Antonio C. "Tony" Gilbert (born October 16, 1979) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

who is the inside linebackers coach for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach at the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, John Milledge Academy,

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

and the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. Gilbert played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and was drafted by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

in the sixth round of the

2003 NFL Draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

. Playing for eight seasons in the NFL, Gilbert has played for the

and

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

Playing career

College

As a senior at the

(UGA), he earned All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

second-team honors and started every game at middle linebacker. He tied for the team lead with a career-high 114 tackles and recorded 2.5 sacks, 15 stops for losses, 13 quarterback pressures, 1 forced fumble and deflected 2 passes. Member of Zeta Nu chapter of

Phi Beta Sigma Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914, by three young African-American male students with nine other Howard students as char ...

fraternity at the University of Georgia.

National Football League

Arizona Cardinals

He was drafted in the

by the

. His two sons, Jacobi and Amir, were born the same year.

Jacksonville Jaguars

He was signed off the Cardinals practice squad in 2003 by the

. He played five seasons with the Jaguars before being released during final cuts on August 30, 2008.

Atlanta Falcons

Two days after his release from the Jaguars, Gilbert was signed by the

on September 1, 2008. The move reunited him with Falcons head coach Mike Smith, who was defensive coordinator for the Jaguars during Gilbert's time in Jacksonville. The Falcons released

Tony Taylor to make room for Gilbert on the roster. On December 8, Gilbert was placed on Injured Reserve due to a hamstring injury. An

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in the 2009 offseason, Gilbert was re-signed by the Falcons on February 27.

Second stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars

On August 8, 2010, the

signed Gilbert and two other players. On September 4, 2010, Gilbert was released.

Coaching career

Georgia

Gilbert began his coaching career at the

, his alma mater, as an assistant strength and conditioning coach in 2011.

Auburn

In 2012, Gilbert joined

as a defensive graduate assistant and assistant linebackers coach.

Georgia Military College

In 2013, Gilbert was hired by

Georgia Military College Georgia Military College (GMC) is a public military junior college in Milledgeville, Georgia. It is divided into the junior college, a military junior college program, high school, middle school, and elementary school. It was originally known as M ...

as their Assistant defensive backs & linebackers coach.

John Milledge Academy

In 2014, Gilbert joined John Milledge Academy as their defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

North Carolina

In 2015, Gilbert joined the

as a defensive quality control specialist & assistant linebackers coach.

UCF

In 2018, Gilbert was hired as a defensive quality control coach at the

(UCF).

Jacksonville Jaguars

On June 12, 2020, Gilbert was hired by the

as their assistant linebackers coach under head coach

Doug Marrone Douglas Charles Marrone (born July 25, 1964) is an American football coach and former offensive lineman who is the offensive line coach for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He came to prominence as the head coach at ...

. On February 11, 2021, Gilbert was retained by the Jaguars under head coach

Urban Meyer Urban Frank Meyer III (born July 10, 1964) is a college football TV commentator and former American football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons fro ...

. On February 17, 2022, Gilbert was retained under new head coach

Doug Pederson Douglas Irvin Pederson (born January 31, 1968) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). Pederson spent most of his 13-season playing career as ...

References

External links

Jacksonville Jaguars coaching profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Tony 1979 births Living people American football linebackers Arizona Cardinals players Atlanta Falcons players Auburn Tigers football coaches Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Georgia Bulldogs football players Jacksonville Jaguars coaches Jacksonville Jaguars players North Carolina Tar Heels football coaches Sportspeople from Macon, Georgia UCF Knights football coaches African-American players of American football African-American coaches of American football 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople