Can we give Tim Banks credit now?

[youcancallmeAl]

Our defense has been great at times but woeful others. We’ve not had a complete defensive meltdown outside of the SC game though, so that’s certainly an improvement over years past. That side of the ball needs the most improvement. If we don’t see it next year then we know it’s not just a personnel issue.

But the newcomers are freshmen. They usually don't help much, if any.

 

[MiramarVol]

You dig into Banks for the Carolina game, but its bout fielding what yours given. Muffin brought in Monte who was a Super Bowl winner and a great NFL DC. He was 7-6 here. So again its bout the talent that you have and how its developed. You got what you got.

 

[Stonewall83]

I think he’s a good coach….our secondary sucks at times. We also aren’t super deep or talented back there. People calling for his head might want to have some patience.

People hate on Martinez, but we had like 5-6 NFL guys on his last defense when he was in Knoxville.

 

[Stonewall83]

This. Speed will help, but there were at least 3 or 4 interception opportunities missed last night by not tracking the ball.

It's still a young team, but they've got some solid recruits coming in that will help add a lot of depth we've been missing.

agree….but guys who are beat don’t look back. It’s a problem from pop Warner to the NFL for DB coaches. Saw it with Bama a few times this year and they might have the best secondary in CFB.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

4th in the conference in 3rd down percentage.

One of the worst in passing yards allowed

 

[WilcoVolsFan]

Tim Banks sucks and Joe Milton will always overthrow people because some people love the feeling of superiority of being “right” more than being a Vols fan.

This!

 

[Chad F]

The fact that we didn’t do the traditional “make the opponent’s freshman/back-up QB look like the second coming of Joe Montana” is enough for me.

In most years, Clemson’s freshman would have kicked off his 2023 Heisman campaign against us with a record-breaking performance. That didn’t happen - kudos to the Defense!

 

[feathersax]

But the newcomers are freshmen. They usually don't help much, if any.

Think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

[hUTch2002]

I've been watching Tim Banks field pretty good defenses since this staff arrived at Tennessee and all I've heard is gripping about how the Vols are #X in whatever meaningless defensive statistical category. Meanwhile, we just finished as a top 5 team and had our best season since I was a kid. Do you think our defense holding a top 10 program to 14 points had anything to do with that?

We gave up 22.77 PPG on the season. That’s better than Syracuse, Notre Dame, and LSU and it’s 35th in the country. Given the personnel issues that we all knew we had coming into the season I think Banks did an outstanding job. Now let’s go get even better.

 

[hUTch2002]

Pruitt was supposed to be a Defensive genius and Bama is salivating to bring him back, but the Defense looked like hot slop and even worse, was boring under him. I say we ride with Banks

Yep. In 2 years we have improved more than a TD from Pruitt’s last defense and that D had more talent.

 

[CAVPUT]

It's funny that that's the only example you can give. Yes, that was a bad performance on both sides of the ball. Hooker was even bad that game. But the defense has given this team chances to win games and that's a big part of the reason that we're 11-2 right now.

Agreed. I complain when he doesn't bring the heat, but I do recognize that we're expecting him to build a house with a hammer and screwdriver instead of a full compliment of tools figuratively speaking. I've seen enough to say that he warrants some patience. Looks like he'll have some new, shiny tools to work with soon so let's see what he does when he's more capably equipped to compete in this league.

 

[hUTch2002]

I'll give Banks and the D credit for stopping Clemson at crucial times during last night's game, which ultimately contributed to the win but there were lots of mistakes made by the defense. I'll leave it up to CJH to decide if Banks needs to go or not. With an 11-2 record, I expect to see him stay though.

Look back throughout the year and the defense came up with those crucial stops a lot. They truly embraced the mantra of “bend but don’t break”. Pitt when we were down 10-0 and we got an interception, Florida after they recovered the onside, Alabama after we tied it up, LSU on multiple 4th downs, Clemson on their fake, and on and on. The D had issues but I think Banks did a pretty darn good job this year and he’s a keeper. Martinez not so much IMO but CJH will decide that.