Baylor's Top 25 Most Important Players in 2026: Micah Gifford Leans Into Finding the Fun
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Senior safety Micah Gifford is set to be the cornerstone of the secondary for the Bears ahead of the 2026 football season. Coming off a breakout year in 2025, Gifford is looking to build upon his starting experience to clutter the airways with Baylor’s defense backfield.
“I feel it’s definitely my time to step up,” Gifford said during spring practice. “I have to show the young guys, you know, just everything I already know about [Baylor’s system] and just lead the team towards what we want to see in the fall.”
Gifford's breakout in green and gold
Gifford started out at Baylor in just a special teams role only finding playing time across different formations of kickoff and punt return teams in his first two seasons. By the start of his third fall campaign with the Bears, Gifford had earned himself a place in the starting lineup and never looked back.
Gifford posted 22 tackles, a sack, and an interception across his breakout year in green and gold. The cherry on top of the 2025 season for the safety was a 10-tackle performance in the final heartbreaker of the season against Houston.
Gifford is looking to repeat the ferocity of his personal record-breaking season finale in 2026 but is focused on prioritizing leading his team to a winning record.
Finding the fun to lead to success
“I’ve been trying to encourage everyone to have fun with it,” Gifford said. “All of the work we’ve been putting in is definitely a grind, but I keep telling the boys that if we do it with a grin or have a good time it’ll come together faster, and we’ll get better quicker.”
Expectations are high for Gifford’s performance ahead of the 2026 season. Standing at a lean six-foot three inches, the safety has made himself known as one of the quickest defenders in the Big 12 conference.
Gifford’s combination of size and speed will make him one of the most impactful defenders suited up for the green and gold. Under new defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman’s direction, the senior is looking to become one of the fiercest ball hawks in the conference.
“Everything has become about getting to the ball,” Gifford said. “With [Klanderman] we’re trying to always know where it is and where it could be heading. He’s making us run to the ball better, attack the ball better, tackle the ball better, and all around it’s been a good thing.”
Gifford asserted himself as a vocal leader on the Baylor defense across the spring practice campaign and now has higher expectations for himself to continue that leadership in the fall than anyone else.
“I want to get stops and I want to win,” Gifford said. “Someone had to step up and I’m a veteran here now...the energy has been different this year and I think we’re ready to really go and help the team win some games.”
See our full top 25 players:
- No. 25: OL Isaiah Robinson
- No. 24: LB Kyland Reed
- No. 23: WR Taz Williams
- No. 22: S Daniel Cobbs
- No. 21: S Colby McCalister
- No. 20: WR Jadon Porter
- No. 19: C Yakiri Walker
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Dylan is a class of '26 graduate from Baylor and is now pursuing his JD at the University of Massachusetts School of Law. A born and raised Baylor fan, Dylan served as a sportswriter for the Baylor Lariat from 2025-2026, where he won the TIPA award for second-best sports story of 2025. His favorite writing memory was getting the chance to interview both Darryn Peterson and Bill Self at Allen Fieldhouse. In his free time, Dylan can almost always be found playing pickup basketball.
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