Coach Banks.....😡

[mdsvol]

Does UT have a 5* defensive backfield, no. The defense was not ready to play Saturday in Columbia and looked completely LOST. That isn't a talent problem, that's coaching. I could be wrong, but I believe that on Monday the UT pass defense was ranked 130 out of 131. Actually, are our pass defense stats worse this year?

 

[lifeisdeep]

OF Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit
Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast
Brought Death into the World, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat,
Sing Heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire
That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed,
In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth
Rose out of Chaos: Or if Sion Hill
Delight thee more, and Siloa's Brook that flow'd
Fast by the Oracle of God; I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above th' Aonian Mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime.
And chiefly Thou O Spirit, that dost prefer
Before all Temples th' upright heart and pure,
Instruct me, for Thou know'st; Thou from the first
Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread
Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss
And mad'st it pregnant: What in me is dark
Illumin, what is low raise and support;
That to the highth of this great Argument
I may assert Eternal Providence,
And justifie the wayes of God to men.

Say first, for Heav'n hides nothing from thy view
Nor the deep Tract of Hell, say first what cause
Mov'd our Grand Parents in that happy State,
Favour'd of Heav'n so highly, to fall off
From thir Creator, and transgress his Will
For one restraint, Lords of the World besides?
Who first seduc'd them to that foul revolt?
Th' infernal Serpent; he it was, whose guile
Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv'd
The Mother of Mankind, what time his Pride
Had cast him out from Heav'n, with all his Host
Of Rebel Angels, by whose aid aspiring
To set himself in Glory above his Peers,
He trusted to have equal'd the most High,
If he oppos'd; and with ambitious aim
Against the Throne and Monarchy of God
Rais'd impious War in Heav'n and Battel proud
With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power
Hurld headlong flaming from th' Ethereal Skie
With hideous ruine and combustion down
To bottomless perdition, there to dwell
In Adamantine Chains and penal Fire,
Who durst defie th' Omnipotent to Arms.
Nine times the Space that measures Day and Night
To mortal men, he with his horrid crew
Lay vanquisht, rowling in the fiery Gulfe
Confounded though immortal: But his doom
Reserv'd him to more wrath; for now the thought
Both of lost happiness and lasting pain
Torments him; round he throws his baleful eyes
That witness'd huge affliction and dismay
Mixt with obdurate pride and stedfast hate:
At once as far as Angels kenn he views
The dismal Situation waste and wilde,
A Dungeon horrible, on all sides round
As one great Furnace flam'd, yet from those flames
No light, but rather darkness visible
Serv'd onely to discover sights of woe,
Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace
And rest can never dwell, hope never comes
That comes to all; but torture without end
Still urges, and a fiery Deluge, fed
With ever-burning Sulphur unconsum'd:
Such place Eternal Justice had prepar'd
For those rebellious, here thir Prison ordain'd
In utter darkness, and thir portion set
As far remov'd from God and light of Heav'n
As from the Center thrice to th' utmost Pole.
O how unlike the place from whence they fell!
There the companions of his fall, o'rewhelm'd
With Floods and Whirlwinds of tempestuous fire,
He soon discerns, and weltring by his side
One next himself in power, and next in crime,
Long after known in Palestine, and nam'd
Beelzebub. To whom th' Arch-Enemy,
And thence in Heav'n call'd Satan, with bold words
Breaking the horrid silence thus began.

If thou beest he; But O how fall'n! how chang'd
From him, who in the happy Realms of Light
Cloth'd with transcendent brightness didst out-shine
Myriads though bright: If he Whom mutual league,
United thoughts and counsels, equal hope
And hazard in the Glorious Enterprize,
Joynd with me once, now misery hath joynd
In equal ruin: into what Pit thou seest
From what highth fall'n, so much the stronger prov'd
He with his Thunder: and till then who knew
The force of those dire Arms? yet not for those,
Nor what the Potent Victor in his rage
Can else inflict, do I repent or change,
Though chang'd in outward lustre; that fixt mind
And high disdain, from sence of injur'd merit,
That with the mightiest rais'd me to contend,
And to the fierce contention brought along
Innumerable force of Spirits arm'd
That durst dislike his reign, and me preferring,
His utmost power with adverse power oppos'd
In dubious Battel on the Plains of Heav'n,
And shook his throne. What though the field be lost?
All is not lost; the unconquerable Will,
And study of revenge, immortal hate,
And courage never to submit or yield:
And what is else not to be overcome?
That Glory never shall his wrath or might
Extort from me. To bow and sue for grace
With suppliant knee, and deifie his power,
Who from the terrour of this Arm so late
Doubted his Empire, that were low indeed,
That were an ignominy and shame beneath
This downfall; since by Fate the strength of Gods
And this Empyreal substance cannot fail,
Since through experience of this great event
In Arms not worse, in foresight much advanc't,
We may with more successful hope resolve
To wage by force or guile eternal Warr
Irreconcileable, to our grand Foe,
Who now triumphs, and in th' excess of joy
Sole reigning holds the Tyranny of Heav'n.

So spake th' Apostate Angel, though in pain,
Vaunting aloud, but rackt with deep despare:
And him thus answer'd soon his bold Compeer.


Still shorter than the original post.

Best post in VN history.

 

[lifeisdeep]

Preach!

