Tim Banks comments on defensive performance vs UF (2022)

[hUTch2002]

Isn't going to fire Banks when? You never asked me how long he should get. You assumed I literally wanted him fired today.

I simply didn't like Banks answers. It sounded like he was downplaying their play because they won the game and make a few plays.
If Heupel is content with average to bad D play because he's scoring a lot of points, like it seems some big offense coaches are, I don't see him beating the Alabama's and Georgia's to win championships. That means he won't last long.
I just heard something I didn't like from a coach I'm really unimpressed with that I hope Heupel doesn't echo. Bit of a red flag to me. Not sure why VN lost their mind. Half of them want him fired. I've seen worry that if Banks is kept around he could be Heupels downfall if he doesn't improve the D. That's all I was saying, pointing at something he said.
The person I want to see fired 1st is Martinez. I've said that since he was 1st hired that he was a bad hire. If he is crippling the defense than that's not on Banks.

Got it. Thanks for clarifying.

I will say, as a Falcons fan, your avatar sucks though. Have a good one!

 

[CINCYVOL]

I won’t pretend to know what the strategy is that the coaching staff puts in place, but I have a hard time believing they came into this say “if we can hold them under 500 yards passing we win”.

This team is similar to some of the Majors teams where the offense was potent, but the defense was lacking. Simple truth is, we just don’t have the pieces we need on defense. The good news? Look at the commits we have, most of the 4 stars are on defense.

 

[CINCYVOL]

Isn't going to fire Banks when? You never asked me how long he should get. You assumed I literally wanted him fired today.

I simply didn't like Banks answers. It sounded like he was downplaying their play because they won the game and make a few plays.
If Heupel is content with average to bad D play because he's scoring a lot of points, like it seems some big offense coaches are, I don't see him beating the Alabama's and Georgia's to win championships. That means he won't last long.
I just heard something I didn't like from a coach I'm really unimpressed with that I hope Heupel doesn't echo. Bit of a red flag to me. Not sure why VN lost their mind. Half of them want him fired. I've seen worry that if Banks is kept around he could be Heupels downfall if he doesn't improve the D. That's all I was saying, pointing at something he said.
The person I want to see fired 1st is Martinez. I've said that since he was 1st hired that he was a bad hire. If he is crippling the defense than that's not on Banks.

Even Pat Summit couldn’t win with mules, she needed some thoroughbreds. Help is for n the way for the D. Maybe Banks is a glass half full guy. I can see why that wouldn’t go over well here.

 

[CINCYVOL]

Every game plan is different on both sides of the ball. #15 just happened to have the game of his life Saturday. This is the same unit that punished the Pitts QBs and won that game.

 

[bpalmer28]

Every game plan is different on both sides of the ball. #15 just happened to have the game of his life Saturday. This is the same unit that punished the Pitts QBs and won that game.

I’ve watched the game 3 times now. The more I watch our defense, the more I appreciate how good Richardson was for UF.

Amazing performance by him

 

[BanditVol]

Yikes. I don't much care for that take by him.

If we keep winning, well and good.

If we don't, it's highly unlikely that the offense will be why.

 

[Stephen Gray]

Isn't going to fire Banks when? You never asked me how long he should get. You assumed I literally wanted him fired today.

I simply didn't like Banks answers. It sounded like he was downplaying their play because they won the game and make a few plays.
If Heupel is content with average to bad D play because he's scoring a lot of points, like it seems some big offense coaches are, I don't see him beating the Alabama's and Georgia's to win championships. That means he won't last long.
I just heard something I didn't like from a coach I'm really unimpressed with that I hope Heupel doesn't echo. Bit of a red flag to me. Not sure why VN lost their mind. Half of them want him fired. I've seen worry that if Banks is kept around he could be Heupels downfall if he doesn't improve the D. That's all I was saying, pointing at something he said.
The person I want to see fired 1st is Martinez. I've said that since he was 1st hired that he was a bad hire. If he is crippling the defense than that's not on Banks.

I didn’t like what he said, but I have seen improvement in the defense. That’s actually way more important. So there’s a lot of good he could point out while still saying things need to improve without tossing his players under the bus.

I watched coach Heupel’s press statement the other day and was happy to see this was basically his approach. He recognized that we needed to play tighter coverage, that angles and tackling needed to be better etc. without calling out anyone specifically. Equally importantly he said that they would get better.

Now realistically there are some things they can get better at, and some that they probably can’t. The technique stuff for sure is not the best, can be improved, and will help. Speed and explosiveness is pretty much what it is. Those guys aren’t old enough to have peaked in raw athleticism yet but the growth in that area doesn’t occur during the season.

What I’m getting at is that I keep hearing we have what we have, and the secondary isn’t going to get better, or rather can’t get better until we get new guys. It’s not as simple as that. They can get better, but probably they can’t get good enough this season to be the kind of secondary that we eventually want to be fielding.

That’s ok though, because I don’t think it was ever a realistic expectation to be fielding a team that has the level of talent, technique, and depth as Alabama and Georgia at this stage. You are right that we absolutely want to be someone who competes with the powerhouses and can beat them, but I think you might be wrong about Heupel not lasting long if he can’t.

For better or worse, if he’s winning 7+ games per season and losing to Alabama and Georgia each year I think he will be around for several more years. Stability is something programs benefit from, recruiting and keeping recruit classes is definitely part of long term success. Also it gets really expensive to be firing and hiring coaches all of the time. The athletic department doesn’t have the reserves it once did.

