Doing as much won’t be easy, as Gilford will be tasked to replace, not only Jakob Robinson, who played a key role in each of his four seasons at BYU, but Marque Collins, who locked down the position opposite Robinson for most of the 2024 season. Both players led a secondary that recorded 22 interceptions in 2024 while proving to be essential elements in what proved to be a very formidable Cougar pass defense.

But Gilford believes he has the type of players that he can reload into the spots vacated by both Robinson and Collins, or at least that’s the hope.

“We don’t have a lot of playing experience, but I feel we have a lot of depth and a lot of potential,” Gilford said. “I like where we’re at now where we have a lot of guys that are competing, and we’re definitely working to stay consistent. We need to get our technique down, and we still have a lot of work to do, but I like how things are shaping up at this point.”

Obtaining the position of being able to reload at a position, rather than rebuild, isn’t easy. But Gilford has done a relatively remarkable job at not only attracting talented cornerbacks to BYU, but retaining that same talent in order that they can develop and take on starting roles.

The two who seem best primed to take the two primary starting roles at corner are senior Mory Bamba (6-foot-3, 190 pounds) and junior Evan Johnson (6-0, 185.) Not surprisingly, both Bamba and Johnson bring elite sets of overall athleticism and speed to the position and are both the most experienced of all the players competing for starting spots at corner.

Gilford readily mentions both Bamba and Johnson as leaders within his group, but quickly defers to the others competing for spots, which include senior Jayden Dunlap (6-0, 185), sophomore Therrian Alexander (6-2, 175), sophomore Kevin Doe (6-3, 205), sophomore Jonathan Kabeya (5-10, 177) and sophomore Marcus McKenzie (5-11, 185.), most of whom have at least some playing experience. Key additions are anticipated from San Diego State transfers Tayvion Beasley (5-11, 185 So.) and freshman Cannon DeVries (6-1, 190), given Gilford a lot to sort out during the next few weeks with regards of who to employ during gametime situations.

“We have a lot of guys who I feel really good about that are pushing each other out there every day,” Gilford said. “It’s what you want every year, and the potential of this group is huge. They got to get there and make up for all the inexperience, but overall this group is as talented as any group of players I’ve coached here.”

Most cornerbacks within his group are likely to play on the outside, while others, specifically Kabeya, DeVries and Dunlap will compete for primary slot corner responsibilities when the defense employs nickel formations. Slot corner is where Robinson stood out initially before expanding his role to both the outside and inside corner positions.

“I see some of the same potential that Jakob had with Jonathan Kabeya, but I also like a lot of the guys that are competing with him,” Gilford said. “It’s a big position in our defense and hopefully we can find guys that can play the role.”

Overall Gilford isn’t just high on his group’s overall talent, but their general attitude.

“There’s a lot of guys who want that attention and want that leadership role, which you love as a coach,” he said. “Sometimes you have to reel some of that enthusiasm back a bit, but overall it’s a very positive group I have and it’s going to be great to see how they compete and continue to develop.”

Cougars earn a spot in Coaches Poll

The preseason Coaches Poll for the 2025 NCAA football season was released on Monday with BYU receiving 287 voting points en route to a No. 23 ranking. The Cougars finished 11-2 last season and finished ranked No. 14 in the same poll last season.

The top Big 12 Conference team ranked in the 2025 preseason poll is Arizona State (No. 11), followed by Kansas State (No. 20), Iowa State (No. 22), BYU (No. 23) and Texas Tech (No. 24.) Texas was tabbed as the No. 1 team in the poll, receiving 1,606 points and 28 first place votes and was followed closely by last season’s college football champion, Ohio State, which received 20 first place votes and 1,565 total points.