I feel the same way. This defense overachieved. This whole team overachieved. All season. What more can be asked?

I'll ride with this coaching staff right along with you. Giddy up!!

Ranking 130 out of 131 in pass defense is not overachieving. Blowing a probable spot in the playoffs out your ass because your side of the ball gave the single worst performance in the hundred-plus-year history of UT football is not overachieving.

What more can be asked? Having your damn unit at least half-ass prepared and motivated to where they don't just stand there all night and watch receivers for an unranked team run by them over and over again for touchdowns.

 

[JoAllan]

2021
Pitt 397
Fl 505
Missouri 396
SC 370
Miss 510
Bama 574
KY 612
Ga 487
South B 285
Vandy 321
Purdue 627

2022:
Ball ST 322
Pitt 415
Akron 276
FL 594
LSU 355
Bama 569
Martin 392
Ga 387
Missouri 389
SC 606

I’ve tried to rationalize it and made excuses for nearly 2 seasons. I’m done. The defense is NOT good, there need to be a DC change.

Tennessee HAS the Jimmy’s & Joe’s to keep Martin from gaining almost 400 on them. They have the personnel to not let Ball ST gain 322. They have the players to not let an anemic Richardson throw for 450+. I could go on all day about how bad it’s been. Tennessee’s offense has simply covered up how bad the D is.


You cannot keep allowing bad teams to gain 300-400 & decent teams to gain 400-600 and think everything will be OK………..this team in moving in the right direction. This team is having an amazing season. They CANNOT get over the hump with THIS D!!!

 

[sjt18]

Is there a cliff notes version?

... Not Banks' fault...

 

[volfeeva]

FIRST POST......and it's all about Coach Banks.

I know it's always fun to sit incognito on message boards and hurl vitriol all over the chosen target for the day, month, season or year.

Coach Banks has been CHOSEN. The coach that had the GUTS to step in and take over when others turned us down. Do you know why others turned us down? Because COACHES do not want to tarnish or ruin their reputation, nor do they want to deal with the public scrutiny and backlash of taking over and running an OFFENSE or DEFENSE that's BAD!! They don't want to deal with the RISK of being associated with a DUMPSTER FIRE! And on top of that, coaches know, even though fans don't, that being a DC of a team that runs an offense like the one Coach Heupel runs, can be coaching suicide. The offense puts a strain on the defense, so you need speed, depth and play-makers, NONE of which TENNESSEE had at the time Coach Heupel took over.

TENNESSEE was a DUMPSTER FIRE before Coach Heupel took the job......remember that? Other Head Coaches wanted no parts of this job, we kept getting turned down. These (HC) were ESTABLISHED Brands and they were not willing to risk ruining their reputation as a HC to take over a program that was in COMPLETE shambles!! NO ESTABLISHED HC wanted any parts of the SANCTIONS, TRANSFER PORTAL EXODUS or the TARNISHED name of UT football attached to them. Coach Heupel had the GUTS to accept the challenge head on!!

He had his OC, but offered the DC job to lots of "named" coaches.......coaches that everyone was excited about. What happened? They ALL used us to get raises, but NO ONE was willing to take the chance......NO GUTS!!

Coach Heupel "SETTLES" for Coach Tim Banks as DC.....a "NO NAMER" in the eyes of the fan base, but a well respected coach in the profession known for improving defenses, getting the most out of "no name players" and sending them to the NFL (as he did at CENTRAL MICHIGAN, CINCINNATI, ILLINOIS and PENN STATE), as well as finding a way to WIN when rosters don't have the caliber of kids that are play makers on game day.....all of which we NEEDED at TENNESSEE!!

When Coach Banks took over the DEFENSE, he and his staff had NO one to work with, which is why everyone believed we'd only win 3-4 games in year one. He played with walk-ons, he moved players to different positions, he tried different schemes. He basically found a way to get the most out of what we had left on the roster, and it wasn't always pretty, what happened? We won more games than expected! I don't care how you slice it, the defense helped to stop another team from scoring more than us on 7 occasions last year!!

Fast forward to this season. Who's our PLAY-MAKERS on DEFENSE? I'm talking legitimate PLAY-MAKERS that are difference makers......like we have on OFFENSE. If I asked that same question about the offense, we could all rattle off SEVERAL names and even a few 2 deep playmakers.

Coach Banks and the defensive staff have done a great job of FINDING a way to help WIN games, even though they have a limited roster......but because it DOESN'T LOOK right to the arm chair coaches, every WEEKEND, even when we WIN, we NEED to FIRE COACH Banks!! We need to find an experienced DC that's called plays before! We need to find a DC that can help us WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS!! We need to find a DC that can improve the PASS DEFENSE which sucks (even though there are 100s of statistical metrics that are more important)!!

We've won 9 games already this season and yes, I believe we should have wooped SC..... That game still stings as much today as it did on Saturday. But the fact that we have SEVERAL THREADS about getting RID of Coach Banks at the end of the season makes my BLOOD BOIL!!

Are there better DC's than Coach Banks?......absolutely! But are they better for what we need right now? I don't know. But why in the WORLD would you get rid of a Coach when we are WAY ahead of schedule in our rebuild and HE is a part of the pieces of the puzzle that has made that happen. What sense does it make to GAMBLE on bringing in another DC in the middle of a REBUILD that's almost REBUILT??!!!