Now I hope for more than 7 win seasons and will be upset if that starts happening regularly. I’ll understand the upset and the calls for change. I just don’t think it will happen until at last year 5. Really though, I don’t think we are gonna have to worry about that. I think we are on a very good trajectory.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

I’ve watched the game 3 times now. The more I watch our defense, the more I appreciate how good Richardson was for UF.

Amazing performance by him

Richardson is nowhere near as good as we made him look like.

 

[Stephen Gray]

Richardson is nowhere near as good as we made him look like.

He’s a freak athlete. He’s not experienced, but he has an arm and his athletic measurables are insane for anyone at that position. He might not do so, but he has the long term potential to be as good as any dual threat quarterback we have seen. He’s 6’ 4”, 230lb and ran a 4.4s 40 yard dash over the summer. He’s a sophomore so should continue to develop for at least another season before he declares for the draft.

For comparison RG3 at the draft was 6’ 2”, 214lb and also ran a 4.4s 40. Dak Prescott at the draft was 6’ 2” 226lb with a 4.79 40. Cam Newton was 6’ 5”, 248lb and a 4.59s 40yd dash.

The fastest 40 yd dash by a quarterback ever was Michael Vick with a 4.33s time 6’ even and 210lb. Richardson’s current time if he did it at the draft today would tie him for the second best QB 40 dash ever. And he’s taller and heavier than anyone I’ve mentioned except Cam Newton who ran a much slower 40 (that was still very fast for a QB).

I want to reiterate he is a sophomore and those other guys all had those measurables at the draft. Richardson has struggled in some games on the passing front, and has to get better at the decision making and adjustments and so forth, but there is no reason to believe that can’t happen.

The game plan against Richardson to contain him and make him make throws was very reasonable in my opinion, because you don’t want to see what happens when he is running the ball and improvising. Fast and difficult to bring down are understatements. You even see this some when the front did get pressure on him. He doesn’t go down easily. The problem was that he did make the throws. Maybe we should have changed tack at some point at least mixing in some different ideas but doing so also could have been disastrous. I can see arguments both ways.

 

[BelieveTheHeup93]

I wanna like Coach Banks, but this level of coach-speak makes me feel a little bit uneasy, I must admit.

I knew when he was being interviewed in the pre-season and they asked about our secondary and he said “we don’t want corners or safeties we want defensive backs” that he might be an idiot. I like how our front 7 is performing, but our DBs didn’t look very good at all last week. Not sure if it’s entirely on Banks, but if we don’t see improvement by the end of the season a change might need to be made. Unless getting rid of Banks would cause us to lose Matthews or Gibson

 

[joevols89]

Yeah.

It really sucks when a fan base has low lifes who are you know, loyal to their coaches and all. Those bastards.

Coaches aren’t loyal to fans. They’re loyal to money.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Coaches aren’t loyal to fans. They’re loyal to money.

That's an overly cynical view of the human beings who make a living as coaches.

They have the same relationships and emotional ties as everyone else. They love their wives and kids, enjoy friendships, and feel thankful to schools and programs (yes, employers in their case) that give them opportunities. Just like all the rest of us.

You can love the company you work for. You can respect it, care about it, be devoted to it. Or not. Depends on your personality and the character of the company.

Same for coaches. Exactly the same.

And those feelings usually extend beyond the institution to its fan base, as well. In some cases, the fan base is so distinct, has a collective personality so strong that it exists beside the school, and the coach can have separate relationships with both. Josh Heupel certainly feels a strong relationship to this fan base; just listen when he talks about us.



...

In any case, my point wasn't about coaches being loyal to schools or the schools' fan bases. My point was in the opposite direction, about fans showing loyalty to the coaches who wear their colors. You probably think "coaches aren't loyal to fans so we shouldn't be loyal to them," but that is just multi-dimensional cynicism at work.

You'll never be an innocent babe again, but try to keep at least a little humanity in your world view. Extreme cynicism is poison...mostly for the person spouting it.

 

[HiltonHeadVol]

Ok but you can’t ignore that the roster was absolutely decimated when Pruitt left, especially what was already a thin defense. The defense improved from Pruitt’s last year to Heupel’s first and the roster under Heupel was far worse. Obviously, part of their job is to improve that roster and we have a great defensive class coming in. Before we claim Banks can’t do this job think we need to give a little more time than 4 games into season 2, especially considering how the roster looked less than a season and a half ago.

I have to agree with your statement. I was just pointing out why there is angst over what could have been with a reasonable or middle of the road defense. not saying its Coach Banks fault at this poiint.

 

[joevols89]

In any case, my point wasn't about coaches being loyal to schools or the schools' fan bases. My point was in the opposite direction, about fans showing loyalty to the coaches who wear their colors. You probably think "coaches aren't loyal to fans so we shouldn't be loyal to them," but that is just multi-dimensional cynicism at work.

Well you’d be wrong. They’re hired mercenaries recycled through program after program, especially the lifetime assistants. Exception for some head coaches (ie giving the guy a chance when no one else would - Pittman at Arkansas) and guys at their alma mater.

I’ll be loyal to anyone for a few million a year. And they have no reluctance dragging your program if things go south and the staff is let go.