By Ryan Rogers
LSUsports.net
Each year thousands of stories portraying the heroics and downfalls of LSU football players are written or told. Lost amongst the endless statistics, quarterback controversies and coaching carousels is a story of an LSU player that everyone should hear. It’s not a feel good story of “Rudy” proportions involving a good-hearted walk-on who achieved his goal.
Instead, it’s a story of a good-hearted star that has been a starter for LSU for the last four years while achieving his goals.
Tommy Banks has been LSU’s starting fullback for the last four years. Many may see Tommy as just the guy who lines up in front of LSU’s talented tailbacks before each play. In making that assumption, an observer couldn’t be more wrong.
Tommy’s story started as a high school phenom at West Monroe High School. He rushed for 2,284 yards and 33 touchdowns in his senior season while leading the Rebels to the 1996 LHSAA state title. The blue chip recruit was high on every major college in the country’s wish list. Tommy followed his heart and chose LSU.
“I grew up in Louisiana and I wanted to play in Louisiana. There were some great programs around the country I could have gone to, but I wanted to stay here and just be around Louisiana people. When I came here the program was on the rise so it made my decision easy,” said Banks.
As a freshman at LSU Tommy saw instant success. He cracked the starting lineup and played a major role in LSU’s 9-3 season in 1997. This season was highlighted by two big game performances. He scored a touchdown against No.1 ranked Florida helping propel LSU to a 28-21 monumental victory in Tiger Stadium.
Later that year, he bulled over Notre Dame defenders clearing a path for Rondell Mealey while on route to a 222-yard rushing performance in the Independence Bowl, as the Tigers soundly defeated the Irish 27-9.
“Scoring a touchdown against Florida, and beating Florida was a great memory in my career,” said Banks. “Beating Notre Dame in the Independence Bowl was a great also.”
LSU has had an assortment of talented tailbacks during Bank’s tenure. This is no coincidence. Tailbacks such as Kevin Faulk, Rondell Mealey, Cecil Collins, Kendall Cleveland, LaBrandon Toefield and Domanick Davis have all followed Banks through the hole in their careers. Banks has been crucial to all of these tailback’s success.
Since arriving at LSU Banks has been a tremendous blocker out of the backfield. Blocking is a lot more complicated than one would believe. Defenders in today’s game are bigger, stronger and faster. Add to equation that defensive schemes have become much more creative, blocking involves a lot more than just running around and hitting defenders.
“There is a lot more to blocking than what people think. You have to read the defense and read your offensive line’s blocks. Sometimes the guy you have to block isn’t where he lined up at before the snap of the ball. It’s your job to adjust. You have to hit them with a certain shoulder and with proper timing.”
Banks has also established himself as a receiving threat out of the backfield. LSU often finds him on screen passes, bootlegs and other routes. When Banks catches the ball he is a fierce runner. Defenders cringe at the thought of trying to tackle Banks in the open field.
“Receiving is just a matter of running the right routes,” said Banks. “Lot’s of times you have to be aware if there is a blitz coming, and if there is you have to turn around and look for the ball on a hot route. I like running routes and catching the ball. I think I have pretty good hands.”
Offensive Coordinator Jimbo Fisher has been instrumental in finding ways to put the ball in Bank’s hands.
“Jimbo Fisher is a great offensive coordinator. He came in and changed up the system, he likes mixing everything around. He’ll use as many weapons as possible and he’ll show as many offenses as possible.”
With his blocking, receiving and rushing capabilities, Banks has become a very versatile player for LSU’s offense.
“My role is lots of different things. I line up at fullback or as an up-back and even sometimes I line up in a one-back set. I do many different things whether it be blocking or running pass routes.”
He is very confident that LSU’s offense can continue to be prolific. “Once our offense gets rolling it’s hard to stop. Momentum does a lot for our offense. When our offensive line gets a good push off the snap it makes it so much easier for the running backs to find an opening and make a move. Once we get the running game going the passing attack is hard to stop.”
Banks also excels on special teams. He is a member of the punt, kick return and field goal units. In week three he was named the LSU special teams player of the week for his performance against Auburn.
The Tigers have struggled the last two years but Banks play has remained steadfast. His determination to get LSU back on the right track is eminent. Banks has a hunger for success that he hopes will spread among his young teammates. He uses this as one of his bet tools to be a great leader.
“I’ve been through the good and the bad here at LSU. Lot’s of the younger guys haven’t been around when things are going good so they really don’t know how it feels. But I’ve been here and I need to show them what it takes to reach those goals and help this team be a winner.”
This year the Tigers are off to a 3-3 start highlighted by a huge win against then-No. 11 Tennessee. This season has a lot of promise and that excites Banks. There is nothing he wants more than to go out a winner in his senior year.
“Tennessee was a big win for us. Coming off a couple tough losses the morale in Baton Rouge was pretty low. We knew that had a great team and some great players and we wanted to go out and show it against Tennessee that we wanted to show everybody that we could compete with upper level teams and we did it. That kind of showed what kind of talent we have.”
The Tigers are battling for a Bowl bid in 2000. This is the position Banks wanted to be in from day one.
“It would mean a lot. Your senior year you want to do something special. Going to a bowl game would be very special to me. I think this team deserves it as much as we’ve been through the last two years. Just to give the younger guys a taste of success would be great. It would give them something to shoot for every year knowing how great a bowl game is.”
“I want to be remembered as a person who did everything the coaches asked him to do. Never had a problem with what I was asked to do. The biggest question I always get asked is ‘Am I upset that I don’t get the ball more than I do?'” The answer is no. I came here knowing that I wouldn’t get the ball. I could gone to other schools where I would have been the primary running back or option schools, but I chose to come here and be a fullback knowing that I was going to be blocking more than anything. I’d like to be remembered as a player that didn’t care about things like that. I was just worried about doing what the coaches asked and helping this team win.”
Looking back at his career at LSU, no matter what, Banks will always be a winner. His wonderful attitude, gifted athletic ability and hard work ethic make him a great football player. But his good heart and bright mind make him a great person.
Tommy is involved in lots of charity work around the Baton Rouge area. He was named All-SEC good works team in recognition of his off the field care.
In the classroom, Tommy is an excellent student. He made the All-SEC academic honor roll in ’98 and ’99. Tommy is scheduled to graduate this December with a major in Pre-Medicine. He plans to apply for medical school this spring. Once in medical school he is interested in a career as an Orthopedic Surgeon or some other field related to sports medicine. He also expressed his interest in possibly becoming a Pediatrician.
Tommy Banks is what Louisiana State University is all about. Banks is the perfect definition of the student-athlete. No matter how he wants to be remembered, he will always be remembered as a role model for all, and simply a great person.