Top 5 Penn State defensive coordinator candidates for 2025

Tim Banks

Clemson was reportedly interested in Banks before Allen took the Tigers’ defensive coordinator job. Banks could also be a candidate for Penn State and might be a nice fit in State College. Banks, a Detroit native who played cornerback at Central Michigan in the mid-1990s, had stops as an assistant at Bowling Green, Memphis and Maryland before earning his first defensive coordinator job at his alma mater in 2009. Banks also spent time as a coordinator at Cincinnati and Illinois before joining Penn State in 2016 as co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach. Since leaving for Tennessee in 2021, Banks has overseen a strong unit with the Vols that was a top 10 defense nationally in 2024. The 53-year-old has emerged as one of the nation’s top defensive minds, and his familiarity with Franklin makes a return to State College possible.