Tennessee football’s defensive coordinator Tim Banks hasn’t officially signed a contract extension yet with the Vols, but a major hint could tell us he’s returning to Rocky Top after all. This comes after Tennessee’s disappointing end to the season and the transfer portal exodus that quickly followed.
The Vols and Josh Heupel are starting to find some footing post-exodus in the receiver room and build a little momentum on the recruiting trail. As a result, Tennessee could also be looking at returning defensive coordinator Tim Banks.
Heupel took a recruiting trip to visit Braylon Outlaw, a three-star linebacker out of Alabama. There isn’t anything earth-shattering about the visit other than who joined Heupel on the recruiting visit.
Banks joined Heupel on the recruiting trip, which is surprising given that he doesn’t currently have a contract extension with Tennessee.
You wouldn’t expect Banks to be on the recruiting trail with Heupel and the Vols unless he’s confident Banks is returning as Tennessee’s defensive coordinator.
As of this writing, there hasn’t been an official announcement about Banks’ future at Tennessee, but Tennessee fans should be confident their defensive signal caller will be returning for the 2025 season unless something major falls through during contract negotiations.
Banks has been courted by two ACC programs. Clemson and Miami have both been interested in bringing Banks to its program, but it doesn’t look like Banks will accept either of those jobs after Banks turned down Miami’s offer.
Returning Banks would be huge for Tennessee going into the 2025 season. He put together an elite defense in 2024 and could build on that success in 2025 and into the future.
Defensively, Tennessee ranked in the top ten in opponent points per game, yards per game, points per play, yards per play, opponent third-down conversion percentage, and opponent fourth-down conversion percentage.