Tim Banks explains confidence in Tennessee pass rush

Tennessee finished the 2022 season with one of the nation’s worst pass defenses, but part of that is not getting enough help from the Tennessee pass rush.

The Volunteers are aiming to change that this season, hoping a bolstered pass rush will lift the entire defense.

“We feel like we’ll have some guys on the interior to be able to push the pocket and affect the quarterback that way,” defensive coordinator Tim Banks said. “When you start talking about our edge guys, you’ve already mentioned the usual suspects from Roman (Harrison), to Josh (Josephs), to James Pearce and Caleb Herring, as well.

“We feel like we have some guys that will have a chance to affect the quarterback, but definitely having some guys inside would only help that campaign.”

Tennessee wasn’t awful at putting pressure on the quarterback last season, finishing ranked 42nd nationally in sacks with 31 total and about 2.4 per game.

But if the Tennessee pass rush can also collapse the pocket from the interior there will be even more opportunities to make plays that can change games.

“I think it starts with big [Omari Thomas],” Banks said. “We think O has improved a ton. He’s obviously a big body guy that has shown some versatility in terms of what we ask him to do. (Omarr Norman-)Lott is another guy that obviously just got here in the spring that we’re super excited about as well.”

Tennessee boasts improved depth on defense

One of the things, in addition to high hopes for the Tennessee pass rush, that might significantly bolster the team’s production in 2023 is improved depth.

Banks opened up on what he views as a significantly improved depth chart from top to bottom.

“The depth,” Banks said on Thursday. “We have a lot of guys who have played some football around here and we got a good blend of some young guys. Some of the early enrollees who just got here, and some of the the guys who were freshmen last year, who played a small role. We expect those guys to play a larger role this season.

“We feel really good that we should be able to rotate a lot of guys and give a lot of guys opportunities that they’ve earned in camp. It’s exciting to be quite honest with you. It’s exciting to know you could roll different guys out there and try to keep those guys as fresh as we possibly can.”

Tennessee will open its season on Sept. 2 with a game against Virginia.