What Tennessee defensive coordinator Tim Banks said during media day

Everything Tennessee defensive coordinator Tim Banks during his press conference on Tuesday while the Vols held media day in Knoxville, ahead of the start of training camp on Wednesday:

Opposing defenses struggling against Tennessee’s offense 

“That’s a great question. I think with anything, it starts with your players. We have really good personnel here. Obviously, tremendous quarterback play over the last couple of years and a plethora of receivers. I don’t think that our o-line nor our running backs get the credit they deserve. I think it starts with the players. Then you add Coach Heupel and his football acumen with Coach (Joey Halzle), and what coach (Alex Golesh) brought to the table, Coach (Glen Elarbee), that whole staff. I just think it’s a combination of great players, great minds on the offensive side of the ball and tremendous scheme. We feel very fortunate that every day, we get a chance to go against (that offense). We feel like if we can defend those guys, we’ll have a great opportunity defending anybody in the country.” 

The Tennessee defensive line’s ability to rush four and affect the quarterback

“Another great question. That’s obviously what we’re building toward. We feel very good about the number of guys that we have returning. We feel like we’ve recruited at a high level, and we have some young players that are going to get some opportunities to show what they can do. Just like anything, it’s a work in progress. We’ll obviously know more once we get going during camp this season. Hopefully we develop the way that we think we should. That’ll open up some more opportunities for us to be more creative in terms of getting to the quarterback.” 

The jump the Tennessee defense has made and if he saw that improvement in fall camp last year

“I think everything is a process, so to speak. We thought we were getting better. We showed dividends in some stats, but I think we got better in a lot of areas quite frankly. That’s why you work. Every year is a new year. You try to identify some things that you think you need to improve on that can help us win and win at a higher clip. We obviously identified some things last year, and we worked to correct it. Like I say every day, it always starts with the players. I thought our players bought in to what we are trying to get accomplished, and they played at a high level.” 

Tennessee senior linebackers Aaron Beasley and Keenan Pili

“I think with Aaron, it’s about confidence. Honestly, he’s always been confident, but as the spotlight started to shift toward him a little bit, I thought he got more comfortable in that setting. He’s been great. I think he’s had a tremendous offseason. From a leadership perspective, I think he feels like he has a voice and people will obviously listen when they see the production that he’s put together consistently. As far as KP (Keenan Pili) goes, he was a great addition to our team this spring. He’s a tremendous young man and a tremendous family man. He’s big, athletic, physical. We’re super excited about watching him continue to develop during camp. I think all of our team, particularly on our side of the ball, really respects him because of his work ethic. He’s not really a real vocal person at this point, but I think as he continues to get more comfortable with our team, I think you’ll see him get even more vocal.” 

The ‘proof of concept’ within the Tennessee program

“I think it’s great. I think it’s great for the fans. For us, personally, we realize that what you did last year was last year. I think at this point, we’re continuing to chop wood and carry water so to speak, to get ready for this upcoming season. From a confidence perspective, obviously that’s great. But, as I told the kids, experience is only good when you can go back and learn from it, whether it was good or bad. If we learn from it and build upon it, then it’s something that can become special. We can’t carry over any tackles. We can’t carry over any interceptions. We have to earn them again during camp, and that’s honestly the goal.” 

When he realized the caliber of Aaron Beasley’s game

“When we got here, he had just kind of transitioned to the linebacker position. He’s really a quiet guy by nature, but I think he has a quiet confidence about him. He was always sneaky athletic. He didn’t say a bunch, but we got here with some things that he needed to get cleaned up. He missed a little bit of time, but when he got back and got his legs under him, we knew right away that he could be a guy we could count on. Nothing’s been given to him. Everything has been earned. That just makes it that much sweeter to me. He’s definitely one of those guys. He didn’t come in here as a highly thought of linebacker. Obviously, he was a defensive back, but he’s really worked his tail off every year to put himself in a position to not only be a consistent linebacker, but be a high-impact linebacker in this league.” 