Coach Heupel is a smart guy. He didn't just SETTLE for BANKS or ANY other coach on this staff. He was strategic in his hires and it's the reason we are WAY AHEAD of schedule today!!

If you think we need to get RID of Coach Banks, you're entitled to your opinion. THIS is MY OPINION based on what I KNOW about Coach Banks body of work as a DC. He has won Conference Championships at 2 out of 3 places where he was the PLAY-CALLING DC and 1 where he was the Co-DC. He said when he came to TENNESSEE that he wanted to be a part of a team that WON the National Championship.......and because he had the GUTS to come here and had the confidence to BELIEVE that we could WIN a National Championship.........I'm TEAM Coach Banks.......I'm TEAM current coaching staff......all day!!

I will ride or die with this STAFF! While the SC game was awful to watch, I refuse to jump on the national bandwagon of spewing HATE towards our FOOTBALL PROGRAM or ANY person on this STAFF!! We want to be RESPECTED nationally, yet our own fan base has little RESPECT for what's really been accomplished in with our Football Program.

GBO!!!!

FACTS about Coach BANKS (which can all be found in his BIO) for all of those who said he NO experience calling plays before he came to TENNESSEE:
- PLAY-CALLER at Central Michigan for 3 seasons and 2 of those seasons, they were MAC CHAMPIONS. Defense dominated!
- PLAY-CALLER at University of Cincinnati for 2 years. One season they were ACC CHAMPIONS. Coach Banks for the first time, was NOMINATED for the BROYLES AWARD because he had one of the youngest, but most improved and dominant defenses in college football. Defense dominated!
-PLAY-CALLER at ILLINOIS for 4 seasons. The team struggled....didn't win much, but defense continued to improve and by Coach Banks last season, it was considered one of most STATISTICALLY improved defenses in college football.
-NOT the PLAY-CALLER, but Co-DC at Penn State for 5 seasons. TOP 35 recruiter there and instrumental in developing several "no name players" into draft picks and free agents that are still currently playing in the NFL. During his time there, Penn State had three 11 win seasons, Played in 4 NY6 bowls and was BIG TEN CHAMPIONS his first year (2016)

This post to explain why we need to keep the DC would have gone over well if posted after the Florida game. Or the Bama game. Or any of the other games where we got torched. But right after giving up 63 pts to a 6-4 team that hadn't beaten anyone all year. And you can excuse the bad effort of the secondary for having a bad 1st half of a game like Saturday----but when they come out from half time and nothing changed at all alludes to coaches as the problem along with talent. The other point about Tn not being a place where good coaches wanted to go...are you kidding? Look at the fan base and excitement we had this year and tell me this is not an attractive job for any coach. And the notion of a coach not wanting to come here for fear of failing and being blamed? Where does that logic enter into a coaching jobs resume?

 

[FollowTheLeader]

Funny.......not one word about the 9 touchdowns given up Saturday night to one of the worst offenses in college football. Nine! NINE!! 9 !!!

Now back to the propaganda.......

Why would I need to mention the any of the touchdowns.....I think we were all watching the same game. Right?

SC defense has been statistically worse than their offense if I'm not mistaken, so our offense was up against one of the worst defenses in college football (until our game) and we only managed to score 38 points. And yes, 38 points should be enough to win a game but on Saturday, it was NOT.

Football is a TEAM sport. We have the #1 offense in the COUNTRY, so why is there no expectation that for the game where we NEEDED them to score 60, that they, because of our terrible defense, step up and score over 60? We've done it already 3 times (almost 4). We almost did it against Alabama, a highly ranked team with a darn good defense.

So why isn't it the expectation of the OFFENSE to score more against a terrible defense like South carolina? Again, keeping in mind that we have the most explosive OFFENSE in all of college football.

Why isn't it the expectation that for the sake of the team and a WIN, on the night where the defense played like TRASH, the offense steps up and scores more points? We know we don't have a great defense, but why does ALL ownership rest on the defense for this loss? We are more than capable as an offense of scoring more than 63 on a terrible defense....imo.

 

[JoAllan]

It’s not Banks fault Tennessee lost to Georgia

It IS his fault Tennessee’s D is not really improving. It IS his fault they give up huge yards and even scores to anemic teams.

Look at common opponents from last year and this year. KY was the ONLY one where Tennessee’s D was much better. There are several where the D was worse.

NO improvement…….while the O has progressed nicely.


Again no doubt Banks is good; however he certainly isn’t working at Tennessee. Sometimes it’s just not a good fit.

 

[aRmo]

FIRST POST......and it's all about Coach Banks.

I know it's always fun to sit incognito on message boards and hurl vitriol all over the chosen target for the day, month, season or year.

Coach Banks has been CHOSEN. The coach that had the GUTS to step in and take over when others turned us down. Do you know why others turned us down? Because COACHES do not want to tarnish or ruin their reputation, nor do they want to deal with the public scrutiny and backlash of taking over and running an OFFENSE or DEFENSE that's BAD!! They don't want to deal with the RISK of being associated with a DUMPSTER FIRE! And on top of that, coaches know, even though fans don't, that being a DC of a team that runs an offense like the one Coach Heupel runs, can be coaching suicide. The offense puts a strain on the defense, so you need speed, depth and play-makers, NONE of which TENNESSEE had at the time Coach Heupel took over.

