than maybe any coach in college football because they were, they were knocking on the door. They played for a Pac twelve championship one year in the fourteen playoff where it was a win and in they'd have been in the playoff.
Jon Jansen • 24:21
Yeah.
Brian Boesch • 24:22
And they weren't able to come through with the victory and didn't make it. But now when you're at Michigan, if you're Kyle Whittingham, Michigan head coach, if you're Ryan Day, if you're Kirby Smart, why do you want twenty four?
Jon Jansen • 24:32
Well, and so you don't. But it goes to negotiations and leverage. And if the Big Ten is trying to negotiate for twenty four, for twenty four, the SEC is angling for to Stay at twelve. Like all of those coaches, they don't want dissension among the ranks. So to follow suit, you're going to, you know, tow the company line. I would find it very shocking if there was any coach, Big Ten, sec, acc, Big twelve that is going to say something that is different than what their conference is saying. And, and I don't want, I don't want week one to be Michigan, Ohio State while in, you know, it. It sounds cool, it sounds great. It's like Michigan, Notre Dame back when Bo was coaching. But you'll probably get a product like we saw Michigan or I'm sorry, Ohio State and Texas last year. Now it just, you look at that one and the buildup is great and viewership was great.
Jon Jansen • 25:36
But the product on the field, you're still talking about eighteen to twenty two yards. They're not professionals, even though they're. Some of them are paid as such. They're still young, they're still developing, they're still mastering their craft and they're not ready for a game like that with these stakes. The importance and what it means in, in just the, the history of both programs, at least make it. If you're going to put it number one overall, then make it the first Big Ten game. Give yourself those three. And if it's two patsies and it's one marquee matchup across the Big Ten sec, hey, you get your feet wet, you get ready to go and then jump into it.
Brian Boesch • 26:13
Yep. No, it's. Believe me, I don't want to say these things because again, I wanted to stay at twelve. Twelve makes the most sense. Twelve allows there to be a situation where a Miami can make a run, can overcome a couple of be founding losses, confounding losses, and go and, and give Indiana the best game they had all year. Like it can happen. But you can also keep the regular season relevant. All right, so you said you don't think this is going to happen anytime or at least imminently soon. So rest of this decade, how does the CFP landscape evolve from now until twenty thirty? Do you think it'll be twelve that whole way? How do you see this lining up five playoffs from now?
Jon Jansen • 26:55
I think we get two more years at twelve because of the bickering between the Big Ten and the sec and it's going to be posturing and who's going to get a bigger share and who's going to get their slice of the pie and who's going to get automatic bids versus non automatic bids? I, I really do think that it goes two more years at twelve teams, and then so that puts us twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight. Will, will, will, will be at. At. And certainly by thirty, we're going to be at twenty four teams. It's inevitable that we'll eventually get there.
Brian Boesch • 27:27
Twenty four is inevitable.
Jon Jansen • 27:29
I do and, and I hate it as much as you do, but I do think it's inevitable. And there are. It's not all negatives if you get to that point. And there are very. You're digging deep to try and find some of the positives of making it a twenty fourteen playoff. But if there's no cap on what teams or the revenue that you're allowed to spend. There is a cap on revenue. But how much you can spend to attract these transfers or freshmen coming into the program, everybody's going to be clamoring for more and more and more. And the only way to do it is play better games and more better games. And that means a twenty fourteen playoff. Now, if you're looking at what does that mean? What are some of the unintended consequences of going to twenty four teams? Well, one of them is, we already talked about it, rivalry weekend, it's going to be gone. Conference championship games, they're going to be gone because they're going to be irrelevant at that point.
Jon Jansen • 28:34
How do you even crown a conference champ when you have a Big Ten that has eighteen teams, you're only playing half the conference. How do you, at the end of the season, do you. If you've got, you know what, three teams, four teams that are eight and one. I don't even know if that's mathematically possible, but, you know, just. You got more than one. Who's your champ? Does it even matter anymore? You know, are we. Do we go back to divisions? Like, it just gets way messier. There's one of the good things. No more week zero. Everybody's going to start the same weekend. The schedule will be more uniform. You know, this is when it starts, this is when it ends. You're going to get more on campus games. So for those campuses, that's going to be a huge boom in terms of the money that's coming in, the ticket sales that's coming in. And I do love on campus games. You're going to have more players that.
