Tennessee inside linebackers coach William Inge met with the local media on Tuesday morning following the Vols win over Kentucky and ahead of their matchup against Mississippi State.
Inge discussed the play of the Vols’ young linebackers since Keenan Pili went down, Tennessee’s linebackers forcing turnovers and much more. Here’s everything Inge said.
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On how much Tennessee’s younger linebackers have had to grow up after Keenan Pili was lost for the season to a torn ACL
“Well, the one thing that we’re doing in the program, it’s going be all about growth and leadership. And seeing them come to the fight and come to the battle and, in a sense, moving from the middle where they were to now they’re in front, we’ve definitely been pleased with them. But the one thing that they’ve always asked and talked about is they wanted to have expanded roles. So seeing them come in with expanded roles and doing the things they’re supposed to do when it comes to driving the defense, being the leaders of the defense, and making the plays they’re supposed to make, we definitely been pleased with the guys thus far.”
On watching Keenan Pili be a leader for the linebacker group after being injured
“Well, that’s what you want from a parent, from a leader, is that even though the leader may not be able to participate, their influence is still felt in the room. And that’s for me, that’s exactly what I challenged him with with literally from that very day. Even though you may not be here participating, your mark will still be felt on our football team, on our defense, in our room. So he’s been able to do that, and I think the guys have really been looking forward to having conversations with him because he’ll send them notes and messages on things that he’s been seeing from his preparation and watching the film as well.”
On what he likes from Tennessee redshirt freshman linebacker Jalen Smith and what he still needs to see from him
“The one thing that we really like about Jalen is he’s been consistent. He’s been someone who’s been very eager to learn. He’s understood the system and the things that he’s had to do. And probably even more from a preparation standpoint. I think that’s the biggest thing that he’s really had to do is turn over the elements of preparation and know exactly what the preparation elements will look like. So seeing him do that at grasp in a sense both positions, I think we definitely have been very pleased with him.
“Things we need him to continue to do is continue to take that on from a leadership standpoint. From my perspective, him being more vocal because he’s a very humble and quiet person by nature. Well, as a linebacker, you have to know that the show doesn’t start until you arrive and everyone has to know that you’re there. So from a focal standpoint, we need him to continue to merge and be able to be able to speak more.”
On Tennessee sophomore Jeremiah Telander taking over the communication at linebacker after Keenan Pili’s injury
“He represents exactly what you want in the Power T, which is exactly his nickname. So seeing him emerge, come in and drive everyone and and and apply all of the skills and duties that he needs to have at the mike linebacker position, it’s been great seeing him emerge and do that. Now one thing that you need him to continue to do is just more from a vocal standpoint, continue to be a vocal leader and continue to develop the vocal leadership skills. And the one thing that time has always shown us, the best teacher is experience. So seeing him getting the experience from the last two games, he’s come light years ahead of where he was two weeks ago. So we know we just have to continue to to stay on the learning curve progression, and he’s going continue to get better week in and week out, day in and day out.”
On Tennessee’s defense working against tempo in practice each day, how that helps them prepare for Mississippi State’s tempo offense
“Well, that’s the new wave of college football. And I would say, for us, probably the one advantage of being in the SEC when you’re in probably the best and the most premier conference in the country, where you’re going to see a lot of different elements in football. So it’s great that we get to work against tempo against our offense, but also there are things you have to be able to do from a day-to-day basis just being able to play in the SEC. So that’s kind of one of the things that we always talk about on our end. There are things we have to do daily, weekly, monthly because you know you’re going to be able to see them in the SEC.
“So us being able to go against a quote-unquote a mirror image of our offense is something that definitely prepares you. But the one thing that we know is the one greatest preparation is when you have the opportunity to go there and get the experience. So what we have goals and things that we want to make sure we do when it comes to tempo, and the biggest thing we have to do is kind of speed up our cycle of the snap progression to make sure we can have our cleats in the ground, our eyes on our keys, and you’re ready when the ball is snapped.”
On where Jeremiah Telander’s ‘Power T’ nickname came from
“Well, it just came from the (linebacker) room. He’s had a couple of different nicknames. I can’t tell you all of them, but just know we landed on Power T. It was iced tea because we’re down here in the south.”
On Tennessee linebackers creating turnovers in important moments
“Well, those are the things that you have to do just quote-unquote in football. Someone has to always be ready … there are three things we always have to be able to do. Number one is provide the winning edge. Number two is create game-changing plays. And number three is be at your best when it counts the most. If you could just manage and maximize those three things and be consistent at them, success will find you. And all (Jeremiah) Telander was doing was going to attack and going to do his job. Doing his job, the ball appeared right there. Success will definitely find you often.”
On what the next step is for Tennessee’s linebackers over the final month of the regular season
“You know how it is. Once you get into November, you’re playing the games that you want to remember. So us being able to take the next step is just us continuing to do everything we can within the constraints of our defense. When it comes to driving everyone and making sure all 11 players are on the same page, making our plays at the point of attack. And we have to continue to find ways to create game-changing plays, giving our offense the ball back or us scoring on defense because we took the ball away.”
On where freshman Edwin Spillman has grown since arriving at Tennessee
“Just the same scenario from a preparation standpoint. Not just the physical things that he’s been able to do with Coach Schmidt and them, but seeing him out there at practice, seeing him understand everything. When we’re in the meeting room, he’s understanding it even more. So even though he hasn’t played, he’s gotten so much equity by him being able to be around practice and doing those things to where when he comes back, I want to make sure we can put the shoe on and he is hitting this thing running.”
