Football
- Title:
- Cornerbacks
- Email:
- fbrecruiting@rice.edu
- Phone:
- 348-6900
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A veteran of over 30 years of college coaching, Gerard Wilcher is in his fifth year of coaching the Rice cornerbacks.
Wilcher has a veteran group of corners to count on in 2022, returning 23 of 24 starts from last season and a pair of players (Sean Fresch and Jordan Dunbar) who earned all-freshman honors from C-USA coaches last season. Myles McCord returns with the most experience, but while he sat out the spring, redshirt Lamont Narcisse and true freshman Jonathan Jean took advantage to make a case for playing time in the fall.
Wilcher had to juggle his rotation in 2020 due to injuries, but the result is an experienced crew of options in 2021. Former JuCo transfer Miles McCord answered the call when thrust into the starting lineup at the start of the year and led the corners with 14 tackles, one interception, and a pair of pass breakups to lead the unit. Andrew Bird returned to action to start the last two games and is the most experienced corner with 11 career starts, while Tre’shone Devones looks to return to the starting rotation after missing most of last year.
Wilcher came to Rice from Delaware State where he served for two years as the defensive coordinator and safeties coach after a pair of seasons in a similar capacity at Division II Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pa. While at Seton Hill, Wilcher's defenders sparked the Griffins to a victory over conference champion and nationally-ranked Slippery Rock.
Before his tenure at Seton Hill, Wilcher served 10 seasons as an assistant coach at Lehigh University, where he was the defensive backs coach as well as co-defensive coordinator in the last two seasons, helping guide the Mountain Hawks to a 26-7 record over those two years.
Wilcher coached 24 All-Patriot League performers at Lehigh and his defenses collected a total of 126 interceptions. Wilcher recruited future NFL third-round pick Will Rackley (Jaguars, 2011) to Lehigh as well as Lee Kurfis, who in 2013 set the school's all-time single-season receiving record and was invited to the Dallas Cowboys training camp.
He coached defensive backs at Cornell for three-season, including 2003, when he helped guide the Big Red to the No. 1 Ivy League ranking in pass efficiency defense.
Before coaching at Cornell, Wilcher served four seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts, where he helped lead the Minutemen to the 1998 Division I-AA National Championship, as well as another appearance in the national quarterfinals.
In 2007, Wilcher was selected as one of 26 coaches across the country to participate in the NCAA Expert Coaches Academy in Miami, Fla., where he participated in workshops focusing on such topics as communication, academic success, and building a successful football program. He has also interned for several NFL teams during training camp, most recently with the Denver Broncos before their winning Super Bowl 50.
A four-year football letter winner at Morehouse College football team, Wilcher earned a bachelor's in Business Administration from the school in 1992.
In May of 2019, he was honored by the City Council of Missouri City, Texas with an Award of Exemplary Action for his role in rescuing a young boy from drowning at a local swimming pool in the summer of 2018.
Wilcher and wife Ayanna are parents to three children. A son, Xavier, a graduate from Delaware State who works for Deloitte, and daughters Jalen, who graduated from Delaware State in May of 2020, and Jehlani, who is a junior at Sam Houston St University and a member of the Air Force Reserves.