Jon Jansen • 29:28
Are better players going to be playing in the, in these quote unquote. What do we call them? Bowl games or we call them just, you know, like, how do we label them? I don't even know what that means. Postseason play, because you have everybody opting out now. So for the top twenty four teams, chances are there's always going to be an exception to the rule. But a majority of those players that you actually want to watch are going to be playing in those games.
Brian Boesch • 29:56
Yeah, man, I was hoping you'd be like, you know what, maybe sixteen in twenty, thirty. But you're, you're probably right. The question will be when do people talk about more than twenty four? I don't know. No, you know what? We'll talk. We're gonna hold off. We're gonna hold off on that. I know.
Jon Jansen • 30:13
Do I have a mute button for you over here?
Brian Boesch • 30:14
I mean, no, I'm not that stupid. Well, that was the first, what, twenty episodes of in the Trenches?
Jon Jansen • 30:22
Yeah. Yeah, I gotta figure that one out somewhere.
Brian Boesch • 30:25
There's the singing.
Jon Jansen • 30:27
Yeah, I need, I need better control of, of our website here.
Brian Boesch • 30:31
Yes, yes. Too bad. All right, we'll continue that on the, the video only side here because we got a few good comments to get to Memorial Day weekend, obviously, first and foremost, I hope those who are watching, listening, maybe you are, are taking us with you as you go somewhere for the weekend, driving up north, wherever it might be. I hope you take a moment to appreciate, to remember those we have lost, which is why we are having this weekend. But John, your, your thoughts on, on making sure to maximize Memorial Day. Is this your official kickoff to summer? Is that how you view this?
Jon Jansen • 31:08
I suppose. I don't know. It's. Those lines are somewhat blurred anymore, especially with five kids. Summer starts earlier, later, and it's all weather dependent. Like, I mean, if you're, if you're living in the state of Michigan right now and if you're not, here's the weather update. It was cold until it wasn't. And it literally was like fifty five degrees one day. The next morning I wake up and I'm doing some work around the house. I got my jeans and my flannel on. I walk outside and instant sweat. So the heat, the humidity arrived overnight.
Brian Boesch • 31:39
They do have an app or you could look up the weather, right?
Jon Jansen • 31:44
Yes.
Jon Jansen • 31:44
Or you could do it old school way and just walk outside. Yep, sun's shining. No, it's cloudy. It might rain.
Brian Boesch • 31:52
Hey, for when you have to go to work in the morning, leave the house four am yeah. Yeah. The, the weird days are the ones where it is forty at when you're leaving and then by the time you're home, it's almost eighty. Like there are some days like that.
Jon Jansen • 32:07
Yeah, there, there, there, there are still some of those but so, I mean, yeah, it typically is the official start. So for my kids, they will be out of school on Thursday or Friday of this week. So for them, it officially is the start of summer. Whether it's travel, baseball, travel, basketball, travel, softball, like, all of that stuff starts to kick off. If you got high schoolers, if they're younger, you've been doing that already. And here are some of the things that in the state of Michigan that you can look forward to this weekend. You got a pool. Typically, when all the pools open up, state parks, metro parks, it's when all the beaches open up so you can officially go swimming. Water might be a little chilly.
Brian Boesch • 32:52
Wear your flannel.
Jon Jansen • 32:53
Yeah, you can wear your flannel in and out of the water because no one wants to see me without my shirt on. And so there. There are. There are many aspects to this. There used to be a bridge run, and I've done it before across the Mackinac Bridge. Like, that was one of the things that used to do is about four and a half miles start to finish. They no longer have that for Labor Day, right? Yeah, it's a walk. Yeah. I mean, politicians can't run. They walk. That's because that's where all the politicians show up. If you're looking for something that fun to do over the weekend to Tahquamenon Falls, they just built a new boardwalk. If you go up to the up, it's beautiful. You get a chance to see that up there. So five K races, all of those things going on this weekend. And. And you said it. I'm gonna say it again. For all those families that have lost a loved one to the.
Jon Jansen • 33:45
The defense of our country, to preparing and. And to providing the freedoms that we enjoy every single day, it's not lost on us. We will make mark the moment. We will remember those. And we thank you for those that, you know, are no longer with us. We thank you for that ultimate sacrifice for those that are. Are left here living without those. We thank you for your. Your sacrifice as well.
Brian Boesch • 34:10
Well said. All right, transition time on the audio side. Great conversation Jon had with new cornerbacks coach Jernaro Gilford,
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Jon Jansen • 34:26
Joined now by the cornerbacks coach Jernaro Gilford. And coach, this is a new scene for you.
