College football coaches love to say they're not going to use something as an excuse right before they use whatever it is as an excuse.

Well, most college football coaches.

Tennessee Vols defensive coordinator Tim Banks isn't one of those coaches.

On Thursday, Banks was asked about the Vols' extremely thin and young secondary.

Banks answered the question with a standard "next man up" type response.

And then he made sure to point out that he wouldn't be using Tennessee's youth as an excuse this season.

"I just want to make sure we won’t use youth or inexperience as a crutch," said Banks. "Because the reality of it is we’re going to get the guys ready that we have and we’re going to go to battle. If it happens to be those guys that we’re working with this spring, then so be it."

"We’re going to coach the guys we’ve got, and I just want to make sure those guys are ready to go.”

Previous coaches at Tennessee — Butch Jones for example — loved using the Vols' youth and lack of depth as an excuse.

But that's not Banks' style. He has a standard and it doesn't change based on the personnel on the field.

"The standard has not changed (with guys in the secondary out this spring)," explained Banks.

"As far as the young kids learning it, I think it’ll be just like it was last year. It’s going to take some of those younger guys (some time) to get caught up to speed, but hopefully, with the experienced guys we’ve got coming back, we can speed that thing up and get those guys to be able to play at a high level sooner than later.”

There's nothing worse than hearing a coach make excuses. Every team deals with adversity — some more than others. It's just part of being a college football coach.

Vol fans should be happy they have a defensive coordinator in Banks who has a standard and doesn't change it based on his mood that day.

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