Tim Banks comments on defensive performance vs UF (2022)

But you have played 4 not especially good teams and Pitt and Fla were close games. Lest see what happens with alabama, Kentucky, and Georgia. Then you'll know where your defense really is
Pitt and Florida are ranked teams at the time we played them. Florida lost to #7 UK, but beat #7 Utah. I would not say they were not particularly good teams. Ranked is ranked for a reason.
 
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But you have played 4 not especially good teams and Pitt and Fla were close games. Lest see what happens with alabama, Kentucky, and Georgia. Then you'll know where your defense really is
Who are you a fan of, again? You're giving some pretty clear signals that it isn't the Vols.

And second, who on earth puts Kentucky up with Bama and UGa as "especially good teams"? They're not getting out of the month of October without two losses.

Is that your team? The Wildcats?

Go Vols!
 
It's part of BVS and most were concerned because he wasn't a proven big named defensive coordinator. I think he had previously been a DC years ago at a small school, but spent most of his time as a position coach. So lack of experience on the résumé was the issue....

Remember when we got an experienced DC from Penn State and how well that worked out? I think people on here just like to have something to complain/be concerned about. It’s not like Banks came in and took over a unit filled with All-Stars. You can’t really make chicken salad out of chicken **** if you know what I’m saying.
 
Just some info from wiki about Tim Banks. Idk if it'll happen here but I think if we get better recruits on defense along with Tim Banks our defense should improve. I think it's the same issue that Oklahoma is having but worse. We had defense studs no doubt but they transferred or moved on. Now we just have a talent issue and that can only be fixed by transfer portal or recruiting. The portal is easier than the recruiting.
 
Coach Bank's statements are disturbing. If he thinks that performance was acceptable in any way then TN is in trouble. One off day for the offense will mean a butt kicking from the other team.

I don’t think he actually believes everything is fine. I mean, I can’t read minds, but I’m pretty sure that even if he did think so there are other coaches on the team who would tell him otherwise. I suspect he didn’t want to criticize particular players or groups publicly, which is good.

The way he did so was maybe not the way to do it. Just all of the negative reactions we see in this thread sort of point to why. If he believes nothing is wrong, that’s super problematic and worrisome, and if he doesn’t it’s dishonest.

He should have said there were many things we did well, that we shut down the run, mostly contained the quarterback, etc. That the defense was able to execute in key situations. Then he could have said that clearly we gave up more yards than we would like to and have to keep getting better.

If asked about what needed to improve he could have spoken about technique issues at a high level without singling out anyone. If they tried to pin him down about the secondary or specific players he could have mentioned that said person or people did a lot of things correctly and were important to winning the game, that he likes them, how they prepare, and that they work hard and continue to do the things asked of them. That of course there are things that must be done better, and that the expectation is that those things will improve.

The difference is doing it this way protects your players but is also honest and takes ownership. That said, I do think overall even if I don’t like how he answered here, that several things are more important than getting the press conference right.

Most importantly, are we getting better? The answer I think is yes. We’ve seen clear improvement in most aspects of the defense. So I think I like the coach, but he could make the fans who are nervous and half expecting disaster less likely to have heart attacks by sounding better.

Even non fans are going to pick up the coach saying 600 yards given up doesn’t matter and will form opinions. It’s certainly not the most important thing, and the sky isn’t falling, but I don’t think he did himself any favors.
 
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”.
I think the strategy was to play zone, put a spy on AR, and make him prove the can win with his arm.
 
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But you have played 4 not especially good teams and Pitt and Fla were close games. Lest see what happens with alabama, Kentucky, and Georgia. Then you'll know where your defense really is
Wait....you are giving UT issues for playing "4 not especially good teams"....yet you post about seeing what happens with KY? Who the heck has KY played this year to put them up on a pedestal higher than ours?????
 
It seems to be similar problems as last year. Defense is still a little thin and inexperienced, we appear to be recruiting well. I believe the game plan to start the game was to stop the run and contain AR, forcing him to beat us passing. It backfired and he lit us up in the secondary.

It takes all 11 to play defense, secondary has to hold up long enough for the D line to get to the QB, if the D line can't get their quick enough, someone will get open. Our pressure didn't impact the QB fast enough and our DBs couldn't cover long enough and we got torched.

Don't get me started on the prevent defense we played at the end- I was having flashbacks of 3rd and Chavis. I think our coaches or Huepel had puckered butt holes just trying to hang on to win, I don't like that. We should have kept playing offense after the first onside and put another 7 on the board. Our offense could move the ball at will, you have a QB who hasn't thrown a pick all year - 48-21 would have crippled them and it would have definitely been over.
 
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Remember what Josh Heupel said in an interview with Greg McElroy just before the start of the season:
“Long-term, playing just slightly better defense or average defense isn’t the standard here,” said Heupel. “This is the land of great defenses and great defensive players and as we continue to add players to our roster and develop the ones that are here, I know that with Coach Banks and our defensive staff, we’re going to play elite defense — there’s no question in my mind.”
That's where we are going. Have faith in Heupel & Co to get us there. I think they've earned that trust.
 
