Tennessee DC Tim Banks sees more depth on his side of the bal
Tennessee defensive coordinator Tim Banks is entering his third season on the job in Knoxville and while the defensive roster may not be exactly where the staff would ultimately like it, it’s certainly in better shape than when Banks arrived on the scene.
There are a number of areas where the Vols look to have more depth and talent than they did when Banks arrived, but without question the position where the difference is most notable is at linebacker.
In Banks’ first spring practice with Tennessee back in 2021 the Vols literally couldn’t field a two-deep at linebacker with experienced scholarship players.
That was somewhat better in 2022, but a good chunk of the depth was provided by true freshmen Elijah Herring and Kalib Perry.
The Vols have to replace one starter in Jeremy Banks, but they bring back the constantly improving Aaron Beasley and added ultra-experienced BYU transfer Keenan Pili out of the portal.
Herring and Perry are both back, a year older and wiser to provide some legitimate depth and freshmen Arion Carter, Jalen Smith and Jeremiah Telander have been added to the mix as well to finally give Banks a nice blend of experience and youth in the linebacker room.
Pili may have a learning curve as he moves into the SEC, but he and Beasley give Banks two guys in the middle who have been multi-year starters and have played a ton of college football.
“I think with Aaron, it’s about confidence. Honestly, he’s always been confident, but as the spotlight started to shift toward him a little bit, I thought he got more comfortable in that setting. He’s been great,” Banks said of Beasley.
“As far as KP (Pili) goes, he was a great addition to our team this spring. He’s a tremendous young man and a tremendous family man. He’s big, athletic, physical. We’re super excited about watching him continue to develop during camp. I think all of our team, particularly on our side of the ball, really respects him because of his work ethic.”
WHO’S GETTING TO THE QUARTERBACK?
One question that Banks and this defense will face a lot over the next month is this; who is going to get to the quarterback?
The Vols were decent, but not great, at getting to the passer last fall. Tennessee finished with 31 sacks on the year, sixth best in the SEC.
However, seven of those sacks were collected by Byron Young, now in the NFL. Roman Harrison (3.0 sacks in ‘22) and Tyler Baron (2.5) are the leading returning sack guys up front from last year. (Beasley also had three sacks from his linebacker spot).
There’s reason to think that both Harrison and Baron can take a step forward this season, but they’re also going to need some help. Fortunately for the Vols there are some promising youngsters on hand who may be ready to make an impact.
Joshua Josephs (6-foot-3, 242) pretty quickly worked himself into a niche role in obvious passing situations last fall as a true freshman. James Pearce Jr. has a tantalizing skill set at 6-foot-5, 242 pounds. Pearce played sparingly last fall but did manage to record a pair of sacks.
Those two sophomores will have a chance to earn major playing time this fall as the defensive staff tries to find a way to pressure the quarterback consistently with four rushers.
“That’s obviously what we’re building toward,” Banks said of developing a consistent pass rush. “We feel very good about the number of guys that we have returning. We feel like we’ve recruited at a high level, and we have some young players that are going to get some opportunities to show what they can do.
“Just like anything, it’s a work in progress. We’ll obviously know more once we get going during camp this season. Hopefully we develop the way that we think we should. That’ll open up some more opportunities for us to be more creative in terms of getting to the quarterback.”
WHAT ABOUT THE VETS?
Many fans are anxious to see if Joseph and Pearce in fact take that next step and turn potential into production.
Banks is clearly not giving up on his veterans at this stage. He’s liked what he’s seen from both Baron and Harrison, not just this summer, but going back to spring practice.
“Tyler has always had the God-given talent. He’s arguably one of our better players on our defense in general, not just up front,” Banks said of Baron. “He’s long and athletic. I think the biggest thing for him is just that he’s been banged up a ton. He was fortunate enough to be able to make it all the way through spring. We saw a lot of great consistency with his play.”
Harrison, a fifth year senior, is one of the most experienced players on the Vols’ roster, having appeared in 47 games over the course of his career. He’s never quite put it all together, but did have his best season in 2022 with 39 tackles, 7 TFLs and 3.0 sacks. Banks has seen more consistency from Harrison coming out of last year.
“He’s probably pound-for-pound one of the tougher players in this conference. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s about the consistency, playing a little bit smarter and cleaning up those things,” Banks said of Harrison. Quite honestly, we saw some of that from him this spring. We thought he was a lot more consistent in what we were asking him to do.
“I think his overall knowledge of not just rushing the passer, but what we’re asking him to do in some coverage principles, he got a lot better. We’re expecting him to have a really good year for us and he needs to.”
SECONDARY MUST STEP UP
After finishing 12th in the SEC in pass defense last fall (289 yards per game) and giving up 21 touchdown passes on the season, clearly the secondary is a point of concern for the Vols’ defense as the 2023 season looms.
The Vols did manage 11 interceptions, tied for third in the SEC, but clearly there are some things in the back end that could be tightened up.
There are plenty of guys with starting experience back from last year’ secondary at all positions, but there have also been some promising new additions added to the defensive backfield.
At corner the Vols added BYU transfer Gabe Jeudy-Lally began his career at Vanderbilt, so he’s seen action in the SEC. Freshmen Jordan Matthews, Ricky Gibson and Christian Conyer are a couple of high profile recruits who got a spring practice under their belts as early enrollees.
“It will help a ton because all of those guys are healthy at this point. They’re very talented. I think the room is very talented,” Banks said of the improved depth at cornerback. “Again, if you’re not out there to get the reps, it’s hard to play to your full potential.
“Having all of those guys back with game time experience only helps us because at the end of the day, to think that we can go into the season with just two corners is not what we think. We know we’ll need at least three or four and in a perfect world, five guys that we feel like we can plug and play and it won’t be a huge drop off. Having all of those guys healthy and ready to compete only will help that room get better. If they’re better, we’re obviously better.”
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