Staff Directory
- Title:
- Cornerbacks
Jernaro Gilford is in his first year coaching cornerbacks at Michigan in 2026. Gilford is a veteran secondary coach who joined U-M after spending the last 10 seasons coaching the cornerbacks at BYU. Gilford was elevated to BYU's Defensive Passing Game Coordinator for the 2025 season.
He has helped 10 players reach the NFL, including three draft picks. Across 10 seasons coaching the cornerbacks at BYU, Gilford helped seven players collect nine All-Conference honors, including four honorees since 2023, BYU's first season in the Big 12. Jakob Robinson was a two-time honoree (second team, 2024) and finished his career with 11 interceptions, second-most by a BYU player since 2000. Robinson was also a Freshman All-American (2021) and a Jim Thorpe Semifinalist (2023). Kaleb Hayes was the independent Defensive Back of the Year in 2022, and Eddie Heckard was named 2023 Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year.
Gilford helped BYU's secondary to three seasons with a top-30 ranking in passing yards allowed per game and four seasons with a top-30 mark in pass efficiency defense. The secondary produced 15-plus interceptions and a top-20 national rank in that category six times, including each year from 2023-25.
The 2024 Cougars led the nation with 22 picks among 29 total turnovers (tied-third, FBS), with 12 different players recording an interception, more than any other team in the country. They also posted the country's No. 3 pass efficiency rating against (105.91), best in the Big 12.
Gilford played cornerback at BYU, graduating in 2004 with his degree in sociology. He appeared in 37 games for the Cougars with 28 starts, totaling 10 career interceptions, and was a first-team All-Mountain West pick in 2001. After his playing career, Gilford moved into coaching as a two-year graduate assistant (2012-13) at Whittier College in California. He coached two players to all-conference honors in Tyquion Ballad and Josh Pride.
His first opportunity as a position coach came at Southern Utah (FCS), where he was charged with leading the secondary for two seasons (2014-15). During Gilford's time at SUU, the secondary produced two All-Big Sky performers in cornerback LeShaun Sims and safety Miles Killebrew (2015), both of whom were NFL draft picks in 2016. The 2015 defense totaled 20 interceptions (third-most across the FCS) and limited opponents to a 102.5 pass efficiency rating, ninth-best in the FCS after the team was 111th in that category the year before.
Gilford and his wife, Brittany, have two children: son Jernaro Jr., and daughter Jru.
COACHING EXPERIENCE
| Year | Team | Position |
| 2012-13 | Whittier College (FCS) | Graduate Assistant (cornerbacks, special teams) |
| 2014-15 | Southern Utah (FCS) | Secondary |
| 2016-24 | BYU | Cornerbacks |
| 2025 | Cornerbacks, Defensive Passing Game Coordinator | |
| 2026-present | Michigan | Cornerbacks |
The Gilford File
Hometown: Hawthorne, California
High School: Los Angeles Westchester Senior
College: BYU (sociology, 2004), Whittier College (Master's, education, 2014)
Family: Wife, Brittany; son Jernaro Jr., daughter Jru
