What new Tennessee linebackers coach William Inge said on Monday
New Tennessee linebackers coach William Inge was officially introduced by the Vols during a press conference on Monday. Inge worked at Washington last season and was set to join head coach Kalen DeBoer at Alabama, but instead opted for the Vols to replace Brian-Jean Mary, who left for Michigan.
Here’s everything Inge told reporters during Monday’s press conference:
Opening Statement
“Good morning everyone. I’m Coach William Inge. It’s an honor and privilege to have an opportunity to be here at the University of Tennessee. It’s exciting times, I think, as we all know. And I’m really excited to be a part this thing that we have going on right now. And it’s awesome to be able be around the players. And you talk about being able to drink from a fire hose this last weekend, it’s been awesome and I’ve loved every moment.”
What the last few weeks have been like for him
“It has been like life in hyper speed, to where you have a chance to bring a national championship (to Washington). And then you’re getting ready to, in a sense, rebuild and get everything squared away there. And then there’s change and then there’s more change. And then literally in the last hour, then there’s Tennessee. Literally. Then all of a sudden a week ago, I’m here. So it has been a whirlwind, but that’s kind of the nature of the beast that we’re in right now. And we’re excited and we always take advantage of every moment that we have.
What he knew about defensive coordinator Tim Banks and the Tennessee program before he took the job
“Coach Banks and I kind of go back to when he was at Penn State, I was at Indiana. And we have known each other over the years and just kind of have seen each other passing on the road, recruiting. We’ve also kind of obviously played against each other, but having had a chance to be in the same conference — we’ve never worked together — it’s just kind of one of those scenarios where a conversation happened and started, Hey, would you be interested in this kind of the scenario? And literally, and all this happened in probably 48 hours. So it was a two-day span
Why he was interested in the Tennessee job, what appealed to him about it
“No. 1, I know the history and tradition and the branding that this place has with that Power T and what it all represents, the recruiting that you can be able to do here. But also, I’m a fan of Coach Heupel as well, seeing the things that he’s done when we look at his background and his record. And then when we got to talking, I think I knew that I could have a big impact here in the group with respect to my position, helping our defensive staff, helping our overall staff, helping our football team. And that was something that was important to me.”
What it took to go in a different direction than Kalen DoBoer, going to Tennessee instead of Alabama
“Well, as you can assume, it was very tough because you have a very good comfort level with a staff, with people, with how you do things. But then when you have another branded program that’s exactly the same, that probably may be just as established as a program that you’re dealing with that come into play. That’s something you want to look at and something you want to seek. And having a chance to be able to do something different, be around some of the young men here and help literally get to the hearts and minds of these players and help them compete for SEC, the national championship. That’s something that became very important to me.”
The linebacker room he’s inheriting at Tennessee and if there’s excitement that there are a lot of young players in the position
“Yeah. Yes it does. But but also, no pun intended, that’s why we have to work 24/7. Because when, when you have youth, that’s something that you can be able to use to develop, being able to get with them, trying different platforms to learn. Because at the end of the day, it’s our responsibility as coaches to make sure that they can be able to go execute. So when you have someone that is what we call green and growing, that means they are young, they’re assertive and they’re ready to emerge. Now we have to be able to do things systematically to be able to allow them get to go play, meet their place at point of attack. And when you have some excitement like that in the room, that’s something that really excited me to really want to be here. Knowing you just didn’t have guys that you’re only going be with, let’s say for six months and then you’re kind of starting from scratch. We have a really good room of guys that are really ready to take the next step and that’s something that just excites me as a coach, continuously putting them into scenarios where they can be developed and getting them to be able to do things that they couldn’t ordinarily do themselves.”
