Everything Michigan DB coach Jernaro Gilford said on the latest In the Trenches podcast

On adjusting to life in Ann Arbor after a decade in Provo

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. 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. Nothing but great things to say about him. And on the offensive side of the ball, while I was at BYU, the quarterback coach, Coy 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.

On whether he would’ve made the move to Michigan if he didn’t have familiarity with the staff

Oh, man, that’s a tough question. My first mind is telling me yes, just because at the end of the day, it’s 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, just because of the people that I was surrounded by at BYU. The head coach, man, I absolutely love him. I mean, great dude. Took me in from an FCS program. Been with him 10 years. 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 M is just different, you know?

On what stood out to him when first arriving in Ann Arbor

The people, the fans, the stadium. Once I stepped foot in it, just looking around, just the feeling you got that, you know, 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. For anybody who’s been there, especially a night game, they’ll tell you it’s like one of a kind. But again, it’s just different here. All the traditions, the games I grew up watching, and I played corner. I was a senior in high school when Charles Wilson was here. So all those memories. Again, I told you two of my high school teammates played here. So those memories. So it was just a lot of great things going through my mind as I stepped in that stadium.

On the advantage of playing the position he coaches

Just personal experiences in those exact moments, you know? What to expect, how you feel. Knowing that feeling, getting beat in front of 80,000, you know? We’ve all been there. Yeah, you know what I mean? And that’s what I tell my guys. We’ve all been there. I don’t care who you say. Every corner in the country, we’ve all been beat. But 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 that’s the main difference between playing that position.

On playing for a legendary coach in LaVell Edwards

You know what? It was like a father figure, you know? What he said went. Everybody respected him. There wasn’t no question, no how, if, what. No, no, no. It was like, and that was the program, you know? I’m talking about 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 played with him or coached under him. You really didn’t question that, you know? And that’s something that you wanted to do. Similar to the great Michigan coach, you know what I mean?

On lessons he took away from Coach Edwards

You know what? The main thing is the relationship with the players. He was a player’s 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.

On flipping the swtich from being a ‘nice guy’ to a fiery competitor

I mean, I’m going to be honest with you. I am a nice guy, but I’m competitive. Excuse my language, but I’m trying to whoop some ass at 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. 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. I might let her win. Yeah, I might let her win sometimes 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 into that rectangle, oh, it ain’t no friends. Like, we are competitive.

On how he judges a recruit’s competitiveness

Asking them certain questions, playing games. Like, oh, you want to play cards? You want to have a three-point shootout? You want to download this game on your phone? We’re going to play. 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 can keep beating me. Nah, we’re going to keep playing. And if they’re doing that, I can tell that they’re competitive. You know what I mean?

On the relationship-building process during his time in Ann Arbor

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 and off the field. And holding them accountable to that. The next thing is respect. Giving each other respect. Eye contact. Yes, yes, sir. No, sir. And I’m going to say the same thing back. And there’s two words that can take you a long way. Please and thank you. Period. 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 is hard these days. I mean, I’m going to just call a spade a spade. It is what it is. Trust is hard. 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 the relationship. It builds the accountability. Having the discipline, respect, trust, and hard work.

On what he first saw when taking over the DB room

Talent. I’ll be 100% 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 was playing man-to-man. You know what I mean? Just different techniques that we have to teach a different mindset of not letting your man catch the ball, and you’re going to have to compete. And I think that was the challenge mentally because guys were getting up and catching the ball, but that’s man-to-man.

On whether man-to-man coverage is the hardest thing for a DB to master

Man-to-man coverage and having that short-term memory, knowing that guys are going to catch the ball sometimes. 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 they get irritated a little bit because they’re like, damn, coach, I knew it. I seen two on one 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.

On how he develops players to have a short-term memory

Yeah. Just the way they respond. Because I always tell them, the way that you respond will make up for everything that’s happened prior to it, whether that’s good or bad. If you make a great play, good. Respond again. If you make a bad play, respond. Because we have every single play being on that island, just like tackle, you know what I mean? You can, like you said, you can give up two straight sacks, but then all of a sudden your next 60 plays lights out and you guys win. You had a damn good game, you know what I mean? So just having a next play mentality.

On players standing out to him through spring and the offseason

Yeah. The two returners. First off, Jyaire Hill and Zeke Berry. They both showed that they’re efficient in man 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 applied it to the field, especially with everything being so new.

And then we had some young guys. Shamari Earls, a big, long guy who can run, had his ups and downs, but by the end of spring ball, he came around. And then everybody else is just kind of young, and we have to continue to develop those guys. A guy like Smith Snowden came over 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.

On what adding Smith Snowden adds to the DB room

Experience in his defense, you know what I mean? A similar style defense, coach Jay Hill was already with Coach Whitt, you know what I mean? So he knows everything that’s going on. He knows the calls. He knows all the adjustments from the shifts and motions and stuff like that. And then a guy who’s cat quick, who has man coverage and ball skills.

On what he’d like to see his players to continue to work on during the offseason

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 wideouts, working releases, working one-on-ones and continue to work on that short-term memory so we can do some great things come fall.