TENNESSEE was a DUMPSTER FIRE before Coach Heupel took the job......remember that? Other Head Coaches wanted no parts of this job, we kept getting turned down. These (HC) were ESTABLISHED Brands and they were not willing to risk ruining their reputation as a HC to take over a program that was in COMPLETE shambles!! NO ESTABLISHED HC wanted any parts of the SANCTIONS, TRANSFER PORTAL EXODUS or the TARNISHED name of UT football attached to them. Coach Heupel had the GUTS to accept the challenge head on!!

He had his OC, but offered the DC job to lots of "named" coaches.......coaches that everyone was excited about. What happened? They ALL used us to get raises, but NO ONE was willing to take the chance......NO GUTS!!

Coach Heupel "SETTLES" for Coach Tim Banks as DC.....a "NO NAMER" in the eyes of the fan base, but a well respected coach in the profession known for improving defenses, getting the most out of "no name players" and sending them to the NFL (as he did at CENTRAL MICHIGAN, CINCINNATI, ILLINOIS and PENN STATE), as well as finding a way to WIN when rosters don't have the caliber of kids that are play makers on game day.....all of which we NEEDED at TENNESSEE!!

When Coach Banks took over the DEFENSE, he and his staff had NO one to work with, which is why everyone believed we'd only win 3-4 games in year one. He played with walk-ons, he moved players to different positions, he tried different schemes. He basically found a way to get the most out of what we had left on the roster, and it wasn't always pretty, what happened? We won more games than expected! I don't care how you slice it, the defense helped to stop another team from scoring more than us on 7 occasions last year!!

Fast forward to this season. Who's our PLAY-MAKERS on DEFENSE? I'm talking legitimate PLAY-MAKERS that are difference makers......like we have on OFFENSE. If I asked that same question about the offense, we could all rattle off SEVERAL names and even a few 2 deep playmakers.

Coach Banks and the defensive staff have done a great job of FINDING a way to help WIN games, even though they have a limited roster......but because it DOESN'T LOOK right to the arm chair coaches, every WEEKEND, even when we WIN, we NEED to FIRE COACH Banks!! We need to find an experienced DC that's called plays before! We need to find a DC that can help us WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS!! We need to find a DC that can improve the PASS DEFENSE which sucks (even though there are 100s of statistical metrics that are more important)!!

We've won 9 games already this season and yes, I believe we should have wooped SC..... That game still stings as much today as it did on Saturday. But the fact that we have SEVERAL THREADS about getting RID of Coach Banks at the end of the season makes my BLOOD BOIL!!

Are there better DC's than Coach Banks?......absolutely! But are they better for what we need right now? I don't know. But why in the WORLD would you get rid of a Coach when we are WAY ahead of schedule in our rebuild and HE is a part of the pieces of the puzzle that has made that happen. What sense does it make to GAMBLE on bringing in another DC in the middle of a REBUILD that's almost REBUILT??!!!

Coach Heupel is a smart guy. He didn't just SETTLE for BANKS or ANY other coach on this staff. He was strategic in his hires and it's the reason we are WAY AHEAD of schedule today!!

If you think we need to get RID of Coach Banks, you're entitled to your opinion. THIS is MY OPINION based on what I KNOW about Coach Banks body of work as a DC. He has won Conference Championships at 2 out of 3 places where he was the PLAY-CALLING DC and 1 where he was the Co-DC. He said when he came to TENNESSEE that he wanted to be a part of a team that WON the National Championship.......and because he had the GUTS to come here and had the confidence to BELIEVE that we could WIN a National Championship.........I'm TEAM Coach Banks.......I'm TEAM current coaching staff......all day!!

I will ride or die with this STAFF! While the SC game was awful to watch, I refuse to jump on the national bandwagon of spewing HATE towards our FOOTBALL PROGRAM or ANY person on this STAFF!! We want to be RESPECTED nationally, yet our own fan base has little RESPECT for what's really been accomplished in with our Football Program.

GBO!!!!

FACTS about Coach BANKS (which can all be found in his BIO) for all of those who said he NO experience calling plays before he came to TENNESSEE:
- PLAY-CALLER at Central Michigan for 3 seasons and 2 of those seasons, they were MAC CHAMPIONS. Defense dominated!
- PLAY-CALLER at University of Cincinnati for 2 years. One season they were ACC CHAMPIONS. Coach Banks for the first time, was NOMINATED for the BROYLES AWARD because he had one of the youngest, but most improved and dominant defenses in college football. Defense dominated!
-PLAY-CALLER at ILLINOIS for 4 seasons. The team struggled....didn't win much, but defense continued to improve and by Coach Banks last season, it was considered one of most STATISTICALLY improved defenses in college football.
-NOT the PLAY-CALLER, but Co-DC at Penn State for 5 seasons. TOP 35 recruiter there and instrumental in developing several "no name players" into draft picks and free agents that are still currently playing in the NFL. During his time there, Penn State had three 11 win seasons, Played in 4 NY6 bowls and was BIG TEN CHAMPIONS his first year (2016)

not reading all this.. can someone summarize?

 

[JoAllan]

not reading all this.. can someone summarize?

