Football
Bankins, Charles
Charles Bankins
- Title:
- Special Teams Coordinator
- Email:
- football@memphis.edu
- Phone:
- 901-678-5119
Charles Bankins is in his second year as the special teams coordinator at Memphis. With over 25 years of coaching experience, Bankins was named special teams coordinator on April 16, 2021 after serving in the same position at Charlotte.
Bankins has worked as a special teams coach or coordinator since 2005 at Charlotte, Old Dominion, Vanderbilt, Maryland, Richmond, Hampton and with the NFL's St. Louis Rams.
"We are thrilled to add Charles Bankins to our coaching staff," said Silverfield at the time of Bankins' hiring. "Charles is a highly regarded special teams coordinator throughout the country and will continue our great tradition here. He has done it at every level and with immense success. Coach Bankins is a terrific teacher and a leader of men. We are excited to add him and his family to our Memphis community."Â
In 2022, Bankins helped guide the Tigers to a 38-10 victory over Utah State in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. Memphis finished the season ranked fifth in the nation in fewest penalties (53) and 14th in kick returns (23.21).
Kicker Chris Howard was named First-Team All-AAC after leading the conference and ranking 11th nationally in field goals per game (1.62) and ranking 19th in the country in field goal percentage (.875).
In his first season in Memphis in 2021, Bankins helped the Tigers to the program’s eighth-straight bowl appearance, as the team was named EasyPost Hawai’i Bowl champions after Hawai’i withdrew from the game.
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With Bankins’ guidance, punter Joe Doyle was named Second-Team All-AAC by Phil Steele, while both punt returner Calvin Austin III and long snapper Preston Brady earned third-team accolades.
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Under Bankins, the Tigers ended the year ranked 14th overall in the nation in special teams rankings. Memphis finished the season ranked 13th in the nation in punt returns (13.10), 34th in kick return defense (18.91) and 45th in net punting (40.35).
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While spending 2020 at Charlotte, Bankins coached the four seasons prior at Old Dominion as running backs coach and special teams coordinator. In 2018, Old Dominion ranked 16th nationally in punt return defense and 31st in punt return average. The Monarch's Isaiah Harper was named Conference USA's Special Teams Player of the Year in 2017 after returning three kickoffs for touchdowns.
Bankins was the special teams coordinator at Vanderbilt for five seasons, including running backs coach for two years in 2014 and 2015 and tight ends coach for three seasons from 2011-13. The Commodores' kickoff coverage units twice ranked in the top 15 nationally.Â
Kick returner Darrius Sims earned second-team All-SEC honors, averaging 24.5 yards in 2011. In 2012, placekicker Carey Spear and punter Richard Kent both earned All-SEC accolades as Vanderbilt had arguably the finest combined special teams in school history. Spear set school records with 20 field goals and 87 points scored while Kent averaged 44.9 yards, the fourth-highest average in Vanderbilt history.
Bankins was special teams coordinator at Maryland for two seasons prior to Vanderbilt where he coached tight ends and special teams from 2009-10. Terrapin punt returner Tony Logan earned first-team All-ACC honors after leading the conference with an 18.8-yard punt return average. In 2009, Torrey Smith was named All-ACC by breaking the conference single-season record for kickoff return yards. Placekicker Nick Ferrara was named Freshman All-America in 2009.
Bankins coached special teams and running backs on Richmond's 2008 FCS National Championship team that defeated Montana and for the 2007 Colonial Athletic Association Championship squad. The Spiders ranked 22nd nationally in kickoff coverage and 27th in punt returns in 2009. In 2007, Justin Rogers was named the CAA's Special Teams Player of the Year with a 30.4-yard kickoff return average.
During his two-year stint as Richmond's running backs coach, the Spiders had one of the most prolific rushing attacks in the country. In 2008, Richmond had the 24th ranked offense in the nation, led by Josh Vaughan's 1,884 rushing yards.
