Defensive coordinator Tim Banks talks Tennessee defense

Everything Tennessee Football defensive coordinator Tim Banks said during his press conference on Wednesday, a the fourth-ranked Vols prepare to face Arkansas Saturday night (7:30 Eastern Time, ABC) in Fayetteville:

If the strong play of Tennessee’s defensive backfield has surprised him

“No. Like I told the guys, I think I might have said it, youth, a lot of youth back there and inexperience. But I thought we had a talented group. So they are right where we thought they would be or what we hoped they would be. They’re playing extremely consistent, they’re communicating at a high level and I think that’s what’s given us a chance to play as well as we’re playing.”

Arkansas running back Ja’Quinden Jackson

“I know numbers probably more than names. So 22. Yep. I know exactly who he is. Really good player. He’s played extremely well. He’s got a really good short are quickness. I think he’s got good balance and body control, so he’s obviously one of the better back we’ve seen to date. We’ll have our hands full, but he’s definitely got our attention. Yeah, I do know who 22 is (laughs).”

The keys of communication and good eye discipline for the defensive backs in a game like this

“I think you struck the cord where it needed to be. It’s just the eyes. Everybody has to be disciplined when he starts to scramble. He’s really made some plays down the field. He’s athletic enough to break contain and go for 80, but he’s also got a strong arm that he can throw it with 80. So we just got to do a good job. Got to be very disciplined, not just with the back end, but our front making sure that we’re containing them when we need to contain them and linebackers doing what they need to be. It’ll really be a collective group, for us to contain this kid. He’s really special in terms of running and throwing.”

What makes Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy so good

“I think just his preparation, again, those guys worked really hard. I think Coach Martinez, Coach ET, Coach Johnson, those guys have all done a really good job with the back end guys and we thought Jermod had a chance to be special just based on what we’ve seen in the spring and it was a carry over to the fall. So I just think his work ethic, his communication, he doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low. He’s very even keel in terms of his preparation. How he performs on Saturday. So we’re excited for him and we think his best football is still ahead of him to say the least.”

How sure they were of Jermod McCoy when scouting him in portal, what gave them confidence in him

“I would be lying if I told you we knew right away, but you say that for any portal kid. We have a checklist of things that we’re looking for when you’re evaluating guys in the portal. But we liked his athleticism. We thought with his background as a receiver, he had really good ball skills. I think the thing that really jumped out was how big he was. When we got a chance to see him up close in person. But we saw the ball skills on tape. We saw the fluidity in which he played with, but for me personally, it was just his overall size. Once we saw him, we thought this kid had a chance to be special.”

How impressed he’s been with the communication growth from Tennessee’s young defensive back room

“I think it’s been great. You see it in practice and sometimes when you’re young it’s hard to take what you do to practice to the game games consistently. But I thought those guys really worked at it and that ain’t just a corner-to-corner or safety-to-safety. Sometimes talking to linebackers, I mean, it’s very broad stroke, but I thought those guys had done a good job from then to now. If I’m being honest, I think we still got room to grow that’ll help those guys become even better. But I like the direction we’re headed.”

How much easier Tennessee’s elite defensive line makes is job as a play caller

“Our D-Line has done a tremendous job, and all the pub they’ve probably gotten has been great. But when we talk about stopping the run, we talk about as a collective group. It takes the corners doing their job, the safeties doing their job, and sometimes the front gets the credit, sometimes the back end, but at the end of the day that’s always been the focal point for us. To be able to stop the run. And it’s great that the DLine is getting some of that pub but as a play caller, again, it makes it great. But, again, everybody has to do their job for us to play the style that we want to play and obviously the DLine helps.They really do.”

The high numbers of tackles for loss this season

“I think our kids play hard. They really do. That’s one thing that we’ve always preached since we got here. We want to play hard. Play as hard as we possibly can and leave it out on the field. I think when we play that hard, typically good things happen. So since day one we’ve always tried to play on the other side of how scrimmage whether we’re pressuring in, whether with our front and you just kind of seeing the fruits of that.”

The biggest benefit of the in helmet communication

“It is kind of always a work in progress, but I think for me,not yelling at it all the time and giving those guys a chance to be able to play football has been awesome. But if you do have something to say that brings value in between plays, that’s been great as well. So we’re still getting used to it. I think our kids like it. But I think for me personally,  just not giving them too much but giving them enough to be able to play as fast as they can. Like I said earlier, we want to play fast, we want to play hard. I try not to tie up their mind with a lot of verbal communication.”