Banks could play LB this weekend
KNOXVILLE — Jeremy Pruitt said Wednesday that, ideally, he would never change a player’s position during the middle of the season.
Tennessee’s first-year football coach added he also “would never move a guy unless that’s what they wanted to do.”
Enter the curious case of Jeremy Banks.
The promising freshman from Memphis moved from running back to linebacker during the Volunteers’ practice Monday. On Wednesday, Pruitt revealed the origin of a decision that has caught on as the week’s top story ahead of Saturday’s Southeastern Conference game at South Carolina.
“It’s kind of funny,” Pruitt said. “He asked me to move to linebacker in the fourth quarter of the Georgia game.”
Banks committed a fumble that led to a Georgia touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Bulldogs’ 38-12 win over Tennessee on Sept. 29, but Pruitt put any discussion of a position change
on hold for another day.
“I just told him, ‘I don’t think now is the time to talk about it,’” Pruitt said. “He’s looking for an opportunity to play, and I think he’s a guy that has the skill set to do it.”
The narrative on Banks’ position change evolved from an entertaining side note to a potentially key personnel move during the weekly SEC coaches teleconference Wednesday when Pruitt suggested Banks could play linebacker Saturday.
Tennessee (3-4, 1-3) and South Carolina (3-3, 2-3) are set for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff in a key game for each team’s quest for bowl eligibility.
“I think the guy could possibly play this week,” Pruitt said. “He’s a smart guy, he’s instinctive and we’re very simple on defense. He’ll practice again the next couple of days, and we’ll just kind of see as the weekend gets here.”
At 211 pounds, the 6-foot-1 Banks is slender compared to Tennessee’s other middle linebackers. It’s a position of relative strength for the Vols, with veterans Daniel Bituli, Darrin Kirkland Jr. and Quart’e Sapp playing the bulk of the position’s snaps this season. Will Ignont, a sophomore, also has been a regular part of the rotation at the two middle linebacker slots this season.
Banks’ listed weight is at least 10 pounds lighter than each of those four players, yet Pruitt praised his physicality Wednesday after the Vols’ third practice of the week.
“Well, I think he’s a runner and a hitter, he’s physical and he likes ball,” Pruitt said. “Obviously he’s practiced for three days on defense. So he probably don’t have a whole lot of knowledge of what we’re trying to get done. But I think he’s a guy that can play there. He’s not had any carries in the last couple games, not that he couldn’t be a running back and a good running back. He still might go back there. But I think it’s been good for him.”
Pruitt’s willingness to heed Banks’ suggestion of playing linebacker indicates the coach’s desire to try and get Tennessee’s most talented players on the field right away. Banks showed promise on offense early in the season as part of a four-man rotation at running back but developed a fumbling problem.
The switch to linebacker has tested his conditioning.
“The first day he thought he was about to die out there because he took so many reps,” Pruitt said. “I told him, ‘It’s a little different than sitting over there swapping out.’ There’s only one ball, so you’ve got four running backs and he can sit there and kind of rotate through. But he’s got him a bunch of reps the last few days.”
Banks’ move has resulted in Carlin fils-Aime moving back to running back after switching to cornerback in the spring. The speedy junior averaged 6.9 yards per carry and scored two touchdowns on 31 runs last season, but he has struggled to carve out playing time in the secondary.
Pruitt said he thinks fils-Aime feels more natural at running back.
“I think if we’re going to move Jeremy to linebacker, we need to have a fourth running back,” Pruitt said. “Carlin is a guy that’s played snaps here before. He’s a fast guy, has good change of direction. So just trying to manage the roster and create possibilities for everybody.”
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @David WCobb and on Facebook at face book.com/volsupdate.