When Texas A&M relieved Kevin Sumlin of his duties Sunday afternoon, Athletic Director Scott Woodward also named Jeff Banks as the interim head coach until the Aggies can find a new one.
That brings up an obvious question — who is Jeff Banks?
Banks has served as the Aggies’ special teams coordinator and tight ends coach since 2013. Before that, he coached at Virginia for one season and was the running backs coach and special teams coordinator at UTEP from 2004-2012, where he coached under Mike Price, one of Sumlin’s primary coaching mentors.
The 42-year-old Banks also played for Price in the late 1990s at Washington State, where Banks was a two-time All-Pac 10 punter and averaged better than 40 yards per punt in his junior and senior seasons.
Special teams was arguably the most consistent aspect of Sumlin’s teams over the course of his six-year tenure, which Banks played a big part in. He oversaw the development of punter Drew Kaser and kicker Josh Lambo in his first season in College Station. Also in 2013, the Aggies blocked an SEC-high three kicks.
In 2016, the Aggies averaged an SEC-leading 25.4 yards per kick return and recorded four kick return touchdowns.
Like Sumlin, Banks got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Washington State, where he worked with the offense and the kickers and punters from 1998 to 2000.
Banks will lead the Aggies into whichever bowl game they are awarded and serve as the interim head coach until the end of the season. After the bowl game, the new coach — whomever it may be — will likely take control of the program.
