With former linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary moving to Michigan this offseason, Tennessee went out and hired an experienced, respected assistant coach for the linebackers.
The Vols hired William Inge to the staff in just one year after he helped take the Washington Huskies to the National Championship game against Michigan. Inge was hired by Tennessee in February and hit the ground running with spring camp in the distance.
Inge met with the media on Tuesday in Knoxville with 11 workouts under the Vols’ belt in spring camp. The new Tennessee linebacker coach spoke about individual players such as Keenan Pili and Jeremiah Telander, his player-led coaching philosophy, the depth of the room, and much more.
Tennessee will continue workouts on Thursday and Friday with the Orange & White spring game on Saturday afternoon in Knoxville.
More from RTI: Keenan Pili Provides Health Update After Season-Ending Injury in 2023
Check out everything William Inge said below:
Tennessee Linebacker Coach William Inge
On LB Jeremiah Telander…
“Having Telander around has been great. I’ve seen him literally grow and take steps each day – and that’s something that we really try to do as a group. The biggest thing that he brings is leadership, toughness and the ability to really understand the system. The things that we’ve really liked about him thus far through 11 practices, is he’s been very, very calm and calming everyone down when the storm comes. He knows that he can put it on him to be the person who wants to be accountable and be the guy that is going to go out there and make the play. We’ve definitely been pleased with him thus far in the spring.”
On what he’s learned most about this group…
“That they’re a very resilient group and they love football. They love all of the small minute things that go into preparation. When you see those guys coming in and knocking on my door, coming into my office at 6 a.m. wanting to know what we’re doing this particular day or this given day, that’s exactly what you want. They understand that in order for you to be successful, you have to have a growth mindset, so we’ve seen that they’ve been able to live by that and have that. They know they want to be the best players on the team, and as I tell them, where much is given, much is required. So that’s what we have to be able to adhere to as linebackers.”
On why he holds a players-teaching-players philosophy…
“That’s something that’s probably been in me ever since my playing days. It’s something that Hayden Fry really instilled in the team. Something that he always said was that ‘player-led teams will always be in positions to play for championships,’ because if a player can lead a player, now you have what’s called peer accountability. You get indirect leadership from a player being able to do that. So, if a player can lead, when those players become the leaders of the team, when we can sit back and make sure that the coaches run the program and the players run the team, you know your culture is where it needs to be when it comes to you being able to compete for championships.”
On the Mike and Will roles being interchangeable…
“That’s something that’s very big for us – to make sure that you are interchangeable. We tell our guys that you have to be what’s called a dual-linebacker. You have to know both scenarios, because what we want to be able to do is, in any given scenario, get the best guys on the field. That’s what we’re doing, that’s what we’re recruiting to do. We’re making sure that both guys can have the opportunity or the ability to do both jobs.”
On what he’s looking to see from the linebackers in the Orange & White game…
“Just the element of consistent play. I think that’s the one thing that you’re always looking forward to on a day-to-day basis, just making sure from a performance standpoint that that’s consistent. From us driving the defense, that that is consistent when we’re at the point of attack, that we’re making our plays as well. That’s kind of the biggest thing that we’re looking to, because again, we know that there are things that we have to do and things that we have to accomplish. We’re just continuing to take steps as we grow each day. The spring finale will be just another one of those moments to go out there and show it.”
On having an experience player like LB Keenan Pili…
“That’s awesome when you have someone who’s been there and done that. That’s exactly what you want in your room. He has an open mind for learning and when you have someone who is a true veteran and understands football – that’s probably the best thing we’ve learned about Keenan – is that he really understands football. So, him being able to do that on a day-in, day-out basis, and a play-in, play-out basis, that’s something that really, really helps our defense. We look forward to really pushing him to be one of the best linebackers in America.”
On his early impressions of Arion Carter…
“Hearing him is the biggest thing; when you hear him on the sidelines, you can tell he understands football and knows some of the schematic things that we want. When you see him move when we look at some of our player speeds and player loads, he is always one of the top guys up there from a movement standpoint, so we know we are going to get someone who is coming back that’s probably even faster than all the guys that are currently in the room. That’s what really has me excited. He is the one guy in the morning that is coming in, every morning, trying to get a head start on what’s going on today. What are we going to do, what’s all in the install, or ‘hey coach, I want to learn about both positions.’ It is awesome having a chance to really talk with him, and he is exactly what you want in your program.”
On the group’s depth and biggest steps to take during the offseason…
“As we come out of the spring, we feel very good about our depth, and you know you will probably get some more guys coming back that didn’t have a chance to participate in the spring. So, from a depth standpoint, we feel pretty good. Now, when it comes to what you have to be able to do, the beauty of what we are doing now, and we tell the guys: you have no idea how much more learning you are going to experience from the end of the spring to the beginning of your game week. Everything that we have done, they are going to go through it again two more times, whether we go through our installs from a scheme standpoint or whether they go and actually get the rep in from a repetition standpoint, they are going to be able to do everything a couple more times. So, when they do that, now that will enhance their confidence (and) make their preparation be a little higher. That should be able to have some indirect improvements in their performances.”
On Keenan Pili’s ability as a player…
“When you see him move around, he definitely gets your attention, because he is one of those linebackers that you love because he can run fast and hit hard. He is very explosive, he can get off the ground, he can bend his pads, he can get low. He does everything that you want a linebacker to do, and you combine that with him kind of being ‘Uncle Grandpa,’ it’s awesome.
On gaining the trust of his group…
“I think that process has been really good. One thing all of us have to be about on our end as coaches, mentors, teachers and leaders, we have to be about relationships. So, on our end, every day we start off [with] something that you want to improve on, something that you’re doing for your family or something you’re doing to help someone else, just to see how others-centered everyone can be. And we always have a one-on-one meeting where we are just learning about each other: ‘Hey, tell me about your family. Tell me a little bit about you,’ and I’ll tell them about myself. That’s kind of how our bond has gotten really strong over the last four weeks.”
On if building relationships has gone better than he thought it would…
“I would like to say that would be one of my strengths when it comes to being able to build relationships with guys. I think that the reputation from where I’m coming from. I think when they push play and saw some of the film, because those guys, they go back and they look at all of the film on YouTube and everything, and they saw how the linebackers played and some things where they would see some interactions. They could see that as well. When they saw that, and now they’re actually getting that on a day-to-day basis, it increases their level of buy-in as well as mine, because I see them wanting to get better. That’s what motivates me as a coach, when you see a player that wants to be as good as he can be, and he is going to do everything that he can to try to make sure that he is going to be the guy.”
On what Elijah Herring has gained out of the spring…
“I would say the same thing that we talked about with Arion (Carter). With Elijah, seeing his growth just from understanding football. The one thing we tried to be is, we want to make sure we’re great teachers. When they’re in the meeting, there are some times where we let them run the meeting. Again, we talk about the player-led scenario, so when a player can run the meeting in front of their peers – yes, I’m going to make sure that I help them – but it’s going to give them confidence. But also, it gives me the ability to kind of meet with them one-on-one. When I can hear Elijah come in and talk about some of the things from today’s install or for today’s install, I could be able to help lead him but also, I see where he is in his learning. So, seeing him really grasp a lot more things to help him be a little higher from a football understanding standpoint, it is awesome. We can’t wait to get him back, because he’s one of those guys that has a lot of sweat equity. By that, he’s been on the field playing in the battlefield. We can’t wait to get him back for sure.”
On how Keenan Pili’s experience embodies the player-led mentality…
“It’s awesome, because when you’re the leader, now you have to go out there and do it. The one thing we talk about in our room is leadership is best coupled with action. When you see someone who is acting it out, everybody wants to follow, and it is perfect. We have to give him things to just work on from a day-to-day basis, but he has really embodied exactly what you want from a leadership standpoint.”
On who reminds him of himself as a player off the field…
“I would probably say Kalib Perry. Someone who is spiritually motivated, someone who is really, really, really about preparation, and someone who is growing and taking steps in the program. That’s what we all had to do. We all had to develop and go work, and that is what he is about. He’s about working and doing exactly what he’s supposed to do. So, it motivates me to really make sure that he can be at his best on any given moment.”
On what he’s seen from Edwin Spillman…
“The one thing about him, it’s exactly what you want from a coaching mentality, because I’d rather say ‘woah’ than ‘sic’ em’. You do not have to say sic’ em to him, because he is all about physical contact – being at the point of attack and wanting to go hurt someone. That’s exactly what you want from a young player. Now, what we have to do is just continue to get him guided on understanding the jobs from a play-in and play-out scenario. As a young player, when you come in kind of right as spring ball is starting, you talk about drinking from a firehose. I was trying to turn it down, but it was still going all over the place and he couldn’t even see. We were trying to tell him exactly what to do. Then, as you got from one day to the next day, you could just see him continuing to take steps. We feel he has a bright future. He is going to be someone everybody is going to know about here in five months.”
