Tim Banks participated in Tennessee’s media day on Tuesday as the Vols get set to open fall camp.

Asked about the high-powered Tennessee offense, the Vols’ defensive coordinator said it starts with players and the Vols are fortunate to have tremendous quarterback play and a plethora of wide receivers.

“I don’t think our O-line, nor our running backs get the credit they deserve,” he said. “I think it starts with the players and then you add, obviously Coach Heupel and his football acumen and … that whole staff. I just think it’s a combination of obviously great players and great minds on the offensive side of the ball and a tremendous scheme. So I feel very fortunate that every day we get a chance to go against it and we feel like, obviously, if we can defend those guys, we’ll have a great opportunity to defend anybody in the country.”

Banks was asked about Tennessee’s improvement in his second season last year, including 3rd down defense, run defense and points allowed.

“I think we got better in a lot of areas, quite frankly,” Banks said. “That’s why you work. Every year is a new year. You try to identify some things that you think you need to improve on that will help us win and win at a higher clip. We obviously identified some things last year and we worked to correct it, but at the end of the day, I thought our players bought into what we were trying to accomplish. They obviously played at a high level.”