Jon Jansen • 34:34
And we talked a little bit before we. We hit the mics here. And I'm just curious, ten years in Provo, what's it like being now in Ann Arbor after a decade in one spot?
Jernaro Gilford • 34:47
Different, of course, you know what I mean? But I'm surrounded by Great people, which made it easier for me. And I'm surrounded by familiar faces, you know, with Coach Whitt being a Utah guy and being with Coach Jay Hill and Lewis Powell on the defensive side and Coach Stockton, one of my good friends was the other DB coach at Boise with him. And nothing but great things to say about him. And on the offensive side of the ball while I was at byu, the quarterback coach Koy Detmer was there. So I was a coach when he was a player. Coach Simon was a player when I was a coach at byu. And then even Jason Beck when I was a senior. I think he was a freshman at byu. And then Coach Harding, you know, it is what it is. He's one of the best to do it. So familiar faces.
Jon Jansen • 35:39
I'm curious, would you have made this move if there wasn't as much familiarity with the staff?
Jernaro Gilford • 35:45
Oh, man, that's a tough question.
Jon Jansen • 35:49
Cause you probably wouldn't have had to.
Jon Jansen • 35:50
I mean, it wasn't like you had.
Jernaro Gilford • 35:51
It was your choice for sure. For sure. My first mind is telling me yes, just because at the end of the day is Michigan, you know, and this opportunity comes once in a lifetime sometimes. You know what I mean? So I don't know if this opportunity would have come again, but I would have definitely put some more thought into it because. Just because of the people that I was surrounded by at BYU, you know, the head coach, man, absolutely love him. I mean, great dude. Took me in from an FCS program, been with him ten years. And you played there and I played there and I played with the head coach. So again, I was surrounded by familiar faces. But at the end of the day, that block him is just different, you know, so.
Jon Jansen • 36:42
And the answer could be good or bad. What's the one thing that stood out to you when you arrived in Ann Arbor?
Jernaro Gilford • 36:52
The people, the fans, the stadium. Once I stepped foot in it, just looking around, just, just the feeling you got that, you know, you're in, you're in a big, big time place, you know, And BYU is a big time place I'm talking about. The atmosphere is crazy. Yeah. For anybody who's been there, especially a night game, they'll, they'll, they'll tell you it's like one of a kind. But again, it was, it's just different here. All the tradition, the games. I grew up watching and I played corner, you know, I was a senior in high school when Charles Wilson was here, so all those memories. Again, I told you, two of my, two of my high school teammates played here.
Jon Jansen • 37:32
Yeah.
Jernaro Gilford • 37:33
So Those memories. So it was just a lot of great things going through my mind as I, as I stepped in that stadium.
Jon Jansen • 37:40
It's never a prerequisite to be a player at a position and then coach that position. But what type of advantage do you think you have having done it before?
Jernaro Gilford • 37:51
Just personal experiences in those exact moments, you know what to expect, how you feel, knowing that feeling, getting beat in front of eighty thousand. You know, we've all been there. Yeah. You know what I mean? And that's what I tell my guys. I'm like, look, we've all been there. I don't care who you say, like every, every corner in the country have. I mean, we've all been beat. But just the way that we, just the way that we respond. How do you respond? You have to have a short term memory. So just speaking of those things, I can talk to them from personal experience. So I think, I think that's the main difference between playing that position and
Jon Jansen • 38:33
you as a player had a chance. And I didn't know this, but you played for an absolute legend in Lavelle Edwards. What was it like at that time? Because it wasn't the end of his career, but it was coming.
Jernaro Gilford • 38:48
Yeah.
Jon Jansen • 38:49
What was it like playing for a guy that was just an absolute legend in college football?
Jernaro Gilford • 38:55
You know what it was, it was like a father figure. You know what he said went, everybody expected him. It wasn't no question. No how if what. No, no, no. It was like. And that was, that was the program, you know, I'm talking about from from top to bottom. It was like what he says goes. And everybody just bought in, you know, because he had been so successful and recruited so many great, great players and great coaches that either play with him or coached under him. You, you really didn't question that, you know, and, and that's something that you wanted to do similar to the great Michigan coach. You know what I mean?
Jon Jansen • 39:35
Is there anything that you took on as a, as a player now, as a coach from Coach Edwards that you try and mimic or mirror some of the lessons that he taught you?