In 2007, the Richmond rushing attack ranked 12th nationally with 234.6 yards per game and second in the CAA. Tim Hightower, a fifth-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in the 2008 NFL Draft, set school records with both 20 touchdowns and 1,924 rushing yards, ranking sixth nationally.Â
Bankins had two stints at Hampton University (2000-04; 2006) where he was the offensive coordinator in 2006 and was the running backs coach and recruiting coordinator in his first stint.Â
As Hampton's running backs coach, all-time leading rusher Montrell Coley won the 2000 Div. I-AA scoring title with 172 points while leading the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with 1,582 rushing yards. In the 2003 Super Bowl, Darian Barnes, another player coached by Bankins from Hampton, started at fullback for the World Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He was an assistant special teams coach for the NFL's St. Louis Rams under Mike Martz in 2005 where the Rams improved to 17th from 32nd in the NFL special teams rankings.
He gained his first NFL experience in 2002, spending the summer as a minority-coaching intern for the Green Bay Packers. Bankins was also a special teams intern with the Jacksonville Jaguars during the summer of 2004. In addition, he was named to the 2004 NCAA Expert Coaching Academy.
Bankins coached wide receivers/tight ends for a year at Indiana (Pa.) University in 1999; wide receivers/tight ends at his alma mater, James Madison, in 1998; and spent two years at Eastern Kentucky as a wide receivers coach in 1997 and a graduate assistant and academic advisor in 1996. He began his coaching career at his alma mater, Leonardtown (Md.) High School, in 1995 as special teams coordinator/offensive backfield.
A running back from 1990-92 at James Madison, Bankins earned a bachelor's degree in speech communication with a minor in political science in 1994. He earned a master's from Eastern Kentucky in 1998.
Bankins and his wife, Katrina, are the parents of a daughter, Ashley, and son, William.
Bankins At A Glance
Coaching Experience
Bowl Coaching Experience
Bankins has worked as a special teams coach or coordinator since 2005 at Charlotte, Old Dominion, Vanderbilt, Maryland, Richmond, Hampton and with the NFL's St. Louis Rams.
"We are thrilled to add Charles Bankins to our coaching staff," said Silverfield at the time of Bankins' hiring. "Charles is a highly regarded special teams coordinator throughout the country and will continue our great tradition here. He has done it at every level and with immense success. Coach Bankins is a terrific teacher and a leader of men. We are excited to add him and his family to our Memphis community."Â
In 2022, Bankins helped guide the Tigers to a 38-10 victory over Utah State in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. Memphis finished the season ranked fifth in the nation in fewest penalties (53) and 14th in kick returns (23.21).
Kicker Chris Howard was named First-Team All-AAC after leading the conference and ranking 11th nationally in field goals per game (1.62) and ranking 19th in the country in field goal percentage (.875).
In his first season in Memphis in 2021, Bankins helped the Tigers to the program’s eighth-straight bowl appearance, as the team was named EasyPost Hawai’i Bowl champions after Hawai’i withdrew from the game.
Â
With Bankins’ guidance, punter Joe Doyle was named Second-Team All-AAC by Phil Steele, while both punt returner Calvin Austin III and long snapper Preston Brady earned third-team accolades.
Â
Under Bankins, the Tigers ended the year ranked 14th overall in the nation in special teams rankings. Memphis finished the season ranked 13th in the nation in punt returns (13.10), 34th in kick return defense (18.91) and 45th in net punting (40.35).
Â
While spending 2020 at Charlotte, Bankins coached the four seasons prior at Old Dominion as running backs coach and special teams coordinator. In 2018, Old Dominion ranked 16th nationally in punt return defense and 31st in punt return average. The Monarch's Isaiah Harper was named Conference USA's Special Teams Player of the Year in 2017 after returning three kickoffs for touchdowns.
Bankins was the special teams coordinator at Vanderbilt for five seasons, including running backs coach for two years in 2014 and 2015 and tight ends coach for three seasons from 2011-13. The Commodores' kickoff coverage units twice ranked in the top 15 nationally.Â
Kick returner Darrius Sims earned second-team All-SEC honors, averaging 24.5 yards in 2011. In 2012, placekicker Carey Spear and punter Richard Kent both earned All-SEC accolades as Vanderbilt had arguably the finest combined special teams in school history. Spear set school records with 20 field goals and 87 points scored while Kent averaged 44.9 yards, the fourth-highest average in Vanderbilt history.
