A former star defensive end at Kansas, Jermial Ashley is in his fourth season at UTSA and his second as the Roadrunners’ will linebackers coach. Prior to that, he was the program’s director of player personnel in 2023 and a defensive analyst in 2022.
During his time in San Antonio, the Roadrunners have registered 27 wins, captured a conference championship and qualified for a bowl game each season, including back-to-back victories in the 2023 Frisco Bowl and 2024 Myrtle Beach Bowl.
Over the past two seasons, Ashley has helped the Roadrunners produce the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year in Trey Moore (2023) and Jimmori Robinson (2024) from the will linebacker spot.
Paced by Robinson’s 17 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks, the Roadrunners rewrote several school records in 2024. UTSA set new program standards for tackles for loss in a game with 15 against Tulsa and in a season with 114 while matching the single-game mark for sacks with seven against both Florida Atlantic and Tulsa. Robinson also broke UTSA’s single-game record for TFLs with 5.5 and matched the sacks standard with four against Temple en route to being tabbed as the Walter Camp Award National Defensive Player of the Week.
UTSA finished the 2024 campaign leading The American in sacks and TFLs, ranking third in the FBS with 8.8 tackles for loss per game and fifth nationally with 3.23 sacks per contest. The Roadrunners also paced the league in rushing defense, allowing only 109.3 yards per game to rank 11th in the FBS, and they registered the AAC’s top percentages for third- (.311) and fourth-down defense (.333), marks that both ranked in the top seven nationally.
In 2023, UTSA smashed the school record for sacks with 46 as part of a then-school-record 99 TFLs. The Roadrunners also broke single-game standards with seven sacks against Texas State and 13 quarterback hurries versus East Carolina. UTSA led The American and ranked second nationally with 3.54 sacks per game and ended up fifth among FBS teams with a conference-leading 7.6 tackles for loss per contest.
Individually, Moore took down Marcus Davenport’s program sacks standard with 14 and finished with 17.5 total TFLs in 2023. He collected second-team All-America accolades from the AFCA in addition to his conference defensive player of the year award.
In 2022, Ashley played a key role in the development of Moore as one of the top edge defenders in the FBS. He finished that season with a school-record 18 tackles for loss, including eight sacks, en route to Freshman All-America honors from three different organizations.
Ashley came to San Antonio from Arkansas, where he was the defensive line coach for the 2021 season. He helped the Razorbacks to a 9-4 campaign that was capped by a 24-10 win over Penn State in the Outback Bowl Defensive lineman John Ridgeway was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Prior to his time at Arkansas, Ashley spent six seasons as the defensive line coach at Tulsa. He helped produce one of the American Athletic Conference’s top defenses in 2020, as the Golden Hurricane allowed just 333 yards per game, trailing only Cincinnati. Jaxon Player was named first-team all-conference and recorded 9.5 tackles for loss as Tulsa earned a spot in the conference championship game and appeared in the Armed Forces Bowl.
In 2019, Ashley coached a defensive line that saw Trevis Gipson get selected in the fifth round of the NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. In 2018, he helped the Tulsa defense transition from a base 4-man front to a 3-3-5 alignment, improving defensive numbers. The team recorded the nation’s eighth-best pass defense, while allowing opponents 120+ yards less in total offense than a year earlier. His second season at Tulsa saw a defensive improvement by 110.1 yards and 10 points allowed per game. He was part of two more bowl appearances at Tulsa in the 2015 Independence Bowl and 2016 Miami Beach Bowl.
Ashley spent two seasons at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas, helping the Cardinals go 22-2 over the 2013 and 2014 campaigns. In his first season, the Cardinals led the Southwest Junior College Football Conference (SWJCFC) in total defense, rushing defense, scoring defense and quarterback sacks. TVCC posted a 10-2 record that season, while winning the SWJCFC title, regional championship and the Heart of Texas Bowl with a 72-23 win over Mesa (Ariz.) College. TVCC repeated as conference, regional and Heart of Texas Bowl Champions the following year while compiling a perfect 12-0 record.
Ashley was a graduate assistant at Oklahoma State for three seasons (2010-12) working with defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Bill Young. Ashley was on staff when the Cowboys went to the 2010 Alamo Bowl, 2011 Fiesta Bowl and 2012 Heart of Texas Bowl. During his time at OSU, Ashley helped coached three defensive linemen who earned all-Big 12 honors, including Ugo Chinasa, Jaimie Blatnik and Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Calvin Barnett.
A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Ashley attended Keller Fossil Ridge High School and played two seasons at Tyler Junior College, where he was an NJCAA All-America defensive end. He then transferred to Kansas, where he was a two-year starting defensive end for the Jayhawks and earned All-Big 12 honors in 2004 and 2005.
Following his playing career, Ashley signed a free agent contract with the Cleveland Browns. He also spent a few years in private business before entering the coaching profession at Oklahoma State in 2010.
Ashley earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from Kansas in 2008.
He and his wife, Calli, have two daughters, Eliana and Emory, and son Miles.