Tennessee Football coach Josh Heupel came to Knoxville and quickly found the Vols had about as much depth as a cookie sheet, especially on defense. So, Heupel and his recruiters went to work. Now, the Vols are ready to start cooking.
When asked about the overall strength of his defense after practice on Friday, UT’s coordinator Tim Banks said, “I think the depth. We have a lot of guys that have played some football around here, and we have a good blend of the younger guys, some of the early enrollees that just got here, some of 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 through camp. It’s exciting to be quite honest with you. It’s exciting to know that you can roll different guys out there and try to keep those guys as fresh as we can.”
Defensive depth is more important for Tennessee Football than most other schools. The Vols run one of – if not the – fastest offenses in the nation. That means Tennessee’s defensive players play more plays than most any team in the country. The Vols’ quick-strike offense can also put UT’s defense back on the field after just a few minutes of real time and a few seconds of game time. Depth is key, but versatility is also a factor in that many players can play more than one position, which adds even more depth, especially if a particular player goes down with an injury, which is sure to happen at some point this season.
In other words, depth and versatility feed upon themselves. More players can play more positions which means more players are available at all positions.
“I think the more guys we have, the more versatile they are and the more you can do with them (the better), put them in some different spots and still really have the ability to play to their strengths,” Banks said. “So, I think the question is ‘Do we have more guys that are versatile?’
“I would say ‘Absolutely’ and I think we will have a chance to showcase their skill sets to hopefully help us continue to move the needle in the right direction. Definitely having the bodies helps from a depth perspective and playing more snaps, but we also feel we have some versatile defenders that are able to do multiple things for us.”
The Vols only have six starters returning from last year’s defense, but that doesn’t seem to bother Banks, who seems content with having more experienced players as opposed to a couple more returning starters.
Is Banks being optimistic or does he really believe that the Vols are a far different defense than they were in 2021? That will be determined on Sept. 2 when Tennessee Football tries to pancake Virginia in Nashville.