Banks is good

however NO explanation for the lack of D or as to why the defense has NOT improved…..and at times been horrible.

 

[Backwards K]

On occasion this year, I have tried to defend Tim Banks based on the lack of ability and speed in his defensive backs. Saturday night is inexcusable. He never made an adjustment. You'd think after the 5th or 6th consecutive possession ends in a TD, you might want to try something different.

 

[aRmo]

Banks is good

however NO explanation for the lack of D or as to why the defense has NOT improved…..and at times been horrible.

ah, yea no. I dont believe hes Good. The backened of this defense has been bad all year. They have no progressed, they have gotten worse. They have played the same soft zone defense all year and have been BURNED on it all year.

 

[Alto1]

2021
Pitt 397
Fl 505
Missouri 396
SC 370
Miss 510
Bama 574
KY 612
Ga 487
South B 285
Vandy 321
Purdue 627

2022:
Ball ST 322
Pitt 415
Akron 276
FL 594
LSU 355
Bama 569
Martin 392
Ga 387
Missouri 389
SC 606

I’ve tried to rationalize it and made excuses for nearly 2 seasons. I’m done. The defense is NOT good, there need to be a DC change.

Tennessee HAS the Jimmy’s & Joe’s to keep Martin from gaining almost 400 on them. They have the personnel to not let Ball ST gain 322. They have the players to not let an anemic Richardson throw for 450+. I could go on all day about how bad it’s been. Tennessee’s offense has simply covered up how bad the D is.


You cannot keep allowing bad teams to gain 300-400 & decent teams to gain 400-600 and think everything will be OK………..this team in moving in the right direction. This team is having an amazing season. They CANNOT get over the hump with THIS D!!!

Great post with FACTS!
NOW, let’s see if there is a rebuttal argument..
I have nothing…….

 

[JoAllan]

On occasion this year, I have tried to defend Tim Banks based on the lack of ability and speed in his defensive backs. Saturday night is inexcusable. He never made an adjustment. You'd think after the 5th or 6th consecutive possession ends in a TD, you might want to try something different.

Heck it wouldn’t have hurt you to pull all the DB’s throw in walk ons or whoever if you have to.

It simply wasn’t working………try ANYTHING!!!

 

[ChaplainVol]

FIRST POST......and it's all about Coach Banks.

I know it's always fun to sit incognito on message boards and hurl vitriol all over the chosen target for the day, month, season or year.

Coach Banks has been CHOSEN. The coach that had the GUTS to step in and take over when others turned us down. Do you know why others turned us down? Because COACHES do not want to tarnish or ruin their reputation, nor do they want to deal with the public scrutiny and backlash of taking over and running an OFFENSE or DEFENSE that's BAD!! They don't want to deal with the RISK of being associated with a DUMPSTER FIRE! And on top of that, coaches know, even though fans don't, that being a DC of a team that runs an offense like the one Coach Heupel runs, can be coaching suicide. The offense puts a strain on the defense, so you need speed, depth and play-makers, NONE of which TENNESSEE had at the time Coach Heupel took over.

TENNESSEE was a DUMPSTER FIRE before Coach Heupel took the job......remember that? Other Head Coaches wanted no parts of this job, we kept getting turned down. These (HC) were ESTABLISHED Brands and they were not willing to risk ruining their reputation as a HC to take over a program that was in COMPLETE shambles!! NO ESTABLISHED HC wanted any parts of the SANCTIONS, TRANSFER PORTAL EXODUS or the TARNISHED name of UT football attached to them. Coach Heupel had the GUTS to accept the challenge head on!!

He had his OC, but offered the DC job to lots of "named" coaches.......coaches that everyone was excited about. What happened? They ALL used us to get raises, but NO ONE was willing to take the chance......NO GUTS!!

Coach Heupel "SETTLES" for Coach Tim Banks as DC.....a "NO NAMER" in the eyes of the fan base, but a well respected coach in the profession known for improving defenses, getting the most out of "no name players" and sending them to the NFL (as he did at CENTRAL MICHIGAN, CINCINNATI, ILLINOIS and PENN STATE), as well as finding a way to WIN when rosters don't have the caliber of kids that are play makers on game day.....all of which we NEEDED at TENNESSEE!!

When Coach Banks took over the DEFENSE, he and his staff had NO one to work with, which is why everyone believed we'd only win 3-4 games in year one. He played with walk-ons, he moved players to different positions, he tried different schemes. He basically found a way to get the most out of what we had left on the roster, and it wasn't always pretty, what happened? We won more games than expected! I don't care how you slice it, the defense helped to stop another team from scoring more than us on 7 occasions last year!!

Fast forward to this season. Who's our PLAY-MAKERS on DEFENSE? I'm talking legitimate PLAY-MAKERS that are difference makers......like we have on OFFENSE. If I asked that same question about the offense, we could all rattle off SEVERAL names and even a few 2 deep playmakers.

Coach Banks and the defensive staff have done a great job of FINDING a way to help WIN games, even though they have a limited roster......but because it DOESN'T LOOK right to the arm chair coaches, every WEEKEND, even when we WIN, we NEED to FIRE COACH Banks!! We need to find an experienced DC that's called plays before! We need to find a DC that can help us WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS!! We need to find a DC that can improve the PASS DEFENSE which sucks (even though there are 100s of statistical metrics that are more important)!!

