Everything Tennessee defensive coordinator Tim Banks said after Monday's practice

Everything Tennessee defensive coordinator Tim Banks said during his press conference Monday morning’s practice, the second of the spring for the Vols:

His priorities as he gets to work with this Tennessee Football defense 

“Yeah, that’s a great question. It’s always the same every year. The fundamentals, who we are as a defense, the things that we take a lot of pride in. How we run to the ball, the physicality in which we want to practice with and how smart we want to be from snap to whistle. So we’re just really working on our core identity right now. And we got a lot of new faces out there, you can’t take anything for granted. So we’re just starting from the bottom up, everybody’s starting from scratch and we’re just building, laying the foundation.”

Tennessee sophomore Boo Carter working with offense, how much it helps that he already has a year of defense under his belt 

“Yeah, I think it’s been fine. Boo understands he’s a defensive back for us. The goal every year is to be the last man standing, so we’re trying to do anything we can to give everybody an opportunity to continue to grow. So his role on offense will be dictated from Coach (Josh Heupel). And at this point, he seems to be handling it really well.”

Tennessee defensive backs this spring without Jermod McCoy on the field

“Yeah, it’s a lot of young faces out there right now. For us, I think that the thing that’s exciting is we feel like they look like what we want them to look like. We have a lot of length back there. We got a lot of guys that can run. They’re still learning how to play at this level, but we’re excited for them. We think every year we continue to move the needle and build the type of secondary that can stand the test of time. So, obviously between Jermod and Rickey Gibson and guys like that, we think they’ll be great ambassadors and role models for these young guys.”

What he has seen from Tennessee’s linebackers at this point in the offseason

“Yeah, I think the first name for me, (Jeremiah) Telander has been awesome, just being a leader. He obviously played a lot of football for us last year and you can see just his confidence that’s grown. And he is really working with the younger guys. It’s a little bit by committee right now, but that’s a good thing. We think the snaps are very valuable that they’re getting right now, and it only pay dividends for us in the future.”

How the Tennessee coaching staff goes through the self-scouting process during the offseason 

“Yeah, it’s a little bit of both. Obviously you always try to figure out how you can play better in some of the games that you weren’t quite successful in. And then obviously some things you did well, why did you do them well? So we’re trying to learn, we’re trying to grow. And that’s what the cut-ups are for. As we get used to our new personnel, we’re defining right now what it is that they do well, what are some of their strengths, obviously their weaknesses, and how can we make them better within the framework of our defense. And all that information is really based on what we saw coming out of last season and how we can get better.”

Tennessee’s defensive line losing production from last season, other players stepping up in their place

“I think it’s a work in progress, but in a good way. Those guys obviously were really productive for us and some guys that have played some football. But I think these young guys will be fine. You mentioned (Daevin) Hobbs. Hobbs played a lot of football over the last couple years and we’re super excited about his growth and his development. Jackson Moi, (Bryson) Eason, those guys who played some football. So they really worked during winter conditioning about leadership, working on their leadership skills and I think we’re going to see some dividends being paid as we get further and further during camp.”

How important it is to have Rickey Gibson’s experience in a Tennessee defensive backfield that lacks experience this spring

“Yeah, it’s awesome. Rickey has done a really good job here over the last two years, and having him out there has been awesome. Awesome for him and obviously awesome for some of the young guys. But we got Andre Turrentine who is back, who has played some football for us. Jakobe (Thomas) was a newcomer last year that played a lot of football for us. And we feel like we have some guys that have played to be able to blend in with some of these younger guys that hopefully, when we’re done with this spring ball, we’ve taken another step in that back end.”

The plan for Tennessee sophomore DB Kaleb Beasley this spring

“Yeah, I think it starts with just being a good athlete. Again, I think it speaks to how we’ve tried to recruit. We want recruit defensive backs, guys that have flexibility that can bounce inside to outside or outside to inside. And Beasley fits that mold. He’s a smart kid, he’s a team-first guy. So we’re eager, just finding him a spot that he can continue to grow. So he’s working at it. I don’t know that that we’ve solidified any spot, exactly where he’ll play. But I can say that for a lot of guys on the back end. We’re just kind of working through it to figure out the best combination and make sure we got all the guys in the right spots.”

What made Levorn ‘Chop’ Harbin the right fit for promotion on the Tennessee coaching staff 

“Coach Chop has been a valuable asset for us since he’s gotten here. I know he gets a lot of accolades because of his recruiting and rightfully so. But he does just as good of a job with developing and working with the front. So he’s kind of been a unsung hero around here for a long time. So I’m super excited he’s finally getting to just due.”

Tennessee adding an NFL coaching veteran as an analyst in Alan Williams

“I’ve known Alan for a while. I’ve never had the, obviously, the luxury of working with him. But we’re always trying to (get better). Like I said earlier, nobody’s happy except one team at the end of the year. So anything that we can do to help us become better players, better coaches, that’s what we’re striving to do. And bringing Alan in has really been awesome. Wealth of experience as you alluded to. As he gets to know us, he’s getting to know the system, but he’s already helped us in so many ways just with some insight and seeing things from a different lens. It’s already helped for us.”

What Tennessee liked about freshman defensive back Tre Poteat in the recruiting process 

“I think Tre Poteat, once again, he fits the mold that we’re looking for. He’s a coach’s kid, so we knew he would have a great foundation in terms of learning and understand what it looks like to be a collegiate defensive back. And he hasn’t disappointed. He’s a smart kid. He’s a hard worker. No different than a lot of freshmen. There’s obviously boatloads of things that he’ll continue to grow with, but at the end of the day, those are the type of guys that we want to recruit, guys that see it and have a chance to be special as they continue to be older.”

How glad he is to get a new contract to stay at Tennessee and build on the work he has already done

“Being here, Tennessee’s obviously a special place for me and my wife. You guys know me, my faith is everything to me. So I feel extremely blessed to be here. Uncertainty, I don’t know. I knew things would work out the way they needed to work out. So I’m excited to work with this new group. 

I’m excited to work with our staff and some of the additions we’ve had. So it’s been a blessing for me. And like I said, I’m super excited to be here.” 

How much of an indication they can get on the future of players early in practice settings like this

Yeah, that’s a great question. I don’t know that you ever know until the kid is truly in the heat of the battle. It’s our jobs to try to simulate that as best we can. You have stages, right? You do the fourth quarter, old-school drills to try to put them in some mental anguish as we can. But at the end of the day, you got to go out and play football, right? So we’re in the first stages of that. No pads are on, there’s not a lot of crowd noise, the environment is pretty sterile. But yeah, they still got to pass that test. 

“And then obviously you get to the scrimmages, right? How do they react doing scrimmages when things are going well versus when things go bad and then you finally get a chance to play in a place like Neyland. How do they respond? So I just think it’s a staircase for every guy, you know? And some guys go from the first step to the last step quicker than others. But I think history will tell you if you stayed of course, and those guys are able to handle the first stage to the second stage, it’s a good chance they’ll be able to handle the third.”