CHEEZ-IT CITRUS BOWL: IOWA VS TENNESSEE

December 29, 2023

Tim Banks

Aaron Beasley

Camping World Stadium

Tennessee Volunteers

Press Conference

TIM BANKS: Super excited to be here. We want to thank the Citrus Bowl for having us. I can tell you our families and all the players are having a tremendous time here in Florida, in Orlando. We are thankful for this opportunity, and we are definitely looking forward to taking on a really good Iowa team this Monday.

Q. Iowa's offense obviously has had some notable challenges this year. How much pressure do you feel like you can put on their quarterback with the defensive line that you have?

TIM BANKS: Yeah, we are obviously always trying to apply some pressure when we can. One of the things that makes Iowa unique is they are very rarely off schedule. They work really hard to stay on schedule, I should say.

We have to do a great job stopping the run, putting ourselves in a situation to be able to rush the passer. Right now, our main priority is making sure that we can put ourselves in a situation that would give us a chance to hopefully try to apply some pressure.

Q. Tim, it's been quite the month for the secondary for you guys, a lot of faces in and out. What's that process been like and how have you seen some of those young guys step up and prepare for their opportunity in the Bowl game?

TIM BANKS: Yeah, I think the key word is "opportunity." Obviously, we have had some transition back there, and we wish those guys the best. We are super happy for the guys that are here.

There are going to be great opportunities, some guys that have played some, some guys that have not played at all. But, at the end of the day, we believe in the standard being the standard regardless of who is out there.

We are looking forward to watching them perform this Monday. I know these guys have worked really hard and every single person in that room believes in them, and we are looking forward to watching them perform this Monday.

Q. How have you seen Elijah develop this year, and what do you think he can improve on moving forward?

TIM BANKS: Yeah, Elijah has had some challenges, obviously, but he has really done some good things for us as well. I think at the end of the day he is a guy, who had not played a ton the year prior, was kind of forced into the starting lineup because of an injury early.

I thought week in and week out he worked his tail off to put himself in the best possible position to be successful. We love the kid. He is one of the hardest workers on our team.

I think, just like everybody he has things that he can continue to grow in, and I think he is really fighting to do that.

We are excited for him. This will obviously be a great challenge for him, but I know he is up for it. It will be fun.

Q. Wanted to ask you about James Pearce and what has made him so successful, especially off the edge, and what's his upside?

TIM BANKS: Yeah, I think the sky is the limit for James. He is a tremendous worker for us. When we recruited him, we knew he had a tremendous upside, he had good size, good length, I should say, but he has worked really hard to put on the proper weight to get stronger.

Extremely athletic. I think he is just scratching the surface on how good he can be. He has, obviously, made a name for himself as a rusher, but I think he has a lot more versatility to him. We are going to work really hard the next coming months to make sure we continue to grow his game.

We are excited for him. It is hard to find that type of size with that type of athleticism, and we feel very fortunate to have him part of our program. To watch him grow, from the first day he stepped on campus to where we are right now, makes us extremely proud of the kid.

Q. Aaron, two things for you. One, what's going through your mind with a little bit of time in between games and knowing this will be your final game in the orange and white?

AARON BEASLEY: Honestly, I am trying to be in the moment. I am trying not to think about that too much. I love playing for this university, and I love playing for the T. I am going to enjoy every last minute I have doing it.

Q. Last game for Aaron sitting right by your side. What have you seen from him this year and since you've been here at Tennessee that has made him such a dynamic player and leader in the room?

TIM BANKS: I think that last statement – leader. I would not say he is the loudest guy when you walk in the room, but you can see his play, how hard he works, the way the guys respond to him when he does speak to them. It has just been awesome. You love to see guys grow and develop. To see where he is right now, we could not be more proud of him.

Tremendous worker. Instincts off the chart. We are definitely looking forward to watching him run through that T one more time and put it on stage this Monday.

Q. What can you do as a linebacker to help that young secondary and make their lives a little bit easier?

AARON BEASLEY: I would just say communicate. Communicate well with them. Making sure we are talking pre-snap before the play happens and making sure we are on the same page. I feel like once we are not on the same page, things do not go so well.

I would just say communicating with them before every play.

Q. Coach Banks, another guy who has played a lot of football for you, Jaylen McCollough, final game, his 54th start, what value has he brought to your secondary and defense?

TIM BANKS: It has been awesome. It is like having another coach on the field – extremely bright. Just a pleasure to work with. He is one of those guys who really loves the game. He is a guy that will text you, asking you about different plays in the middle of the night.

