Banks' Room Has Him Setting High Expectations

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The ability to blend youth with experience can be rare, and it suggests a bright future.

For Freddie Banks, it not only will serve the Colorado State defensive coordinator and safeties coach down the line, but immediately. Those are his expectations.

"I'm really excited about the group," Banks said. "I'm not really thinking down the road I'm excited, but I'm excited about what we're going to do in the fall. They're learning and growing and in the meeting room they're really, really detailed. They're easy to coach and they do what you ask them to do."

Tywan Francis – focused on the nickel right now -- has five years of experience, and he'll be the only player in the main mix who will graduate after this next season. Along with him are young holdovers Henry Blackburn and Jack Howell, both with multiple years to go and with plenty of games under the belt. Angel King came over from Nevada as a cornerback, but Banks had other plans for him two years ago at Nevada, plans he has now put in action by moving King to free safety.

It's a group Banks sees as versatile, especially with Blackburn and Francis able to already play both safety spots and nickel. The group has to be, as they are heavily involved in both the run and pass game, as well as the overall communication for the defense.

That's part of the reason Banks wanted to move King two years ago. It was a move King wasn't keen on, as he liked the man-on-man challenge of corner. But when Banks was hired by head coach Jay Norvell, he was able to sell King on the switch.

"It definitely was a transition when he first got here. I've enjoyed the move so far," King said. "At the position I can see way more, I'm freer playing free safety, so it's been fun. He talked to me a little while before he left to take the D Coordinator job at Montana State, and when he talked to me the first time, I was like, 'no coach, I'm a corner.' I couldn't see myself moving there, but when he got here and I was already here, we sat down and he talked about how it would showcase my versatility, and I bought in to it when he told me that.

"The main thing is being able to help out my teammates more. At corner, I can really only do my job, but if we're in Cover 3 and on the backside the corner gets beat, I can still help him out and save it from being a touchdown."

When it came to King, Banks looked beyond what the player could do physically. King's first season in Reno, they left him at corner because it was easier to teach and get him on the field. What Banks also saw was a former quarterback from high school who was a natural leader and communicator.

In this system, that's important and a big reason why Banks like coaching the safeties.

"At safety, it's their communication. They have to know what everybody is doing," Banks said. "They can't just be zeroed in on their job. We have to communicate, so we have to know where the backers are at. We have safeties involved in the run game and in the pass game. We're the communication that goes with both. You communicate to your triangle each play. I like coaching the safeties. The communication and disguises and the run game, they get a bit of it all."

Which is also why the players like having him leading their room. He's the big-picture guy, so they're the first group to see it all flow together. It helps to have your tasks explained to you when it comes with the added knowledge of how it fits in with and affects the other levels of the group.

As the last line of defense, they feel they are the first step in making it all work.

"I feel like the spirit of the defense runs through our room. I really love all those guys; they accepted me right off the bat," King said. "Probably the main thing is knowing the expectation of the defense, and it's knowing what the other guys are doing. He can teach us our job and why we're doing it. We do this because it helps the linebackers like this or the corners like that."

Experienced as they are each is still learning. Not everything is the same for any of them, though they can find some similarities in spots.

What Blackburn likes most is being more involved in the run game, as the strong safety will roll down a lot on run downs. Banks calls it the second most important position on the defense – right behind the three technique on the line – with the expectation of nearly 90 tackles a season. Banks feels he has that in this group.

"Our defense is different this year. I'm playing strong and nickel now, so I've been able to get a different understanding of the game," Blackburn said. "Before, we were further back playing a two-high safety look, and now the safeties are more in the action, in the box and I like that. That fits my style of play. I like to get in there and get physical, and it's nice to learn multiple position as well, because I can understand the defense more.

"I love the physical part of the game. That's' what I live for and being able to be closer to the action is what it's all about. I love being able to be right in there, be right in the box and get down there and bang heads with some dudes in the box."

Banks has been pleased with the way they've all picked the system up and adapted to their new tasks. For some of them, he felt it was a natural fit. The physical part for Blackburn and Howell, the leadership and skill set from Francis which enables him to run fit, cover and blitz. His read on King was right, too, as after the first week, he was playing faster and making more plays.

The first time King came over to help a corner on a deep pattern and broke up a play, he was feeling right at home.

As a group, no matter where they came from or what their background was, the feeling is the same. Not even three full weeks into spring camp, they operate as a bonded core.

"Absolutely. Angel coming in was honestly a great addition to our secondary and our safety room," Blackburn said. "He has experience, and I know he played corner at Nevada, but he's had a great spring so far transitioning. Tywan, Jack and I have been able to mold together these past years, and we understand each other and how we play and what motivates us. I think our defensive room as a unit is growing, and especially in the safeties room. We're becoming really tight-knit and understanding each other and understanding what we need to do to be successful."

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