Report: Tennessee DC Tim Banks will not return for 2026 season

The Tennessee Volunteers are making a major change on the coaching staff. Per a report by On3’s Austin Price, head coach Josh Heupel has made the decision to part ways with defensive coordinator Tim Banks.

This comes off a season where Tennessee would finish 88th in total defense, giving up 395.5 yards per game. That was good for 14th in the SEC. It’s also a year removed from only giving up 293.2 yards per game last season. The Volunteers also finished 92nd in scoring defense, giving up 28.8 points per game. That was also 14th in the SEC. A season ago, Tennessee gave up just 16.1 points per game. So, the drop off has been steep from 2024 to 2025.

Injuries became a big piece of the storyline in 2025 for Tennessee. Projected first round draft pick Jermod McCoy was out for the entire season. Ricky Gibson, another starting defensive back, also missed the vast majority of the season. Then, along the defensive line, defensive tackles Daevin Hobbs and Jaxson Moi missed extended time early in the year.  

Tim Banks had been at Tennessee since 2021, the first season that Josh Heupel took over as the program’s head coach. Throughout his time there, he’s been the defensive coordinator and safeties coach. However, in 2025, he was strictly acting as the team’s defensive coordinator. Prior to that, Banks had spent the majority of his career in the Midwest.

Banks has made stops at Penn State, Illinois, Cincinnati, and Central Michigan as either a co-defensive coordinator or defensive coordinator. Central Michigan is the school where he played his own college football at, having played defensive back.

Last January, Tim Banks signed an extension with Tennessee. That deal was set to pay him $2.15 million annually. Now, Tennessee will need to pay Banks $4.3 million for firing him without cause.

Tennessee doesn’t yet have its next defensive coordinator. Prior to coming to Tennessee, Josh Heupel only had one other defensive coordinator. That was Randy Shannon during his time as the head coach at UCF. Shannon was out of coaching in 2025. So, it will be interesting to see if Heupel looks for someone he’s familiar with from a past stop, an internal promotion, or if he finds a coach who he hasn’t worked with in the past.

The Volunteers are now getting ready for their bowl game against Illinois on December 30th. That will be in the Music City Bowl, which is played annually in Nashville.