Earlier this year, Tennessee Vols defensive coordinator Tim Banks raised some eyebrows across college football when he told reporters that he thinks UT will have the best defensive line in the nation.
"We should really have the best defensive line in the country," said Banks in March. "I feel really good about our depth that we’re building. I feel really strongly about their attitude and determination that those guys have played with."
Vols defensive line coach Rodney Garner had a different tone earlier this month when he was asked about the praise surrounding Tennessee's defensive line.
"I’m not (praising them), so we just try to block out all the outside noise," said Garner in early August. "One thing about it, when you look at that film, when you study it and you come in there every day and you really look at it and you got to be your own biggest critic....If they’re going bring this kind of stuff on you, then you got to prepare for it. And that’s the thing I told them, man, this is not going to be easy now. To whom much is given, much is required. So we’ve got to prepare ourselves to go out there and be able to play at a championship level. And that is the challenge every single day.”
On Friday, Banks was asked if he still believes that Tennessee can have the best defensive line in nation.
The fourth year Vols defensive coordinator said that as long as everyone stays healthy, he stands on what he said.
“Yeah, I think, again, just the sheer depth," said Banks. "Hopefully, if those guys continue to do what they’ve been doing, we’ll continue to roll them and roll them and there’s no drop off. So they’re exactly where I thought they would be. I love our depth. I think our interior guys are very athletic, but they still have good size to be able to push the pocket. I think as long as we can keep everybody healthy and continue to roll those guys in, I stand on it, we'll be really good up front.”
Banks clearly isn't backing down from his belief in Tennessee's defensive line -- and he shouldn't. The Vols have a great mix of elite talent, experience, and youth. The depth along the defensive line is the best it's been in decades for Tennessee. As Banks said, if everyone stays healthy, the Vols are going to be hard to handle up front.
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