We've won 9 games already this season and yes, I believe we should have wooped SC..... That game still stings as much today as it did on Saturday. But the fact that we have SEVERAL THREADS about getting RID of Coach Banks at the end of the season makes my BLOOD BOIL!!

Are there better DC's than Coach Banks?......absolutely! But are they better for what we need right now? I don't know. But why in the WORLD would you get rid of a Coach when we are WAY ahead of schedule in our rebuild and HE is a part of the pieces of the puzzle that has made that happen. What sense does it make to GAMBLE on bringing in another DC in the middle of a REBUILD that's almost REBUILT??!!!

Coach Heupel is a smart guy. He didn't just SETTLE for BANKS or ANY other coach on this staff. He was strategic in his hires and it's the reason we are WAY AHEAD of schedule today!!

If you think we need to get RID of Coach Banks, you're entitled to your opinion. THIS is MY OPINION based on what I KNOW about Coach Banks body of work as a DC. He has won Conference Championships at 2 out of 3 places where he was the PLAY-CALLING DC and 1 where he was the Co-DC. He said when he came to TENNESSEE that he wanted to be a part of a team that WON the National Championship.......and because he had the GUTS to come here and had the confidence to BELIEVE that we could WIN a National Championship.........I'm TEAM Coach Banks.......I'm TEAM current coaching staff......all day!!

I will ride or die with this STAFF! While the SC game was awful to watch, I refuse to jump on the national bandwagon of spewing HATE towards our FOOTBALL PROGRAM or ANY person on this STAFF!! We want to be RESPECTED nationally, yet our own fan base has little RESPECT for what's really been accomplished in with our Football Program.

GBO!!!!

FACTS about Coach BANKS (which can all be found in his BIO) for all of those who said he NO experience calling plays before he came to TENNESSEE:
- PLAY-CALLER at Central Michigan for 3 seasons and 2 of those seasons, they were MAC CHAMPIONS. Defense dominated!
- PLAY-CALLER at University of Cincinnati for 2 years. One season they were ACC CHAMPIONS. Coach Banks for the first time, was NOMINATED for the BROYLES AWARD because he had one of the youngest, but most improved and dominant defenses in college football. Defense dominated!
-PLAY-CALLER at ILLINOIS for 4 seasons. The team struggled....didn't win much, but defense continued to improve and by Coach Banks last season, it was considered one of most STATISTICALLY improved defenses in college football.
-NOT the PLAY-CALLER, but Co-DC at Penn State for 5 seasons. TOP 35 recruiter there and instrumental in developing several "no name players" into draft picks and free agents that are still currently playing in the NFL. During his time there, Penn State had three 11 win seasons, Played in 4 NY6 bowls and was BIG TEN CHAMPIONS his first year (2016)

Can we please stop with the "trailblazer/no one else would do it" argument. He stepped up when a lot of others did not, okay. He also received compensation for stepping up. Stop with the white knighting. He took the job knowing full well that he was stepping outside of his comfort zone, that's what every coach, every person, does in their careers when they take a tougher job trying to turn the next corner of their respective career. The point of taking that tougher job with more responsibilities is that you are expected to rise to that occasion and produce results relevant to that stage. That is called, advancement.

Coach Banks, has not risen to the occasion. We saw very clearly his ceiling this season, which was lower than the rest of the team's ceiling and now the reason why we are NOT going to the playoff. This team was capable, Coach Banks' defense was the millstone around our neck keeping us from that objective and keep in mind, we carried it for a LONG time. We should let him finish out the season, thank him for his service, and then allow him to find a job more in line with his abilities for next year.

As previously stated no word on the nine touchdowns given up to an offense ranked 92nd nationally, going into the game. Also, no word on us having the 130th pass defense after USCjr. Convenient little pieces of information left out. Beamer took an inferior team with an inferior staff and absolutely obliterated our defense following the blueprints that were written by Pitt, Florida, Bama, Georgia, and to some extent even a few of our cupcakes. Exploit the free yardage this defense gives you via soft coverage. Coach your QB that week to take a couple extra seconds to work through his progressions to find the open man, and do not force it. And keep the run game good enough for honesty, cause who needs more against Banks' Secondary.

Look at the team that just boat raced us. Look at who they were going into that game. This loss was embarrassing and cut into a lot of good will the fanbase was trying to extend to this defense with major post season hopes on the line. Banks brought us a little stability on D for the program, I appreciate that. There's no need to be nasty toward the man, I have no doubt he loves the Vols and I have no doubt he'll do well in a job better suited to his abilities where play calling is maybe taken off the table for him. Or, maybe he takes another stab at it at a program that can provide him a little more support in learning those elements of the role. Either way, there's no sense holding back a team that was ready for the playoff now, when he was not.

 

[JoAllan]

ah, yea no. I dont believe hes Good. The backened of this defense has been bad all year. They have no progressed, they have gotten worse. They have played the same soft zone defense all year and have been BURNED on it all year.

No doubt……he’s NOT good at Tennessee at ALL.

However I can admit he’s been a good coach. He has performed at a high level. Heck he could leave Tennessee and be good somewhere else…..I don’t know.

It’s just not working here.

