Tennessee DC Tim Banks Discusses Biggest Defensive Priority for Fall Camp, Individual Game Goals

Fall camp is here, and Tim Banks has his focus set on depth, linebackers and basic fundamentals as week 1 inches closer.

Josh Heupel is coming to Tennessee to revamp the Vols offense, and that is what has been the focal point of the offseason. While college football has seen high scoring offenses win championships the last two years, saying defense is not as important is far from true. It is vital. It wins championships, as the college football world has seen many times, most recently with the 2018 Clemson Tigers. 

Tennessee held its fall camp media day, and while a majority of it was focused on the quarterback situation and the culture of the entire locker room, the Vols defensive coordinator, Tim Banks, had a lot to say regarding the Tennessee defense heading into the fall during Tuesday’s media availability.

Banks notes that the focal point for coaching this Vol defense during camp will be ensuring that players master the fundamentals of the defense and that there is plenty of depth in preparation for the season. 

"Based on those 15 practices in the spring we had and now going into the fall, do they still understand the base and fundamentals that we put in,” Banks said. “Then, the second thing is creating depth. We need to find out who are our top guys and how they fit. We have a couple guys that are new to the program. We have to find out in a hurry how they fit. Coming out of our exit interview when our players left in the spring, we had some things that we identified as strengths and weaknesses. We want to see how well they've improved on them going into camp. Ultimately, we're trying yo see what our recall looks like, which will determine how much more we can put in for our packages. Then we have to make sure that we have guys in the right spots moving forward. We put in all of our base fundamentals, our base defense. Now, you start to get into more of your packages and different things of that nature going into the fall."

More specifically, Banks mentions that the defensive front having enough depth to get through a 12 game season is a critical area of focus in fall camp.

"[Having enough defensive from depth is] the million dollar question. That's what we're going to work toward. We have some guys that have played. We also have a lot of youth and a lot of unknowns at that position. That's what makes it fun. We're excited about the challenge. I know our front is excited about the challenge. From week to week, it changes. You named some teams that run it really well, but there are going to be some offenses that can throw it. It's our job week in and week out to make sure we have the best package possible put together for these guys to give them a chance to be successful. We're going to do that."

As far as in-season games go, Banks notes that their goal as a defense is quite simple.

"[Our goal] is to win. That's our number one goal. We want to win. We want to find a way to do our part to make sure at the end of the day that UT is successful. What that looks like week in and week out, we don't know. We have some core fundamentals and beliefs that we have that we think are critical to us playing great defense, but ultimately, our number one goal is just to win. That's how we start everything, and that's how we end everything. What do we need to do to win?" 

Like Josh Heupel, Tim Banks enters his first year as a coach on Rocky Top, looking to assist Tennessee in rebounding from a disappointing 3-7 2020 campaign that saw its defense allow 30 points per game. Banks will look to get his defense off to a hot start on Thursday night, September 2 against Bowling Green, a team in which Banks first got his feet wet with coaching, as he served as a graduate assistant for the Falcons upon conclusion of his collegiate playing career. 

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