Tim Banks addresses how Jeremy Banks can improve heading into senior season

In a year of tumult for the Tennessee linebacker room, veteran Jeremy Banks was one of the rare reliable contributors in 2021. Banks enjoyed a career year — a “breakout” year, if you will — while much of the room struggled with health and consistency. His play earned him a lot of praise from Vols defensive coordinator Tim Banks (of no relation).

Banks recently hopped on Eric Cain’s show to discuss all things Tennessee football, but spent quite a bit of time addressing the linebacker room. Specifically, Jeremy Banks, who he believes can take another step up as a senior leader in 2022. Here were Banks’ full thoughts on the veteran linebacker and how he can improve even more:

“I think, you know, just continue to play with the passion and energy he played with but now just refining his game from some of the small details where maybe he might have missed a read or a key. But he was just athletic enough to still make the play. Now, he’ll be able to make that play instead of — for a two-yard gain — hopefully, he’ll be able to hit in the backfield. So I know he’s worked really hard with his key read. Continuing to grow there and continue to make sure he’s in the right positions from a pass coverage perspective. He grew leaps and bounds last year and we expect him to take another jump this year as well.”

Banks wasn’t the only player in the position group he singled out as impressing him throughout the offseason. Below you can read Banks’ comments on the linebacker room as a whole and a freshman who has caught the DC’s eye.

Tim Banks anticipates competitive LB group in 2022

In that same interview, Cain asked him how the linebacker room had developed since the end of the season. Here was Banks’ response:

“Yeah we definitely have more options. Obviously, you don’t have a ton of experience in that room outside of the guys that did play [last season]. But again, I think we’ve got more guys at every spot quite honestly. Whether it’s DBs, whether it’s D-Line, linebackers, etc. Anytime you have numbers, the expectation is that you get what you earn. So I know it’ll be a lot of guys fighting for playing time, which in turn, helps us play better as a defense.”

Banks also likes that he has a number of younger players ready to step in if need be.

“Right now, going into the summer, obviously, we asked some guys to sign early. Elijah [Herring] comes to mind. Who we thought as a freshman had a really good spring campaign. He’ll be better than he was coming out of spring. And with the returning guys, we feel like we have some numbers and we have some experienced guys and those young guys. We think those guys are gonna push really hard to try and earn some playing time.”

Tennessee may not feature the linebackers as the biggest strength of their defense, but Tim Banks doesn’t plan on the group being a liability in 2022 and for years to come.