Jernaro Gilford • 39:47
You know what the main thing is the relationship with the players. He was a players coach, listened to the players, gave the players what they wanted. But at the same time, he's going to hold you accountable for everything from top to bottom, on the field and off the field. But at the same time, he was a player's coach and he thrived off that. So for me, that's kind of what I've taken from him because that's what Kind of put me in this seat of wanting to do it.
Jon Jansen • 40:16
One of the things I hear about this coaching staff, if whether it's media members or just the players, it's individuals, is like, these guys are all really nice guys. They're easy to talk to. It's the same thing I've witnessed. The question I have for you, especially being a former player, how do you go from being a nice guy to being that competitive competitor on game day and flipping that switch where you can still be a nice guy, but there's, there's a certain ferocity that you've got to be able to play with, and you've got to be able to put that in your players as well.
Jernaro Gilford • 40:53
Just being competitive. I mean, I'm gonna be honest with you. I'm. I am a nice guy, but I'm. But I'm competitive. Excuse my language, but I'm trying to whip some. And everything I do, I don't care if it's cards, dominoes, golf, whatever the case may be, I'm trying to win. So being a nice guy. Yeah, don't let that fool you. Like, it ain't. It's not like, oh, he's a nice guy and he don't want to win. No, no, no, no, no. I want to win in everything I do, regardless of who I'm playing. If me and my wife play spades, oh, I'm trying to win. Like, I might let her win. Yeah, I might let her win sometimes just, just because. But no, no, no. At the end of the day, I'm trying to win in everything I do. So our players know that even once we cross, cross into that rectangle, oh, it ain't no friends. Like, we, we are competitive.
Jon Jansen • 41:40
When you're recruiting, how do you judge an athlete's competitiveness?
Jernaro Gilford • 41:46
Ask them certain questions, playing games like, oh, you want to play cars, you want to have a three point shootout, you want to do. Download this game on your phone. We gonna play like, I want them to try to beat me at everything they do. You know what I mean? And I want them to not necessarily get upset, but get irritated a little bit. Like, man, damn, coach, keep beating me. Nah, we gonna, we gonna keep playing. And if they doing that, I can tell that they're competitive. You know what I mean?
Jon Jansen • 42:13
You've come into a situation, it's new to you, it's new to some of the players that were already here. There's obviously some transfers that have come in as well. And you talked about the relationships that you learned from Coach Edwards. It's one of the most important things. How do you build, build those relationships and how long does it take to build a relationship with guys that as freshmen or incoming, as you're recruiting them, there's a process that you build that relationship. Now all of a sudden, hey, you may have a senior in the room. That relationship's got to happen right away.
Jernaro Gilford • 42:43
I think just holding them accountable. Accountable. And then the four keys to success that I go by is being disciplined. First off, just doing the small things right on, on and off the field, and holding them accountable to that. You know, the next thing is respect. Giving each other respect. Eye contact. Yes. Yes, sir. No, sir. And I'm gonna say the same thing back, you know, and there's two words that can take you a long way. Please and thank you.
Brian Boesch • 43:10
Period.
Jernaro Gilford • 43:11
You know what I mean? And then I believe once you have the discipline now, the respect comes, now we can start earning trust. Because trust, trust is hard these days. I mean, I'm just, I'm gonna just, I'm gonna just call a spade a spade. It is what it is. Trust is hard. One hundred percent. One hundred percent. And that's why I'm saying if we have the discipline and the respect now, we can trust each other. Now once we trust each other now, that's when you always hear about players running through the wall for players and vice versa. So to me, with those four things, it builds, it builds the relationship, it builds the accountability, having the discipline, respect, trust, and hard work.
Jon Jansen • 43:47
So just in generalities, what did you see when you looked at this room that you inherited?
Brian Boesch • 43:54
Talent?
Jernaro Gilford • 43:55
I'll be one hundred percent honest with you. We have some talent. We have probably half the group that can play. Play, you know what I mean? The thing that we had to work on most is playing man to man. You know, I mean, it's just different techniques that we have to teach and a different mindset of, of not letting your man catch the ball and you're gonna have to compete. And I think that was the challenge mentally, because guys were getting open catching the ball. But that's man to man, you know what I mean?
Jon Jansen • 44:28
Is that the hardest thing for, for
Jon Jansen • 44:30
a corner man to man coverage?