As I stated somewhere: maybe he’s not a builder. Maybe he’s not a foundation. Maybe he can simply “coach” if he’s got the team and players already……I don’t know. I do know he was (so he still should be) a good coach. However he is NOT a good coach for Tennessee.

All anyone has to do is look at common opponents. Look at the O then look at the D (from last year and this year) the O made HUGE strides………while the D hasn’t improved at all. Not to mention they give up huge yards to Ball ST & Martin…..come on.

 

[volfeeva]

Why would I need to mention the any of the touchdowns.....I think we were all watching the same game. Right?

SC defense has been statistically worse than their offense if I'm not mistaken, so our offense was up against one of the worst defenses in college football (until our game) and we only managed to score 38 points. And yes, 38 points should be enough to win a game but on Saturday, it was NOT.

Football is a TEAM sport. We have the #1 offense in the COUNTRY, so why is there no expectation that for the game where we NEEDED them to score 60, that they, because of our terrible defense, step up and score over 60? We've done it already 3 times (almost 4). We almost did it against Alabama, a highly ranked team with a darn good defense.

So why isn't it the expectation of the OFFENSE to score more against a terrible defense like South carolina? Again, keeping in mind that we have the most explosive OFFENSE in all of college football.

Why isn't it the expectation that for the sake of the team and a WIN, on the night where the defense played like TRASH, the offense steps up and scores more points? We know we don't have a great defense, but why does ALL ownership rest on the defense for this loss? We are more than capable as an offense of scoring more than 63 on a terrible defense....imo.

So now you're saying it's the offense fault for not scoring more than 63 points ? Troll alert

 

[bicenTENNial]

A valid point can be made in the first post about play makers.

How many of our guys could start at Bama or Georgia. We as a fan base often compare our team to those teams as a measuring stick.

So which of our guys start there?

How many start at another top 10 program?

We do lack elite talent on defense.

Half our offense could play anywhere in the country. But that defense…

Missouri lacks elite talent too and held Scar to 10 points as well as allot of teams that lack elite talent

 

[OrangeTsar]

Best post in VN history.

Hilarious that you chose to quote Milton
Edit: sorry, responded to the wrong post

 

[OrangeTsar]

OF Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit
Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast
Brought Death into the World, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat,
Sing Heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire
That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed,
In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth
Rose out of Chaos: Or if Sion Hill
Delight thee more, and Siloa's Brook that flow'd
Fast by the Oracle of God; I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above th' Aonian Mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime.
And chiefly Thou O Spirit, that dost prefer
Before all Temples th' upright heart and pure,
Instruct me, for Thou know'st; Thou from the first
Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread
Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss
And mad'st it pregnant: What in me is dark
Illumin, what is low raise and support;
That to the highth of this great Argument
I may assert Eternal Providence,
And justifie the wayes of God to men.

Say first, for Heav'n hides nothing from thy view
Nor the deep Tract of Hell, say first what cause
Mov'd our Grand Parents in that happy State,
Favour'd of Heav'n so highly, to fall off
From thir Creator, and transgress his Will
For one restraint, Lords of the World besides?
Who first seduc'd them to that foul revolt?
Th' infernal Serpent; he it was, whose guile
Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv'd
The Mother of Mankind, what time his Pride
Had cast him out from Heav'n, with all his Host
Of Rebel Angels, by whose aid aspiring
To set himself in Glory above his Peers,
He trusted to have equal'd the most High,
If he oppos'd; and with ambitious aim
Against the Throne and Monarchy of God
Rais'd impious War in Heav'n and Battel proud
With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power
Hurld headlong flaming from th' Ethereal Skie
With hideous ruine and combustion down
To bottomless perdition, there to dwell
In Adamantine Chains and penal Fire,
Who durst defie th' Omnipotent to Arms.
Nine times the Space that measures Day and Night
To mortal men, he with his horrid crew
Lay vanquisht, rowling in the fiery Gulfe
Confounded though immortal: But his doom
Reserv'd him to more wrath; for now the thought
Both of lost happiness and lasting pain
Torments him; round he throws his baleful eyes
That witness'd huge affliction and dismay
Mixt with obdurate pride and stedfast hate:
At once as far as Angels kenn he views
The dismal Situation waste and wilde,
A Dungeon horrible, on all sides round
As one great Furnace flam'd, yet from those flames
No light, but rather darkness visible
Serv'd onely to discover sights of woe,
Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace
And rest can never dwell, hope never comes
That comes to all; but torture without end
Still urges, and a fiery Deluge, fed
With ever-burning Sulphur unconsum'd:
Such place Eternal Justice had prepar'd
For those rebellious, here thir Prison ordain'd
In utter darkness, and thir portion set
As far remov'd from God and light of Heav'n
As from the Center thrice to th' utmost Pole.
O how unlike the place from whence they fell!
There the companions of his fall, o'rewhelm'd
With Floods and Whirlwinds of tempestuous fire,
He soon discerns, and weltring by his side
One next himself in power, and next in crime,
Long after known in Palestine, and nam'd
Beelzebub. To whom th' Arch-Enemy,
And thence in Heav'n call'd Satan, with bold words
Breaking the horrid silence thus began.