The development of Tyler Baron

“Tyler has always had the God-given talent. He’s arguably one of our better players on our defense in general, not just up front. He’s long and athletic. I think the biggest thing for him is just that he’s been banged up a ton. He was fortunate enough to be able to make it all the way through spring. We saw a lot of great consistency with his play. We’re obviously super fired up to watch it carry over to camp. What does a successful season look like for him? I think it’s him reaching his full potential on the field. That will help our defense. The goal is to play at a high level defensively, and he can be a big part of that.” 

The different level of competition he expects from Tennessee cornerbacks this fall compared to last fall

“It will help a ton because all of those guys are healthy at this point. They’re very talented. I think the room is very talented. Again, if you’re not out there to get the reps, it’s hard to play to your full potential. Having all of those guys back with game time experience only helps us because at the end of the day, to think that we can go into the season with just two corners is not what we think. We know we’ll need at least three or four and in a perfect world, five guys that we feel like we can plug and play and it won’t be a huge drop off. Having all of those guys healthy and ready to compete only will help that room get better. If they’re better, we’re obviously better.” 

Where he has seen the most growth in his unit since arriving at Tennessee and what can take them to the next level

“I think the overall consistency and confidence. When we got here, I don’t think the room had a lot of confidence. Those guys are very confident in what they bring to the table. As far as where we need to go, every year is a new year. We just want to be consistent with our play. We want to be able to have a unit that guys can look out there and see very clearly that we’re going to play extremely hard, playing tough and being smart. We want to be a unit that doesn’t beat itself. For the most part, we’ve been that. But I think continuing to grow in those areas will only bode well for this team.” 

His expectations for Tennessee senior defensive lineman Roman Harrison

“Roman has played a lot of football for us. It’s funny because when you go back through the cutups, B.Y. (Byron Young) had a tremendous season for us and he’ll be greatly missed, but Roman showed some flashes. He’s probably pound-for-pound one of the tougher players in this conference. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s about the consistency, playing a little bit smarter and cleaning up those things. Quite honestly, we saw some of that from him this spring. We thought he was a lot more consistent in what we were asking him to do. I think his overall knowledge of not just rushing the passer, but what we’re asking him to do in some coverage principles, he got a lot better. We’re expecting him to have a really good year for us and he needs to. He’s one of the harder workers on our team and on our defense in particular. We are hoping for the best for him. Everything he’s shown us to this point is learning toward that direction.” 

The luxury of having some of the same coaches in the Tennessee program for a third straight year

“It’s always great. There is a lot of turnover every year in the collegiate game and obviously in the pros as well. I think from a football perspective, it’s awesome. To be quite honest, I think it’s awesome just as far as recruiting goes. You get a chance to recruit these kids, see them start to develop and grow not just as players, but as men. I don’t know if there’s anything more gratifying than that. To watch someone develop under your watch, academically, socially and obviously on the field is special. We’ve been able to have some continuity in where we call home. Knoxville has been very good to me and my wife. It’s truly a blessing and I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity.” 

What he likes about the skillset of Tennessee junior defensive lineman Omarr Norman-Lott

“Omarr has been a good get for us. With his quickness, he’s very subtle. He’s not the biggest guy in terms of length, but he’s extremely wide and he has a tremendous first step. Our inside guys have been really good, particularly against the run. I think Lott can give us the same thing against the run, but I also think he brings the element of explosiveness and getting off the ball with his first step. We definitely think he’ll help us in the pass rush game, but with the way we move and stunt, I think he has a chance to be really productive in our system.” 

The Tennessee defense playing a big role in several key wins last season, if that was communicated to the defensive players enough

“Honestly, our kids know. We know what we bring to the table. We know how well we play. You can’t win 11 games without playing great defense. We felt like we handled our business on that side of the ball, but our ultimate goal is to play for championships. For us to do that, we have to continue to grow in our role. Who gets the credit? We don’t spend a lot of time worrying about that. We worry more about getting a win at the end of the day. That’s been our message since day one. I think if you asked our kids, they would say the same. We don’t care about all of that. We know what we bring to the table. We’re very confident in our approach and our system. We’re super excited about the opportunity to go out there and compete for Tennessee.”