Why Tennessee Vols defensive coordinator Tim Banks needs to take a page out of Georgia HC Kirby Smart's book

It seems likely that Banks will receive some head coaching interest this offseason. In fact, it wouldn't be a surprise to see several offers come his way. 

Banks, however, would be wise to hold off on accepting any of those jobs. Instead, he should take the Kirby Smart approach. 

Smart spent nine seasons as the defensive coordinator at Alabama before taking over as the head coach at Georgia. Before taking the job at Georgia, Smart was approached by numerous programs about their head coaching vacancies. Smart turned down plenty of smaller programs as well as big named programs like Auburn (Smart was even mentioned as an option to replace Derek Dooley at Tennessee in 2012). 

Instead of taking just any head coaching job, Smart waited for the right opportunity. And he was able to do that because he helped lead an elite defense under the best head coach in the nation for nine seasons. The longer that Alabama's defense was elite under Smart, the more desirable he became as a head coaching candidate, before he eventually landed in a dream situation with his alma mater (Georgia was in a good place when they fired Mark Richt after he went 9-3 in 2015). 

Banks should take a similar approach. The longer that Banks leads an elite defense at Tennessee, the better his job offers will be. Banks is in a good spot with the Vols because Josh Heupel is an offensive minded coach, which means Banks is essentially the head coach of the defense (obviously there's input from Heupel, but it's Banks' show on that side of the ball). 

There's so much volatility in college football these days -- thanks to NIL and the transfer portal -- that it seems like coaches are being hired just to be fired a couple of years later more than ever. Banks is clearly a great leader with a great defensive mind, but that doesn't mean that he'll find success just anywhere. 

Banks will turn 53 in December, so I'm not suggesting that he stay at Tennessee for a decade. But he can afford to wait a couple of years (if it takes that long) for the perfect situation to present itself. Maybe that happens this offseason. Or maybe it's three offseasons from now. It's impossible to know what jobs will or won't be available. Some patience from Banks, though, could be the difference in the UT defensive coordinator becoming one of the next elite head coaches in college football or the next name in a long list of fired head coaches.