Jernaro Gilford's Coaching Blueprint Will Spark Big Plays for Michigan's Corners in 2026

The Wolverines are looking to impact games on the defensive side of the football.

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Jernaro Gilford might be new to Michigan, but he's no stranger to coaching good cornerbacks. Gilford comes to the Wolverines, following defensive coordinator Jay Hill from BYU. Gilford coached the Cougars' cornerbacks for the past 10 seasons.

A former cornerback himself, Gilford was able to help 10 different BYU players get into the NFL during his time there, and seven players earned all-conference honors under Gilford's leadership.

Coming to Michigan, Gilford has a cornerback room that has some questionable depth, but the starting power is massive. Jyaire Hill, Zeke Berry, and Smith Snowden have the potential to make up the best starting cornerback room in the Big Ten.

The small things leads to big plays

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In 2024, BYU led the nation in interceptions, picking off 22 passes — among 29 total turnovers. Speaking on Michigan's X Account, Gilford said his philosophy is doing all the small things right. Touching up on coverage, making sure footwork is good, and if all the small things are perfected, big plays are going to happen for his unit.

"We're going to have a lot of swag, which is just confidence, and a group of guys who are going to dictate the tempo by our physical style of play," Gilford said.

"They know from a coaching standpoint, I'm going to always say, touch up coverage, because that's just going to make us do all the small things right, and if we do all the small things right now, that's going to be just making a big play."

Lack of big plays on the defensive side of the football

Going back to Michigan's last dominant year on defense, in 2023, the Wolverines led the Big Ten, picking off 18 passes. In those 18 interceptions, four of them were returned for touchdowns, back in the dominant years of Mike Sainristil and Will Johnson.

But once Jesse Minter followed Jim Harbaugh to the NFL, the Wolverines' defense lost some of their prowlness of making the big play.

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In 2024, Michigan intercepted 12 passes, which was tied for fifth in the Big Ten, and then last year, the Wolverines had 13 interceptions, also ranking fifth in the conference. Out of those 13 picks a season ago, Michigan had just 24 return yards to show for it on the season.

But with some veterans returning for the 2026 season and Gilford coming in to perfect the small things, Michigan is expected to make some bigger plays in the secondary this year, potentially making a big impact in some of the bigger games on the schedule.