Potential future defensive coordinator option for the Tennessee Vols will enter the 2025 season on the hot seat

The Tennessee Vols are eventually going to need a new defensive coordinator. 

Current Vols defensive coordinator Tim Banks, who has been on Tennessee's staff since 2021 when Josh Heupel took over as the program's head coach, will probably get a chance to be a head coach at some point in the not-so-distant future. 

Banks' defense had trouble against an extremely talented Ohio State Buckeyes team in the first round of the College Football Playoff. But outside of that rough performance, Banks has done a tremendous job with Tennessee's defense. 

The Vols' defense has steadily improved from year to year under Banks. And if not for the strong showing from the defense in 2024, Tennessee almost certainly wouldn't have been one of the 12 teams in the playoff. 

It's not a matter of if Banks gets a head coaching job, it's when. 

For now, it looks like Banks will be back at Tennessee in 2025. There aren't any obvious head coaching vacancies that make sense for Banks and it seems incredibly doubtful that he'd leave Knoxville for a defensive coordinator job at another program (it also seems unlikely that the NFL will come calling). Banks' contract at Tennessee expires after the 2024 season, so he'll need to sign a new deal to stick around (it would be a surprise if Banks isn't back at UT in 2025). 

If Tennessee's defense has another solid year in 2025, Banks will probably be a popular head coaching candidate next winter. Banks turned 53 earlier this month, so it's not like youth is on his side. If he's going to make the leap to being a head coach, that's a move that will happen sooner rather than later. 

Potential future defensive coordinator option for the Tennessee Vols will enter the 2025 season on the hot seat

Heupel and the Vols could potentially fall into a dream situation if the timing works out. 

If Banks decides to leave for a head coaching job after the 2025 season, an ideal defensive coordinator option for Tennessee could be available. 

CBS Sports college football writer Tom Fornelli believes that Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables will enter the 2025 season on the hot seat. 

Venables is 22-17 through his first three seasons at Oklahoma. The Sooners went 6-7 in 2024 after going 10-3 in 2023. Another six win season would likely end Venables' time as the head coach in Norman (and next year's schedule is quite difficult for the Sooners).