The Auburn Tigers bolstered DJ Durkin’s defensive coaching staff during the most recent offseason by adding safeties coach Tim Banks, who previously worked alongside head coach Alex Golesh during their time together in Knoxville. Banks also spent five seasons as the defensive coordinator for Tennessee’s head coach and offensive architect, Josh Heupel, which could prove strategically valuable when Auburn opens a brutal October schedule with a trip to Neyland Stadium.
This very point was raised by 247Sports’ Christian Clemente in an interview with Rocky Top Insider’s Ryan Sylvia, when Sylvia asked whether familiarity with both coaching staffs might tip the scales in favor of one team. Clemente characterized the advantage as essentially neutral, but he suggested that Banks’s presence could carry more weight for a program still defined by Heupel’s leadership than the late Hugh Freeze-era Assistant GM of Player Personnel, Ryan Smith, moving over to Tennessee’s side.
“Auburn has Alex Golesh, Tim Banks, and a few other assistant coaches and personnel staff who used to be in Knoxville, and Tennessee also has some staff members who recently left Auburn and now work in their personnel department,” Clemente explained. “You’d probably lean slightly toward Auburn here because of Banks’s direct knowledge of how Josh Heupel runs his offense, but I’d agree with your assessment and call it closer to a wash than anything definitive.”
Of course, Heupel will almost certainly do whatever he can to throw Banks off balance, and a noticeable offensive adjustment during the week leading up to the Tigers game is highly probable. Even so, Banks possesses intimate knowledge of Heupel’s patterns, given their five years of close collaboration. Without question, Banks represents a distinct tactical asset for this particular contest.
The hope, however, is that Banks proves to be a winning factor beyond just a single SEC road game, as the schedule holds more than one potential pitfall. Once that matchup concludes, Golesh’s debut season will only be ramping up, with Georgia, LSU, and Ole Miss all waiting in October immediately afterward.
There’s little compelling reason to doubt that Banks will provide long-term value, regardless of what some within the GBO community might think about his previous track record. Banks finds himself in a far more favorable situation in East Central Alabama to thrive.
Tim Banks delegating responsibilities to DJ Durkin will benefit him significantly
Looking back at Banks’s tenure on Rocky Top, talent was never the issue he consistently brought in top recruits, yet aside from defensive backs like Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson III, Tennessee often struggled with DB development outside of a strong 2024 campaign. The situation with Boo Carter remains unclear, but he notably underperformed with the Vols despite arriving with considerable hype. Tennessee frequently performed well in the middle eight minutes of games but faltered down the stretch, so Banks’s time there featured a mix of successes and shortcomings.
Fortunately, Banks will now concentrate on a single position group at Auburn and may even share play-calling duties with Durkin. If he can focus on his strengths while letting Durkin handle areas where he’s less equipped, there’s every reason to believe the arrangement will succeed from a broad perspective.
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