William Inge to be interim Tennessee defensive coordinator  

Tennessee has made a change at defensive coordinator as Josh Heupel is parting ways with five-year defensive play-caller Tim Banks. In the interim basis, linebackers coach William Inge will take over coordinator responsibilities.

Inge is expected to call defensive plays for Tennessee in the Music City Bowl in Nashville on December 30 when the Vols take on Illinois at Nissan Stadium.

Inge just completed his second year on staff with Heupel after coming over from Washington ahead of the 2024 season. During his two-year run in Knoxville, the linebackers coach has played an instrumental role in the development of players like Arion Carter, Edwin Spillman and freshman newcomer Jadon Perlotte.    

Inge played his college football at Iowa and that’s where he started his coaching resume as a graduate assistant. After four seasons at Northern Iowa, Inge had stops at Colorado, San Diego State, Cincinnati and Buffalo. Inge spent seven years at Indiana where he worked with Kalen DeBoer. The two reunited at Washington in 2022 where he was the assistant head coach, co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

Inge has also coached the defensive line and been a special teams coordinator in his coaching career. As a player, Inge played defensive end for Iowa from 1993-1996.

Heupel and Banks have had meetings over the last couple of days and the decision has been made to go separate ways. Banks arrived at Tennessee from Penn State where he was co-defensive coordinator but didn’t call the defense. 

At Tennessee for the first four seasons, Banks was the defensive coordinator and safeties coach. In 2025, Banks didn’t coach a specific position. 

Over his first four seasons, Banks built his defense to an elite level in the 2024 season. His 2024 season was his best as the defense finished in the top-25 in nine different categories as the defense carried Tennessee into the college football playoff. 

In 2025, Tennessee’s defense took a step back. The Vols finished 14th scoring defense giving up 28.75 points a game. The Vols have given up 1760 yards rushing which is the highest total since 2021, Banks’ first season on Rocky Top. 

As a team, the Vols gave up 28.75 points a game this season. Against power 4 teams, Tennessee’s defense gave up 32.4 points a game in the regular season.