Bankins was special teams coordinator at Maryland for two seasons prior to Vanderbilt where he coached tight ends and special teams from 2009-10. Terrapin punt returner Tony Logan earned first-team All-ACC honors after leading the conference with an 18.8-yard punt return average. In 2009, Torrey Smith was named All-ACC by breaking the conference single-season record for kickoff return yards. Placekicker Nick Ferrara was named Freshman All-America in 2009.
Bankins coached special teams and running backs on Richmond's 2008 FCS National Championship team that defeated Montana and for the 2007 Colonial Athletic Association Championship squad. The Spiders ranked 22nd nationally in kickoff coverage and 27th in punt returns in 2009. In 2007, Justin Rogers was named the CAA's Special Teams Player of the Year with a 30.4-yard kickoff return average.
During his two-year stint as Richmond's running backs coach, the Spiders had one of the most prolific rushing attacks in the country. In 2008, Richmond had the 24th ranked offense in the nation, led by Josh Vaughan's 1,884 rushing yards.
In 2007, the Richmond rushing attack ranked 12th nationally with 234.6 yards per game and second in the CAA. Tim Hightower, a fifth-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in the 2008 NFL Draft, set school records with both 20 touchdowns and 1,924 rushing yards, ranking sixth nationally.Â
Bankins had two stints at Hampton University (2000-04; 2006) where he was the offensive coordinator in 2006 and was the running backs coach and recruiting coordinator in his first stint.Â
As Hampton's running backs coach, all-time leading rusher Montrell Coley won the 2000 Div. I-AA scoring title with 172 points while leading the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with 1,582 rushing yards. In the 2003 Super Bowl, Darian Barnes, another player coached by Bankins from Hampton, started at fullback for the World Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He was an assistant special teams coach for the NFL's St. Louis Rams under Mike Martz in 2005 where the Rams improved to 17th from 32nd in the NFL special teams rankings.
He gained his first NFL experience in 2002, spending the summer as a minority-coaching intern for the Green Bay Packers. Bankins was also a special teams intern with the Jacksonville Jaguars during the summer of 2004. In addition, he was named to the 2004 NCAA Expert Coaching Academy.
Bankins coached wide receivers/tight ends for a year at Indiana (Pa.) University in 1999; wide receivers/tight ends at his alma mater, James Madison, in 1998; and spent two years at Eastern Kentucky as a wide receivers coach in 1997 and a graduate assistant and academic advisor in 1996. He began his coaching career at his alma mater, Leonardtown (Md.) High School, in 1995 as special teams coordinator/offensive backfield.
A running back from 1990-92 at James Madison, Bankins earned a bachelor's degree in speech communication with a minor in political science in 1994. He earned a master's from Eastern Kentucky in 1998.
Bankins and his wife, Katrina, are the parents of a daughter, Ashley, and son, William.
Bankins At A Glance
| Alma Mater | James Madison University, 1994 Eastern Kentucky, 1998 |
| Playing Experience | James Madison University (1990-92) Named most improved player in the spring of 1991 |
| Family | Wife - Katrina Children - Ashley and William |
Coaching Experience
| Eastern Kentucky University | Graduate Assistant, Offense (1996) Assistant Coach, Wide Receivers (1996-97) |
| James Madison University | Assistant Coach, Wide Receivers/Tight Ends (1998) |
| Indiana University (PA) | Assistant Coach, Wide Receivers/Tight Ends (1999) |
| Hampton University | Assistant Coach, Running Backs/Recruiting Coordinator (2000-04) Offensive Coordinator, Quarterbacks/Running Backs (2006) |
| St. Louis Rams | Assistant Special Teams Coach (2005) |
| University of Richmond | Special Teams Coordinator/Running Backs (2007-08) |
| University of Maryland | Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends (2009-10) |
| Vanderbilt University | Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends (2011-13) Special Teams Coordinator/Running Backs (2014-15) |
| UNC Charlotte | Special Teams Coordinator (2020) |
| University of Memphis | Special Teams Coordinator (2021-Present) |
Bowl Coaching Experience
| 2010 | Military Bowl |
| 2011 | AutoZone Liberty Bowl |
| 2012 | Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl |
| 2014 | BBVA Compass Bowl |
| 2021 | EasyPost Hawai'i Bowl |
| 2022 | SERVPRO First Responder Bowl |
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