It's Great To Have Tim Banks Back

Tennessee and defensive coordinator Tim Banks agreeing on a contract extension is great for both sides.

Jan 25, 2025

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It is a very good thing that Tim Banks reportedly signed a new contract extension with the University of Tennessee to continue in 2025 and beyond as head football coach Josh Heupel’s defensive coordinator. It is, undoubtedly, a very good thing. However, this being seen as a very good thing varies depending on who you ask amongst the Tennessee Volunteers fanbase.

I’ll be clear: I don’t get it.

Banks has been Heupel’s defensive coordinator since the beginning dating back to 2021. Each season under the former Central Michigan cornerback’s leadership the Volunteer defense has gotten better. The Vols were 90th in scoring defense in 2021, improved to 36th in 2022, improved again to 22nd in 2023 and put together their best season in 2024 with the 7th best scoring defense in the country. Tennessee had a top-10 rushing defense this past season. The Vols were 5th nationally in defensive YPA at 4.45. In the Vols’ ten victories this season, Tennessee allowed just 3.91 YPA, third nationally and ahead of the national champion Ohio State Buckeyes. The Vols have even been top-10 nationally in TFLs in each of the last two seasons. There is no way around it – Banks has turned Tennessee’s defense into, without question, one of the best units in all of college football.

Now, with Banks back, you have continued continuity on the side of the football that has carried Tennessee each of the past two seasons. The Vols were 78th in scoring in conference play this season, while the Vols were 17th in scoring defense in conference play this season. Banks and his defensive staff have gotten better and better each season on Rocky Top. The Vol offense did not score an offensive point in the first half for three straight SEC games and still went 2-1 with victories over their rivals in Alabama and Florida. In each of those three games, Banks’ defense kept those three teams under twenty points. Georgia was the only team whose offense accounted for twenty-plus points against Banks’ defense in the regular season.

The defense was the backbone of the 2024 Tennessee Volunteers and in 2025 there are a lot of reasons to believe that will be the case again. Tennessee returns key starters Bryson Eason, Dominic Bailey, Arion Carter, Jermod McCoy, Rickey Gibson II, Boo Carter, and Andre Turrentine. Sure, Tennessee will miss James Pearce Jr. a bit on the edge, but there probably isn’t a deeper, more intriguing rotation on this depth chart than the LEO position. Joshua Josephs, Caleb Herring, Jordan Ross and Marion Dye are all former four- and five-star recruits in the last few cycles – Tennessee will be fine there and everywhere else across the defensive line. At linebacker, the Vols have never had more blue-chip talent with Edwin Spillman back and more four-stars entering the fray in Christian Gass, Jaedon Harmon and a couple of others. Tennessee’s three top corners are all back in 2025 and all three were PFF top-101 coverage corners in 2024. Carter should be even better at the STAR position and a guy like Edrees Farooq could certainly prove to be an upgrade over Will Brooks alongside Turrentine at safety.

The most amount of turnover on the Volunteer defense in 2025 is along with the defensive line, which is a good spot for the Vols to be in as it is deepest room on the team and a room that thrives with transfers like Omar Norman-Lott or in-house recruits like Pearce Jr. Remember, before last season there was a lot of concern regarding the turnover in the secondary and the Vols just had the best season back there yet under Banks.

Tim Banks, and the defense as a whole, may also be one of Heupel’s most overlooked and underrated positive traits as the Tennessee head football coach – he has hired well on that side of the ball. Whether it is Banks, Rodney Garner, Brian Jean-Mary, Willie Martinez, William Inge, etc., Heupel both assembled and maintained a strong nucleus of defensive coaches in his four years in Knoxville. For some offensive head coaches, like Dan Mullen with Todd Grantham or Lincoln Riley with Alex Grinch, they whiffed on the hiring of defensive coaches early on in high-profile jobs like Florida and USC, respectively. Heupel hired well in 2021 on that side of the ball and you’re finally seeing it on the field in an elite way.

Perhaps most importantly, though, when it comes to Banks’ contract extension with Tennessee is that the Vols will now not go into Year 5 with huge unknowns on both sides of the ball. Sure, the defense might take the slightest of steps back next season, or it may take the slightest of steps forward next season. At 7th nationally in scoring defense in 2024, it’s a whole lot harder to move up a few more slots than it was to go from 33rd to 22nd a few seasons ago. With Banks and all the returning talent on that side of the ball, though, you can project the Vols’ defense to be one of the best once again in 2025.

Heupel and the Vols need that comfort once again in 2025 with so much uncertainty with the offense next season. The Vols made the CFP when the offense ranked 77th in passing yards per game. If they want to make a run in the CFP next season, the offense has to be a whole lot better. Of the last six national champions, only 2023-24 Michigan averaged less than 9 YPA through the air on the season and they were right at 8.9. The explosive chunk plays have to return. The offensive tackles have to protect better. Nico Iamaleava has to get the most out of the returning blue-chippers in Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley, among several other young, talented wideouts. Those young wideouts have to help their former five-star quarterback out, too. Tennessee’s offense has to get back on track in 2025. Time will tell if that will ultimately be the case in a pivotal Year 5 for Heupel in Knoxville, but the return of Banks as DC ensures that the Tennessee defense will once again be one of the best in the country.

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