Texas’ special teams has become impossible to ignore, and with it, so has Jeff Banks’ place in the conversation.
Banks is the highest-paid special teams coordinator in the country, carrying a $1.2 million contract, according to Shehan Jeyarajah of CBS Sports. He also coaches tight ends, which helps explain the size of the deal and the scope of his weekly workload. But when the third phase keeps wobbling, the price tag gets harder to overlook.
The Longhorns’ special teams issues have piled up in ways that feel hard to believe. Dating back to last season, Texas has failed to recover the last three onside kicks against it. That sequence started with Georgia’s surprise onside kick in the 35-10 loss in Athens last season, a play that slammed the door on Texas’ second-half hopes.
This year, the problem showed up again against Tennessee, when Texas nearly lost after failing to recover what the SEC later deemed an illegal onside kick. It was ruled legal in real time, though, and Tennessee got one last shot before Texas escaped with a 20-17 win.
Then came last week against Ole Miss. Emmett Mosley V and Graceson Littleton both had chances to fall on an onside kick, and both missed, giving the Rebels another opening in the final seconds. Texas still held on for a 34-27 win.
The Longhorns may have actually been staring at four straight failed onside kick recoveries if Vanderbilt had not just barely missed before the ball rolled out of bounds late in last year’s 34-31 win over the Commodores.
Banks obviously can’t recover the kick himself, and the responsibility doesn’t sit with him alone. But three straight misses in that spot demand a hard look at the special teams operation.
The problems have not stopped there. Texas also gave up a blocked punt for a touchdown in the loss to Oklahoma, a swing play that handed the Sooners a much-needed jolt in a game where their offense struggled to do much.
Even in victories, special teams has found ways to complicate things. Tennessee tied the game in the third quarter with a 57-yard punt return touchdown from Qua Moss, undoing a stretch where Texas’ defense had been completely in control.
Against Ole Miss, the Rebels hit Texas with a fake punt when punter Oscar Bird ran for 17 yards, a play that seemed to inject some life into a team that was trailing 24-3. Texas answered that threat with a goal-line interception later in the drive.
There have been bright spots, too. Ryan Niblett’s 63-yard punt return touchdown against Florida and Alex January’s blocked field goal against Ole Miss both gave Texas momentum in big moments.
For fans, the challenge is sorting out how much credit belongs to Banks and how much comes down to players making the play. Either way, the positive results are part of the picture.
Banks’ path to this point started as a former college punter who moved into coaching special teams at Idaho State in 2001. He worked as both running backs coach and special teams coordinator there before taking on the same dual role at UTEP.
After nearly a decade at UTEP, he landed at Texas A&M in 2013 under Kevin Sumlin, where he again handled special teams and tight ends. He later served as Texas A&M’s interim head coach in the 2017 Belk Bowl after Sumlin was fired.
Banks then joined Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama in 2018, where he worked alongside Steve Sarkisian. He followed Sarkisian to Texas in 2021, and that partnership has continued from there.
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