I can see that, from one perspective.

But from another perspective, the man merely said, in a politer and less direct way, "I don't give a good hot damn about the stats. I care about winning."

If the offense needs the defense to be world class in order to win, that just means the offense is a weakness. If the offense is world-class, as ours is, it only requires the defense to be good enough to keep the other team's final score lower than ours.

Don't get me wrong. I'm with you and everyone else here on wanting our defense to get much, much better at pass defense. But they're better overall now than they were last year. And they'll be better at the end of the year than they are now. And even better next season.

It's a process, returning to championship football. It doesn't necessarily happen fast. Just because it IS happening fast for the offense, that doesn't mean our defense isn't on schedule for what Josh Heupel wants and expects.

Let's let them coach. Josh seems to trust and appreciate Tim. And we trust Josh, right?

Have faith.

Go Vols!
Good post. Fans need to be patient. Look at UGA's defense last year. One of the best I've seen in quite some time. It didn't happen in one season. Those were junior and senior players under the same coach. It simply takes time.
 
Extreeeeemely butchesque and we should all be very concerned

No we shouldn’t. As a coach, you have to read your players….

If they’re overconfident and not playing well, that is the time to rip into them and bring them down a few pegs.

BUT, if they’re lacking somewhat in talent and their confidence isn’t as high as you would like, you have to focus on the positives and try to pump them up while you work on the deficiencies. I highly suspect that our staff believes that the defense is in this category.

I also bet that the staff is not satisfied with the play of the defense. They just aren’t going to correct it by ripping the players in the press. And I applaud them for that.
 
Some quotes from Tim Banks at the Knoxville Quarterback Club:

“The stats don’t always tell the story… Being able to make the plays that we needed to make to give us a chance to be successful, that’s what we’re always looking for.”

“The only thing I’m concerned about is, ‘Did we win or did we lose?’… Winning plays give us a chance to be successful.”

“When we break down the tape, there are some things we would liked to have done betters… But to sit here and say it was the D-line or say it was the DBs, it’s always a combination. I think we’ve played some good defense for most of the season.”

Despite mistakes, Tim Banks proud of Vols' late-game grit in Florida win
Shades of sunseri.
 
Who does that sound like? I really want to like Coach Banks. My problem is that he spent so much time under Butch Jones. His first DC job was 2007 at Central Michigan. Then he followed Butch to Cincinnati as co-DC until 2011. Banks left for Illinois a year before we botched it up with Butch. I hope Banks didn't take on too many of Jones' traits. His quotes just sound a little to familiar for me to be comfortable with. I hope my worries will turn out to be of no concern.

The ? is why leave PSU, and why didn't Franklin try to keep him, IF banks is all that? Lateral move at best, so the question has to be asked. I could handle the awful DB performance, IF Banks at least addressed it and Took OWNERSHIP and gave solutions.
 
The ? is why leave PSU, and why didn't Franklin try to keep him, IF banks is all that? Lateral move at best, so the question has to be asked. I could handle the awful DB performance, IF Banks at least addressed it and Took OWNERSHIP and gave solutions.
He doesn’t care if you can “ handle “ it or not
 
I can see that, from one perspective.

But from another perspective, the man merely said, in a politer and less direct way, "I don't give a good hot damn about the stats. I care about winning."

If the offense needs the defense to be world class in order to win, that just means the offense is a weakness. If the offense is world-class, as ours is, it only requires the defense to be good enough to keep the other team's final score lower than ours.

Don't get me wrong. I'm with you and everyone else here on wanting our defense to get much, much better at pass defense. But they're better overall now than they were last year. And they'll be better at the end of the year than they are now. And even better next season.

It's a process, returning to championship football. It doesn't necessarily happen fast. Just because it IS happening fast for the offense, that doesn't mean our defense isn't on schedule for what Josh Heupel wants and expects.

Let's let them coach. Josh seems to trust and appreciate Tim. And we trust Josh, right?

Have faith.

Go Vols!
It is easy to get frustrated at a lack of perceived progress. I'd offer folks need to keep in mind the offense (typically) has the initiative and the defense is reacting to what they are doing. To be an elite defense you have to have smart, fast players that know their job within the scheme and are fundamentally sound. We have some athletes that are simply not there yet but are building to that. I have said this before and still believe it to be true: If we still have the same weak points in two years it's the coaches and scheme. Until then a W is a W.

Also glad we are debating our weaknesses sitting at #8 in the country. Go Vols!
 
This in bold.....basically it was UF saying yall suck on defense and can't stop us so we will go for it on 4th and 20 from our own 1 yard line.....this is basically saying that....

I took it as: "We don't stand a f***ing chance unless we use all 4 downs to move the chains and keep UT's offense off the field." AR had a great game and they gave themselves a chance.
 
I've noticed Tim Banks seems to have been on a very short leash with VN posters since day one. Is there a backstory with Banks and UT Vols, or something? I completely understand wanting better performance but I feel like he's been on the outs even before the first snap last year.

What gives?
Many call our fan base passionate. No one calls them smart.
 

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