New Tennessee defensive coordinator
Tim Banks has done some of his best work as a recruiter in the state of Michigan, particularly in the Detroit area. He's a Detroit native who played at Martin Luther King Jr. High School, and he has plenty of connections in the area that have paid off at his previous stops.
Will Johnson is an example of Banks' ties in Michigan. Johnson, a five-star cornerback from Grosse Pointe (Mich.) South High School, is the son of former Michigan safety
Deon Johnson, who was one of Banks' teammates at Detroit King. Banks has known the younger Johnson for years and spent the past couple years recruiting him for Penn State, where he was the Nittany Lions' co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach for the past five years.
“William and
Tim Banks have been building a relationship since William was 5 or 6 years old and Tim was coming to Sound Mind Sound Body football camps,” the elder Johnson told 247Sports' Sam Webb in April. “Sometimes he would work with the middle school kids, and William was one of those kids.
"And then me introducing William to (Banks) as one of my former teammates, and just giving a little bit of his background, ... they have built relationship.”
