Wake Forest Athletics
Freddie Banks Ready to Lead Exciting Group of Talent in 2026
5/21/2026 1:41:00 PM | Football
Freddie Banks has been a defensive coordinator for seven years across stops at Minnesota State-Moorhead, Montana State, Colorado State and now Wake Forest. He has helped build defenses that reached an FCS national championship game, led the Mountain West in turnovers and finished among the ACC's elite units last season. When Wake Forest promoted him to co-defensive coordinator ahead of the 2026 season, his response was characteristically understated.
"That means we did an OK job last year and I got a pat on the back," Banks said with a smile and a small chuckle during spring camp. "I have the same job. I just go coach the safeties."
The "OK job" he's referring to was, by most measures, a defensive transformation. In his first season in Winston-Salem, the Demon Deacons allowed nearly 10.5 fewer points per game than the previous year, surrendered more than 100 fewer yards of total offense per contest and nearly cut the number of passing touchdowns allowed in half.
Wake Forest finished in the ACC's top five in both total defense and pass defense, allowed the fewest yards per play in the conference and held seven of 13 opponents to 14 points or fewer — the most such performances by a Wake Forest defense since the 2006 ACC Championship season. The Deacs didn't allow a touchdown in back-to-back conference games against Virginia and North Carolina.
That kind of production doesn't happen by accident, and it didn't happen overnight.
Banks arrived at Wake Forest with a resume built across nearly every level of college football. He started as a defensive backs coach at Minnesota State-Moorhead in 2011, became defensive coordinator there within a year, then worked his way through Nicholls, Midwestern State, Stephen F. Austin and Nevada before landing at Montana State in 2021. In his one season with the Bobcats, he ran the No. 6 scoring defense in the FCS and helped lead Montana State to its first national championship game appearance since 1984.
Linebacker Troy Andersen won FCS Defensive Player of the Year that season and was drafted in the second round by the Atlanta Falcons. Defensive lineman Daniel Hardy earned first-team All-American honors and was also drafted.
From there it was three seasons at Colorado State, where the Rams improved their record each year under his coordination, finished 8-4 in 2024 and appeared in the Arizona Bowl. His units at Colorado State ranked fourth in the Mountain West in turnovers forced per game, generating 53 in just 36 games.
Now he's building something at Wake Forest, and two springs into the Jake Dickert era, the foundation is taking shape.
"It's always a work in progress, but we're getting better every day," Banks said. "The little things with the young guys — calls and communicating. The older guys, being able to think about what's coming next, what information can help them do their job. We're getting better every single day."
The veteran core in the secondary is a particular focus. Banks wants the experienced players not just to perform but to run the operation from the back end, relaying adjustments to linebackers and keeping everyone aligned before the snap.
"We're comfortable with those dudes, but we want to challenge them too," he said. "We want them to keep getting better — whether it's man coverage, finishing at the top of the route, eye discipline in a certain coverage. The older guys can handle more. They can handle running the show in the back end, communicating to the backers, making sure everybody's on the same page. That's the charge to those dudes."
One of the players Banks was watching closely this spring is Braylon Johnson, who he sees capable of taking a significant step forward. After a sideline conversation following a practice Johnson described as a rough one, Banks offered some perspective rather than criticism.
"He thought he had a bad day," Banks said. "I said, 'Well, you should have a couple of days where you don't feel good, a couple where you feel really good, and some where you feel bad.' We were talking about the rule of thirds. That was the conversation."
The standard Banks sets for Johnson, he noted, is intentionally high.
"He's smart — super smart," Banks said. "Whatever we tell him, he's applying it. He's playing some nickel and some free safety. We want him to take a big step in man coverage and in setting edges in the screen game. But he's getting better."
Davaughn Patterson, meanwhile, is returning from surgery and was working his way back to full participation during the early days of camp. Banks liked what he saw once Patterson was cleared for a full day of work and was particularly pleased at the work of Alison Mitchell, The Fehring Family Head Football Athletic Trainer.
"He was champing at the bit to get back out there," Banks said. "We slowly moved him in — started with some seven-on-seven. The day we spoke was probably his first full day back. He's moving well, almost like we never missed a beat. The training room did a really good job getting him ready and putting him through some rigorous workouts to make sure the body was ready to go. Once they hand him over to us, he's ready."
After playing in 22 games over his first two seasons as a Demon Deacon, redshirt sophomore defensive back Myles Turpin is seeking an even larger role in 2026 because of his versatility. He has become one of the defensive backfield's most valuable assets. Banks said he's playing every position in the secondary except cornerback.
"He's playing nickel, he's playing free, he's playing strong," Banks said. "He's one of the smartest dudes I've ever coached. He's really like a starter to me. We don't miss a beat when he's in the game. When we got here, he was a little out of shape, couldn't do some things. Now he's a vet. He's operating like a vet. We can rely on him day in and day out."
For all the experience in the room, Banks is insistent on one thing heading into the 2026 season: last year doesn't count.
"You've got to start over," he said. "Start over with fundamentals, technique and communication. Last year was last year. Are we ahead of where we were last year? For sure. But you've got to start over or you'll miss a step. And that step will cost you whether that shows up in game four or game eight. Every day matters."