Jernaro Gilford • 44:31
Man. Man to man coverage and having that short term memory knowing that guys are going to catch the ball sometime. I mean, of course I want them to get irritated when they give up catches, especially when they know what was coming and they're prepared for a certain concept. That's when, that's when they get irritated a little bit because they're like damn, coach, I knew it. I seen two going side. I felt it. Trust it, trust it. Because that's the hard part of actually trusting what you see if you haven't done it.
Jon Jansen • 45:02
I mean I've always equated playing corner to a lot of playing offensive tackles.
Jernaro Gilford • 45:06
Yes, sir.
Jon Jansen • 45:07
I mean, hey, you could have seventy three plays, seventy two of them look great. Take one and only takes one and
Jon Jansen • 45:13
you're on an island. Yes. There's just a lot, there's, I think
Jon Jansen • 45:15
there's a lot of similarities. How do you help those guys develop that short term memory?
Jernaro Gilford • 45:21
Yeah.
Jon Jansen • 45:21
And accept the fact that you don't want to accept that you're going to get beat, but accept that it happens.
Jernaro Gilford • 45:26
Yeah. Just the way they respond. Because I always tell them the way that you respond is going. The way that you respond will make up for everything that's happened prior to it, whether that's good or bad. If you, if you make a great play good, respond again. If you make a bad play, respond. Because we have every single play been on that island just like tackle, you know, I mean you can, like you said, you can give up two straight sacks, but then all of a sudden your next sixty plays lights out and you guys win. You had a damn good game. You know what I mean? So just, just having a next play mentality.
Jon Jansen • 46:05
Who stood out to you throughout the course of spring and throughout the course of whether it's winter conditioning now that we're in the off season, who's, who's really stood out to you?
Jernaro Gilford • 46:15
Yeah, the two returners, first off, Jyaire Hill and Zeke Berry, they both, they both showed that they're efficient in men and zone and they have a high IQ for the game. That was one thing that really, really stood out for me, the way that they took the coaching and, and applied it to the field, especially with everything being so new. And then we had some, some young guys, Shamari Earls, a big long guy who can run, you know, had his ups and downs and but by the end of spring ball he came around and then everybody else is just, is just kind of young and we have to continue to develop those guys. You know, a guy like Smith Snowden came over from, from Utah, didn't get as much live as everybody else, but when he stepped on the field, you can tell like, okay, he's going to be a player, you know.
Jon Jansen • 47:11
So what does adding a guy like Smith Snowden, who's got a lot of experience on the field and he's entering his last year of eligibility, what does that add to that room.
Jernaro Gilford • 47:21
Yeah. Experience in this defense, you know what I mean? A similar, a similar style defense. Coach J. Hill was already with Coach Whit, you know what I mean? So he knows everything that's going on. He knows the calls, he knows the, the, the, all the adjustments from the shifts and motions and stuff like that. And then a guy who, who's cat quick, who has man coverage and ball skills.
Jon Jansen • 47:44
Well, Coach, I appreciate your time. Actually, let me ask you one more thing. From now until the start of fall camp, what do your guys need to be, what can they be doing? What do they need to be doing to be ready for fall?
Jernaro Gilford • 47:57
Continue to condition man, watch film daily master the playbook. That's going to be the most important thing is mastering the playbook, continuing getting better every single day, working with the wide offs, working releases, working one on ones and continue to work on that short term memory so we can do some great things come fall.
Jon Jansen • 48:17
Well, Coach Guilford, appreciate your time.
Jernaro Gilford • 48:19
Yes, sir. Appreciate you.
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Jon Jansen • 48:27
Well, thanks to coach Guilford for his time. Really excited about this group. Whether it's the incumbents and Zeke Barry and J. Your Hill or some of the fresh blood that's back there, some of it that's been a part of the program, some of it's new to the program. It's an exciting position and I think the top end talent, if it produces is going to be exciting for Michigan football fans to watch this coming football season. For everything that's going on in and around Michigan football, keep it locked in here on in the Trenches.
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Jeff Laurence • 48:57
Thanks for listening to this edition of in the Trenches with Jon Jansen. Presented by Meijer, presenting sponsor of the twenty twenty six Michigan football season and proud supporter of hundreds of local sports teams across the Midwest. In the Trenches is part of our Michigan Athletics podcast network, M GO Blue Podcasts. The preceding is a Learfield presentation of the Michigan Sports Network.