If thou beest he; But O how fall'n! how chang'd
From him, who in the happy Realms of Light
Cloth'd with transcendent brightness didst out-shine
Myriads though bright: If he Whom mutual league,
United thoughts and counsels, equal hope
And hazard in the Glorious Enterprize,
Joynd with me once, now misery hath joynd
In equal ruin: into what Pit thou seest
From what highth fall'n, so much the stronger prov'd
He with his Thunder: and till then who knew
The force of those dire Arms? yet not for those,
Nor what the Potent Victor in his rage
Can else inflict, do I repent or change,
Though chang'd in outward lustre; that fixt mind
And high disdain, from sence of injur'd merit,
That with the mightiest rais'd me to contend,
And to the fierce contention brought along
Innumerable force of Spirits arm'd
That durst dislike his reign, and me preferring,
His utmost power with adverse power oppos'd
In dubious Battel on the Plains of Heav'n,
And shook his throne. What though the field be lost?
All is not lost; the unconquerable Will,
And study of revenge, immortal hate,
And courage never to submit or yield:
And what is else not to be overcome?
That Glory never shall his wrath or might
Extort from me. To bow and sue for grace
With suppliant knee, and deifie his power,
Who from the terrour of this Arm so late
Doubted his Empire, that were low indeed,
That were an ignominy and shame beneath
This downfall; since by Fate the strength of Gods
And this Empyreal substance cannot fail,
Since through experience of this great event
In Arms not worse, in foresight much advanc't,
We may with more successful hope resolve
To wage by force or guile eternal Warr
Irreconcileable, to our grand Foe,
Who now triumphs, and in th' excess of joy
Sole reigning holds the Tyranny of Heav'n.

So spake th' Apostate Angel, though in pain,
Vaunting aloud, but rackt with deep despare:
And him thus answer'd soon his bold Compeer.


Still shorter than the original post.

Hilarious that you chose to quote Milton

 

[Sara Clark]

NO, there's NO excuse. NONE!!!

That's short, sweet, and to the point.

 

[JoAllan]

We know we don't have a great defense, but why does ALL ownership rest on the defense for this loss?.

606 yards
35 1st downs
63 points

SC had averaged 28 1/2 points per game.
They hadn’t scored more than 38 on any FBS team.

SC averaged 355 yards per game…….and that includes their FCS and cupcake games.

Tennessee gave them the most yards and points they have had all year including VS an FCS team and some terrible cupcake FBS teams.

This falls SOLELY on the D.

SC should not have been able to score more than 38 points…….their on stats tell us that!!!!

In NO way should they have been able to gain over 600 yards…….they couldn’t do that vs SC State (only 500 yards).

Heck they should have been able to get 35 1st downs……..they haven’t done it all year vs anyone.

Charlotte & South Carolina State & Georgia State SHOULD NOT have better defenses than Tennessee!!!!!

So YES this falls on the defense.

 

[UTK]

Banks needs to get the hell outta town

 

[vol94]

No it isn't. Not even close. It isn't fun to see UT give up 63 points to a terrible O or have to face the inadequacy of the DC.

I have absolutely nothing against Banks except the simple fact that over the last two seasons he's been outclassed by SEC level coaches... and some that weren't. Heupel has a call to make. It won't be about Banks' resume. It will be about his performance and the direction of the team. I'll respect that and root for the Vols.

Not sure why you have such an emotional attachment to Banks. I'm not angry. I don't wish him ill. He just hasn't coached to the necessary level. UT has covered that by scoring lots of points.

FWIW, Heupel isn't in a position to have a 2nd tier DC much less worse. He is an elite HC and offensive mind. He needs someone on his level to coach the D. If he deems Banks to be that guy then we'll have to trust his judgment... and judge his results.

Agree but I respect OP’s opinions as some of the message was factual. However, Heupel is making millions to be the head coach of UT. Banks is also getting paid handsomely to be the DC for UT. So I will never feel sorry for anyone or thank them countless times for accepting a job even though it was a dumpster fire. It’s the same thing in corporate America. I’ve accepted positions within a company where the branch was a hornet’s nest. But I was compensated and accepted the challenge. I had to meet expectations or I would’ve been seen the door. Fortunately I learned I should stop hire the RIGHT people as I couldn’t do it myself.

TN’s defense played one of the worst games I’ve ever seen, and that dates back to the mid 70’s. As a result, TN let an incredible opportunity, a playoff berth, escape its grasp. USC or TCU had to lose one game but if they didn’t, so be it. The Vols would’ve handled their business and Volnation would’ve said this was magical season with the best to come. But this loss and how it unfolded was and is unacceptable.

Banks did NOT make any adjustments, NONE. TN gave up NINE touchdowns, NINE. USCjr scored on NINE of TEN possessions- only ONE stop. I didn’t include the one before the half as the clock was running out.

It may be scheme, lack of talent, the (Jeremy) Banks’ incident or maybe USC’s nt. Yes we had injuries. But giving up 63 points against an inferior offense who has struggled all year? Even with a magical performance by Rattler, Coach Banks changed from Man to Zone, that’s it. Coach Beamer even said he was surprised how easy it was for his offense and he could tell TN defensively was on its heels and the players helpless.

Go Vols!

 

[WoodsmanVol]

This is year two. I'd like him to remain here until he gets his guys, and has them in his system for about two years. There's no magic wane for getting a whole program that has been a sewer dweller for decades out of said sewer. It takes time and effort. Too many fans can't or won't understand that.