Former Tiger hired to coach at Navy |
ANNAPOLIS, Md.—Navy football head coach Brian Newberry announced Wednesday that
Jay Guillermo and David Cole have joined the Navy football staff from Mercer.
Guillermo will coach the offensive line alongside Tommy Laurendine, who previously coached the fullbacks, while Cole will coach the tight ends. Quarterbacks coach Ivin Jasper will handle the fullbacks and quarterbacks. Please welcome new Offensive line coach Jay Guillermo to the yard!#GoNavy | #RollGoats pic.twitter.com/Gcg2VImqRL Jon Williams has moved to the role of Director of Scouting and Special Assistant to the Head Coach, while Danny Payne is now the Executive Director of Football Recruiting and Analytics. "We are excited to welcome David Cole, Jay Guillermo and their families to Annapolis," said Newberry. "David is an exceptional mentor and leader of young men. He has had tremendous success in a variety of roles throughout his career. He is a detailed teacher and an outstanding recruiter. He has a great understanding of the culture we want to create offensively. Jay has a history of success as an offensive lineman and captain of a national championship team at Clemson. He will bring instant credibility with current players and recruits. He has a wealth of knowledge in multiple offensive schemes and is an outstanding recruiter and leader that will create a culture of passion, toughness and grit." "My family and I are excited to be a part of the Navy Football family," said Guillermo. "It is an honor to be a part of the great history and tradition that surrounds the Naval Academy. I am greatly looking forward to working with the young men here and creating a family amongst our offensive linemen that lives on and off the field. I am incredibly thankful to Coach Newberry for this opportunity." "My family and I are extremely honored and grateful to join Coach Newberry's staff and the Navy Football family," said Cole. "I am excited to be a part of the Naval Academy and its rich football tradition and history. I am looking forward to loving, mentoring and developing elite midshipmen on and off the field. Go Navy! Beat Army!!" Guillermo had joined the Mercer staff after the conclusion of the 2023 season from East Tennessee State where he had served as the offensive line coach. Guillermo was the engineer behind an offensive line at East Tennessee State that helped pave the way for one of the Southern Conference's top rushing attacks last season. The Bucs topped the 200-yard rushing plateau four times in 2023, including a 286-yard performance in an early November shootout with league rival VMI. The Maryville, Tenn., native got his start in coaching in 2019 as a graduate assistant coach at Georgia State and then broke into the profession on a full-time basis as the tight ends coach at Western Carolina for an abbreviated spring 2021 season. Guillermo spent the 2021 campaign as the offensive line coach at Carson-Newman, a perennial national contender on the NCAA Division II level, and then made the move to Charlottesville, Va., where he served as a graduate assistant coach for Virginia during the 2022 season. A dominant offensive lineman for head coach Dabo Swinney at Clemson from 2012-16, Guillermo helped the Tigers amass a 60-9 clip during his time in Death Valley, including a 35-5 record against Atlantic Coast Conference foes. Clemson captured a pair of ACC titles during that span, and made five bowl appearances, including berths into the College Football Playoffs (CFP) that culminated both the 2015 and 2016 campaigns for the Tigers. Guillermo saw action in 46 games (29 starts) over his collegiate career, and amassed 69 knockdowns in more than 2,550 snaps as a leader on the offensive line. A four-time ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week and 2016 Hammer Strength All-American selection, he was voted as a permanent captain as the starting center for the 2016 squad that posted a 14-1 record, including a 35-31 win over Alabama in the National Championship Game. Guillermo earned his bachelor's degree in sociology from Clemson in 2016. He and his wife, Ava, are the proud parents of a daughter, Luna, and are expecting their second child in February. Cole completed his fourth season as the associate head coach, special teams coordinator and cornerbacks coach at Mercer in 2023. Cole has coached alongside Navy's new offensive coordinator Drew Cronic for six seasons, including the 2018 and 2019 campaigns at Lenoir-Rhyne where he also served as the