It has been awesome. I did not even realize it was so many starts, to be quite honest with you, until someone brought it to my attention a couple weeks ago.

We are proud of him. I think it says a lot about him as a man and his durability and being able to fight through some bumps and bruises.

We are excited for him. Not only has he been a tremendous player on the field, but, definitely, a great locker room teammate and a guy that we have enjoyed coaching through this ride.

Q. What's your scout on Iowa's offense when you watch them on film, and what do they do well?

AARON BEASLEY: I think they do well up front. I think the O-line does a really good job working together. I feel like they will show us some stuff that we really have not seen this year. They run a lot of 13-personnel and 12-personnel, and they will stay in that all game. I feel like that is a little bit different, stuff we really have not seen.

But overall, I feel like they work well together and they do a good job for sure.

Q. Tim, I wanted to ask about Iowa's passing game. It's been so anemic this year. You've been dealing with some losses in the secondary. How confident are you in the back-ups that are playing in this game that you have not seen as much this year?

TIM BANKS: Yeah, I mean, we are confident in our whole team. Like I said earlier, the standard is the standard. As cliché as that may sound, we preach that from the beginning to camp to obviously the Bowl game. Regardless of who is in the game, there is a certain level of expectations that come with stepping out on that field, and those guys understand that.

Again, you throw out all the records, in my opinion, the stats and all that stuff. The guys have had a couple weeks to get ready to work on things they need to improve on, no different than us.

We are going to go out there and put our best foot forward and do everything we can to try to get this victory. I think those guys have worked their tail off. They have been working their tail off. They are excited about that challenge, and we are going to go out there and fight and try to get this victory.

Q. Can you describe, as an assistant coach in college football today with today's landscape, what December is like for you with all those moving parts right now?

TIM BANKS: Chaos. Is chaos a good word?

It is definitely challenging. It is different for me. I have been doing this for a couple decades, and this is obviously a new landscape for everybody, but it is what it is. You have to be able to navigate through it. I think the programs that grow will be the programs that handle it the best.

Like I said earlier, we love our guys and the guys that are here, and we wish the guys that left the best, but it is just the nature of the beast right now. It has been really busy. There is a lot going on. Obviously coaching your team, obviously recruiting.

At the end of the day, the University of Tennessee is a great place to be. We do not have any issues of getting guys that want to be here. It is a lot of players who want to be here. It is a lot of players who are already here, and we are definitely excited about the ones we have and the ones who want to be here.

Q. With those young DBs that are getting their first start, first real a lot of playing time, do you see the impact next season of what they do in this game? This is sort of a head start for Nico. Do you see it that way with your young DBs?

TIM BANKS: Yeah, it is the same. Anytime you get a chance to get some reps under your belt, it is a chance to build upon it. Game reps are obviously different than practice reps, and having a chance to do it in the Citrus Bowl on this type of stage will definitely be a valuable experience that those guys can build upon heading into the spring and into the fall.

It will be great for those guys to go out there and cut their teeth and get this thing going to get them to springboard to build upon it, absolutely.

Q. Iowa's tight end position has faced a lot of injuries, but what have you seen from the guys, Addison Ostrenga, Steven Stilianos, on film?

TIM BANKS: Versatility is the first thing that comes to mind. Those guys are obviously really good in the run game, but the way they move them around and get them as a focal point in a lot of the pass game has been impressive.

Obviously, I have seen Iowa from back in the day at the other places I have been, so they have a great tradition at tight end. Anybody that they recruited to play tight end was probably pretty good at their high school.

They got our respect, A, the way they block, and, B, the way they use those guys in the passing game. We know it is going to be a great challenge for our linebackers and safeties in terms of the matchups in the pass game. Then, obviously in the run game with some of our edge guys being able to read some of their blocks. It is a challenge, and we are definitely looking forward to it.

Q. Big-picture question. With all the chaos you talked about in December, I don't know how much time you had to look back at the regular season, but as a whole, how do you feel your defense performed this season and how would you assess where improvement continued, where things came up short, and how would you assess your play during the course of the season?

TIM BANKS: Obviously, our goal is to win every single game. When you do not win every single one of them, there are things that you want to improve on.

At the end of the day, we felt like we made really good strides. We felt like we had good senior leadership, and we felt like we did a lot of things to move the needle in the right direction.

I am excited, I really am. I think we played good defense most of the year. Obviously, when you don't win them all, you are disappointed. Obviously, we will take time after the season and take a deeper dive after the season to see where we can continue to grow.

But, overall, I feel like we played outstanding.