Inheriting an experienced linebacker like Keenan Pili
“Keenan, we call him Uncle Grandpa because he is the old veteran. It is so funny, we were talking in some meetings today just about what you did over the weekend. Well, some guys, hey, I went and took so and so out to eat or I went over here. He does home improvements with his wife. So some, and I just said, just whatever you do to always say yes (to your wife), you will never have a problem, guaranteed. But I’ve had a chance to really get to know him kind of even a year ago when he was coming out of BYU because we recruited him at Washington. But to see him, he brings another level of maturity, but for me that really puts me in a scenario where I could really command leadership from him and really trying to instill things in him that’s going to allow him to really grab the bull by the horns when it comes to him being the one vocal and action leader on our football team. That’s going to allow us to be able to take the next step.”
What he learned from Washington’s run to the national championship game, how it energizes him as a veteran coach
“Probably the biggest thing is that when you pour into your young men, that is a byproduct of what occurs. And when you have a team that is player-led that is a byproduct of that. And when guys believe in one another and they do not beat themselves, that is a byproduct of that. And kind of one of our main maxims that we have in this program, when you look around the building, the team that makes the least amount of mistakes will be the team that’s going to be in the best position to win a football game. Like that is so true. That’s said by Coach Neyland years ago to where that is a staple in all of college football, probably all of sports around the world. And if you could make sure that you could remain that particular team you will be in every game.”
Tennessee being his first coaching stop in the SEC and if that’s special to him
“Yeah, it is, where in a sense you’re kind of the pinnacle because everything that you look at, everything you read about everything you see, most of the time the SEC has the gold standard. And when you look at the gold standard, there’s going to be a few teams historically that have been up there. Well, the one with the Power T has been one of those schools. So for us to have the opportunity to be here is an honor and privilege and we really look forward to being able to really add to some of the next steps when it comes to continuously creating some of the histories and tradition that will go on forward from here.”
If any Tennessee linebackers have stood out in the two weeks he’s been on the job, learning the personnel
“Well, some of the guys, it is one of those scenarios where we’re just trying to see exactly what they can do. So I’ve only had really one workout with them. Everything else has been in the meeting room or walkthroughs. So that’s why when we come back next Monday, after spring break into spring ball, I told everyone we’re going all start with a clean slate. I want to be able to teach you and show you just kind of one-on-one and allow you all to grow together and allow you to grow as your own person and kind of go from there with each, each individual.”
The process of trying to find the right job as a coach who has options
“It’s a little bit of everything because, number one, you want to be able to look at the stability of the program and see who has gone and come from the program. You want to look at the history and tradition of the program. You also want to look at how will that program be able to help you grow professionally. And probably for me that was one of the more important things, being able to look at how you can consistently continue to grow. Can you be able to grow and what can evolve from this particular scenario or this situation? And then when you look at the place or where it at, is it the place where you can be able to live and function just as a family? So us having a chance to be able to get on the other side of the mountains and having a chance to come to Knoxville and just as a family, we’re extremely excited.”
What he prioritizes while recruiting linebackers, with linebackers have to play in space more in today’s game
“Speed, speed, speed, speed, speed, speed. Fast. Quick. Speed. Athletic. And that’s where the game has evolved to. What you need today from a linebacker standpoint is you need length and you need to athleticism. If you have those two things, you can start with that as a core. Then you have to be able to have the physicality to be able to deal with some of the teams that run the football. And you have to build your room as such to where you’re playing different football teams. So your room has to be built to be able to manage being able to play all those different styles of teams that you’re gonna play. And I think that’s probably something that’s great within the SEC because you’re going to have some teams where it is the ball is chucked out in space 24/7, you’re going to have some teams where the ball that’s coming down your throat 24/7, you have some teams where it’s going to be having your 50/50 mix and that’s kind of how you build your team, how you build your room. And that’s, for us, is one of the biggest things that we have to just consistently, continuously do. Continue to upgrade our talent to make sure you get some guys who have what we call in space comfort guys who, when you’re in space, they’re very, very, very comfortable. They can guard and challenge good receivers and have their mindset to where they’re good, they’re going be fundamentally sound.”
