Are we wrong about Banks and this defense?

[rocketskates]

I think that Banks is fine, Gardner is the man with what he's doing with that DLINE and Martinez still needs to go. DBs played well Saturday, but it helped that the DLine was in Rattler's face pretty much the entire game. I still don't think that Martinez is the answer as the DB coach.

 

[JCHateSteve]

To me the biggest reason for optimism is that the defense appears to get better as the season goes on. They did that last year too. Now if we could just start the season at a bit higher level, we'd be cooking with gas.

 

[Jpcisco]

I have had zero problems with Banks. We have gotten better each year. I dont get all the hate for him. He is put at an extreme disadvantage due to how our offense operates. Let's be real, we saw it all last year and we saw some Saturday, we have to fake injuries on extra points to get our Defense a few extra seconds of rest. It's almost impossible to have that many injuries when guys are just going through the motions of points after. I'm convinced Huepel uses it to help the defense out. Once Nico is ready to take over, Banks should finally have a defense full of his guys and we should be one of the better defenses in the country. We have a lot of promise on that side of the ball with young guys like Pearce, Josephs, Carter, Telander, Herring, Hobbs, Bradley, Matthews, and Gibson. Next year we have Boo, Ross, Beasley, and Spillman coming in. By the time Nico is a junior we should have an elite defense to make a run at a championship. He has exceeded my expectations so far given the obstacles a DC is given because of our tempo, but he has found ways to make it work. When we had our mass exodus after Pruitt it wasnt just offensive players that left. The cupboard was bare on both sides of the ball. We are starting to get some high profile guys with the last 2 recruiting classes so we are about to find out if he is a good DC or great DC imo.

 

[FollowTheLeader]

Yet if we're to believe the recruiting services, we have better talent waiting especially in the secondary. If he's unable to develop the youth, isn't that on him? Or are we paying him a huge salary to let the youngsters grow by osmosis over time? If he's not a developer of talent, why waste time on defensive recruits? Just go find experience in the portal every season.

Has Milton been developed? He's been under the leadership of our offense for 3 years. Have the coaches failed to develop him?

 

[FollowTheLeader]

Yep defense was a no show during first half vs Florida. You can't have those type of collapses with a game like that and so much on the line. Now did we play well offensively that night? Nope and didn't handle florida's crowd or the noise.

So basically, we did terrible on both side of the ball, but we put more of the burden on the defense, if we lose, but they get less credit if we win. Why so?

 

[loosecannon]

What we saw this week compared to against FLA boils down to three things:
1. Florida created matchup nightmares for us because of how we reacted to motion. They would move people around to the point that we had DBs in the box and LBs in space. They abused us with it all night. SCAR had a basic attack. Almost every play was TE on the right with a seven man protection that left the LT 1 on 1. We abused that terrible gameplan.
2. We got pressure with four because of above combined with the SC OL was soft in the middle and we attacked that. Florida was good on the inside and we had to send extras to get pressure.

3. Since we could get pressure with 4, we could do lay more aggressive man coverage with help over the top. We had to drop into zones a lot more when we played FLA because of all the extra blitzing required. Our guys are horrible zone DBs. We always look lost in zone.

 

[OrangeTsar]

We have games like SC 2023, and LSU and Kentucky in 2022 then we turn around and have games like SC 2022 and FL 2023 where the wheels just come off. The inconsistency is infuriating. I can only chalk it up to lack of depth and experience. I am hoping as we continue to recruit well we eventually get two to three competent player for each position

 

[A FEW GOOD MEN]

Taking a half to tell a LB to bump out or a safety to roll down is way too long. We have better players than SCar and UVA. The other 2 teams we beat aren't even worth mentioning. Florida is the most talented team we played. There were other factors to us losing but the defense played a bad 1st half as a whole and it showed on the scoreboard in the 1 qtr and it was due to Banks not being able to make a simple adjustment on the fly.

Or he was trying and couldn't get his player or players to execute. Sometimes it's just a kid getting confused.

 

[sjt18]

Better but still not sold. For every game he tightens up coverage and let's the pressure do its work... he has 2 or 3 when he plays back and lets teams murder the D by 1000 cuts. Martinez isn't the problem when Banks calls for the DBs to play soft. Martinez teaches technique and coaches within the system/gameplan. Most of what you've seen is Banks low risk philosophy on big plays. Low risk/low reward.

Hopefully this is a turning point... but I want to see A LOT more.

 

[sjt18]

We have games like SC 2023, and LSU and Kentucky in 2022 then we turn around and have games like SC 2022 and FL 2023 where the wheels just come off. The inconsistency is infuriating. I can only chalk it up to lack of depth and experience. I am hoping as we continue to recruit well we eventually get two to three competent player for each position

Not buying the talent angle. There are teams doing more with less.

I guess I just disagree with the answer Banks is giving. If you think you may have talent holes then to me that's when you want your guys to make up for it with unbridled aggression. Even if you get burned, you want them playing with their hair on fire... with a chip on their shoulder. He seems to have been closer to the opposite extreme to this point. The Vols are pretty aggressive up from but usually plays soft in the back.

Saturday they more or less smothered a guy who was being called the best WR in the SEC by some. Take out the fake punt and he had 4 catches for 18 yds. Guys were in his shirt all night.

I would still like to see UT jumping more routes by design It isn't an accident that UT was the only SEC D without a defensive score since 2021. They seemed to play tighter in the secondary on Saturday. Even when Rattler got time, he struggled to find guys open down field.

 

[gmoneydt]

This has more to do with total team mentality on the road. They still struggle in truly hostile environments. That's the next step huepel and co will have to take.

