Tennessee had to navigate Saturday’s 20-17 loss to Texas without one of its most important assistants, and Josh Heupel made it clear after the game that William Inge was very much on everyone’s mind.
Inge, Tennessee’s linebackers coach, was hospitalized this week with a personal medical issue and was unable to coach against the Longhorns. His family has asked for privacy and continued prayer during this time.
Heupel was asked after the game about what the week had been like inside the program, and he described a situation that had shifted from encouraging signs to a more serious concern.
“First of all, he’s had small wins here in the late part of the week,” Heupel said. “It kind of turned serious in the middle part of the week.
He’s a fighter. He’s tough.
He believes in the power of prayer. We’re lifting him up in prayer.
Our fans are, too, I hope. He’s got a real fight on his hands still, but he’s had some positive news.
“Emotional for everybody inside of our program. At the same time, I thought our guys did a good job of not completely forgetting about what’s going on with him because that’s really important.
They were able to focus. We’ve got to be better as a football team.
I look forward to seeing him soon.”
Inge is in his third season at Tennessee under Heupel, and he was one of the few defensive staff members retained by Jim Knowles when he took over coordinator duties this offseason. He also worked as Tennessee’s interim defensive coordinator in the 2025 Music City Bowl.
Before arriving in Knoxville, Inge was co-defensive coordinator under Kalen DeBoer at Washington. He had the option to follow DeBoer to Alabama, but instead chose to join Heupel and Tennessee.
His résumé also includes a run as Fresno State’s defensive coordinator from 2020-21 and a stint as Indiana’s special teams coordinator from 2018-19, after serving in various roles on that staff beginning in 2013.
Inge has NFL experience as well. He worked as an assistant defensive line coach for the Buffalo Bills in 2012 before moving on to Indiana.
Earlier, he was the defensive coordinator at Buffalo from 2010-11. His other coaching stops include Cincinnati, San Diego State, Colorado, Northern Iowa and Iowa, where he served as a graduate assistant from 1998-2000 after playing defensive line for the Hawkeyes from 1993-96.
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