interim head coach. Cole helped lead Mercer to an historic 9-4 record in 2023, including a 6-2 mark in the Southern Conference. The nine wins are the most against Division I opponents in the 50-year history of the program, while the team earned an FCS playoff berth for the first time in school history. The 6-2 conference mark tied the 2021 team for the most Southern Conference wins in school history. In 2022, Cole helped the Bears achieve their highest ranking in program history at No. 11 in the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll. Cole coached the cornerbacks in 2022, which was part of a Mercer defense that led the FCS in total interceptions with 17. As special teams coach, Cole worked with returner Devron Harper who was named 2022 SoCon Special Teams Player of the Year by Phil Steele. Harper, who led the conference in kick return average at 29.1 yards per return, was also named First-Team All-SoCon by the coaches and media as a kick and punt returner. He was the only player in the SoCon to have a kick and punt returned for a touchdown. Mercer's Trey Turk led the SoCon with 44.4 average yards per punt. In 2021, Cole helped guide the Bears to the most Southern Conference wins in school history and set the stage for a regular-season finale against ETSU for the conference championship. Mercer's kicking game, under the direction of Cole, was as good as anyone in the SoCon with Turk averaging 40.6 yards per punt. Harper was among the most exciting punt returners in the league, averaging 12.14 yards per return and a long return of 52 yards. Harper also averaged 21.33 yards per kickoff return with a long of 53 yards. Cole helped lead the Bears to five SoCon wins in 2020-21, including three consecutive triumphs over ranked foes. He also helped the Bears achieve a No. 23 ranking in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 poll for Mercer's first appearance in the poll. Mercer defeated No. 9 Chattanooga (35-28), No. 17 Furman (26-14) and No. 20 ETSU (21-13) in three consecutive weeks and at one point had a four-game winning streak in league play. Cole spent a total of four seasons prior to Mercer in Hickory, N.C., with Lenoir-Rhyne, including the last two years with Cronic. Cole mentored an explosive special teams' unit in 2018 that featured return man Kyle Dugger and posted a 25-3 record, two conference championships and two quarterfinal playoff appearances. Dugger earned the National Special Teams Player of the Year award under Cole after becoming the first player in the 99-year history of Lenoir-Rhyne football to return two punts for a touchdown in the same game. Dugger's TD returns of 69 and 64 yards sent Lenoir-Rhyne to a 34-21 victory over Newberry. Dugger would go on to break the program record for most punt return yards in a season (534) and would be named all-conference, all-region and an Honorable Mention All-American for his returning prowess. In his time in Hickory, Cole also served as co-recruiting coordinator for the Bears in 2017 and the interim head coach prior to Cronic's hiring. Prior to his time at Lenoir-Rhyne, Cole spent nine seasons as an assistant coach at California (Pa.) University. While with the Vulcans, Cole headed up the secondary and was the team's recruiting coordinator and pass game coordinator. California (Pa.) posted 149 interceptions from 2005 to 2015 with Cole coaching the defensive backs. During Cole's tenure with California (Pa.), the Vulcans advanced to three-straight NCAA Division II National Semifinals (2007-09) in addition to five playoff appearances and seven-consecutive PSAC West Conference Championships (2005-11). The 2007 Vulcans' defense was ranked No. 1 in the nation in total defense. In the summer of 2013, Cole was selected for an NFL Internship - the Bill Walsh Minority Coaching Fellowship Program - for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Cole, who holds bachelor's and master's degrees (both in geography and regional planning) from California (Pa.), started his coaching career as a graduate assistant for the Vulcans in 2004. Cole was a four-year letter winner and two-year starter for the Vulcans. Cole and his wife, Sharron, are the parents of three daughters, Saniya, Rebekah and Savannah and a son, the late Davin Roberson. Cool to see former Clemson center Jay Guillermo joining the staff at Navy. Nobody does a better Robbie Caldwell impression... but he'll also do a great job coaching up the OL for the Mids.
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