Team maturity. We are still young. Look at our LB corps, as an example. As has been said more eloquently before in this thread, we need the talent and then we need to develop said talent

 

[chrisvannoy]

If the defense is was being consistent I would say yes but they aren’t. For one gators should not have scored that many points on us but against cocks they did a good job

They gave up 29 points to Florida, when the offense couldn't do Jack. Look at the time of possession. The Florida loss falls solely on the offense.This defense with last year's offense makes the playoffs, and some noise.

 

[EasternVol]

I have been an out spoken critic of Banks and this defense as a whole. So have many others. I am still out on Martinez although the DBs have looked a little better. But back to Banks. Could we be wrong? So through 5 games we are 4-1. Here are our rankings in the country in defense.

Total defense: (28th) (6th in the SEC)
3rd down defense: (26th) (4th in the SEC)
4th down defense: (14th) (3rd in the SEC)
First down defense: (25th) (4th in the SEC)
Passing yards allowed: (30th) (5th in the SEC)
Red zone defense: (49th) (5th in the SEC)
Rush defense: (40th) (7th in the SEC)
Scoring defense: (31st) (6th in the SEC)
Team Pass Efficiency Defense: (36th) (5th SEC)
Tackles for loss: (3rd) (#1 SEC)
Sacks (tied for 3rd) (#1 SEC)

I realize that we really haven’t played anyone but many teams ahead of us have played equally easy schedules or even worse. For example Kentucky. Now they are ahead of us in many defensive categories. But they have played an easier schedule than we have.

So what does everyone think? Now I am not saying we are an elite defense by any stretch. But could it be that our defame is improving? I am pretty sure most of us had Rattler shredding our defense. Like him or hate him, he was playing as well as anyone and we stifled him. There is a strong possibility that Banks is improving.

We? You got a mouse in your pocket?
Banks has done pretty well with the players he's had.

 

[Shaun1985]

I don't know. Rattler didn't torch us because we were aggressive and their offensive line is just horrible. Besides Florida, the rest of the teams we've played has been trash. I'd like to think our defense has improved each year. Let's see after Georgia and Bama

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

Did you watch the Florida game?

We all watched the Florida game. Some of us understand that playcalling isn’t a magic wand, and neither are adjustments. Young players in key spots make mistakes. Florida had a great gameplan and attacked our weaknesses in a hostile environment. Get over it.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

Well, we're not the 85 Chicago Bears but we're not the 2021 Mizzou Tigers either. That was hands down the worst power 5 college defense I've ever seen.

 

[Volfan2012]

The one game we lost was lost by the offense. Defense has to play a lot of minutes when were going three and out. I think this defense is the best we've had in a long while. We need the offense to be better to win games the defense is doing the job most of the time.

 

[titansvolsfaninga]

Banks has the defense playing better than the "guru" Jeremy Pruitt was ever able to manage. His defenses have an identity. The only glaring shortcomings of his defense seem to be speed and ball skills in the secondary.

Certain players in the secondary

 

[Woodlawn VOL]

Our young ends are getting better. Pearce and Joseph’s are going to be monsters next year. They are starting to make more plays. Upfront and linebacker play is coming on. Arion Carter is coming on and Telander is too. The secondary player much better against South Carolina. And our O-Line is much better with Mays in there, and we are only going to get better there as well. All these things help Joe out as well, he doesn’t have to be perfect. I think he is starting to settle down now. We have a big senior class and big freshmen and Sophmore classes. A lot of our younger players are starting to come around. The good thing is the freshman and sophomore classes are good and we have another good class coming in. Maybe we find a few good juniors or seniors in the portal at position of needs. GBO

 

[SN-A-C Orange]

You’re a bad listener. We didn’t miss an adjustment or a call. We had a first time starting MLB with a safety dedicated to the run. MLB calls the star assignment and the coverage for everything short. Herring did not understand the motion or the set. This isn’t “Hoosiers”. You can’t pull a kid over and draw it up on a chalkboard. They have to see it live and learn. When you play inexperienced players at top playcalling positions, you usually get beaten. Mays was a much bigger hole, but the loss of Pilli was huge.

This! Keep being the voice of reason and experience. This is me giving you 25 likes!

 

[SN-A-C Orange]

Here's an assessment of Tim Banks ... by folks in the know ... Tennessee coaching staff rewarded with across-the-board raises, contract extensions
Looks like they want him to stay! And they are happy with his work!

 

[a vol n tears]

If going by defensive statistics and saying the D only had one bad quarter, why was the offense so anemic all game. Our O stats look good but against Fl (can’t call them a good team) the Vols way under preformed. Swamp or not, no decent team should lose to Fl this year.
aTm should tell whether the Vols are pretty good or just average.

 

[Vol865]

Or he was trying and couldn't get his player or players to execute. Sometimes it's just a kid getting confused.

This isn't a 1 game thing. It's kind of his M.O. He makes decent halftime adjustments, problem is it takes until halftime to make any adjustments.

 

[BigVol88]

I think people give Banks too much grief. Like, we are not USC bad. Have no idea how they keep Grinch on over there.

 

[TGVol]

Problem is Banks' defenses have been so inconsistent so far that if we want to eventually win championships it's going to be a major concern going forward. You can't have even that one game every year where you completely fall apart like we did at SCjr last year or second quarter at UF this year (literally one quarter was enough for the worst ever UF team to potentially ruin our season because of our defense - can't forget that so easily as soon as we have one good game against real competition). Of course we all hope those inconsistencies will be fixed going forward but I don't know - I am still shocked Banks could not make any adjustments during UF game to slow down that disaster - that is the biggest concern about Banks as far as I'm concerned. I also agree with few other posters that Martinez is probably the main issue and should be replaced - but that's on Banks to figure out with Heupel - ultimately it's their decision and responsibiliy to get rid of him if he is holding the whole team back from fulfilling potential.