Since William Inge has never coached in the SEC and is a relative unknown to most Vol fans, I thought it prudent to go directly to the source for more insight on Inge as a coach, recruiter and how things went down following UW’s National Title.
So thanks to Max from the Husky site for answering my questions and being candid with his answers.
- Where did Inge and DeBoer’s coaching relationship begin? I’ve seen that DeBoer hired Inge as his DC during his second stint at Fresno when DeBoer became HC?
Or did they work together at Fresno, and DeBoer take Inge with him to Washington?
Inge and DeBoer first worked together when DeBoer was the offensive coordinator at Indiana. At the time, Inge was the linebackers coach and special teams coordinator for the Hoosiers. But when DeBoer got the Fresno State coaching job he took Inge with him and made him his DC/LB coach.
Then after 2 seasons together at Fresno State, DeBoer once again brought Inge with him after he took the Washington job and Inge was the co-DC/LB coach for the Huskies.
2. When DeBoer and Inge headed off to Seattle, was Inge co-DC/ associate HC mainly in title only, or did he have certain responsibilities that came with those titles?
No, it definitely wasn’t a situation where Inge only got the title to make the job look more impressive. He split defensive coordinator duties with safeties coach Chuck Morrell and they did seem to have a fairly even divide in responsibilities. Inge was the primary defensive play caller but both were heavily involved in defensive game planning. Both talked to the press on a weekly basis during the season.
3. Inge’s pedigree is full of small stint at lots of schools. While that comes with years of experience at different places, I think the longest he stayed anywhere was Indiana, for six-ish years — where his defenses gave up big numbers while he was defensive coordinator.
He’s not going to be a DC here, but would the track record worry you if you are a Vol fan? I know the standard for assistant coaches’ contracts is two seasons, but regardless — it took him quite a while to find a coach who wanted to take him with him to his next stop. Maybe that’s just context?
I personally never worry about the performance of a position coach if they had a past history as a coordinator when that isn’t going to be their primary job. Inge was never defensive coordinator at Indiana and it’s a miracle when Indiana is good at football on either side of the ball so I wouldn’t be concerned about that as a Vols fan.
[Wikipedia has Inge listed as Indiana’s co-DC for two seasons, but I certainly don’t know enough to make a determination either way].
What is more important is his qualifications as a linebackers coach. That was a mixed bag at Washington. The Huskies brought in Pitt transfer Cam Bright to start in Inge’s first season at UW after he put up big numbers in the ACC and he was a disaster for the Huskies. Edefuan Ulofoshio played at an all-conference level this season but he was also very good before missing most of 2022 due to injury. There were Husky fans upset that local legacy Carson Bruener didn’t start over Alphonzo Tuputala in the 2nd ILB spot as he shined whenever he got more playing time.
4. How are Husky fans dealing with DeBoer’s departure? Jedd Fisch seems like a really good hire, so there’s that, right? Can you clarify what happened with Inge at Washington/ Alabama? Did he try to stay in Seattle with Fisch, or was he always going to ‘Bama and for some reason the hire didn’t get announced?
Not well, although time is starting to heal some of those wounds. Washington on Monday was undefeated and playing for a national title. Their head coach said the day before that he wouldn’t even dream of leaving Washington until his daughter (who is a 5-star softball recruit committed to UW and a current HS senior) was out of college, if ever. Then 4 days later he was being introduced at Alabama. There was no time to celebrate the accomplishments of the team. No chance to reflect on how close the Huskies came. Then almost the entire team transferred or entered the draft and it’s a complete rebuilding job for coach Fisch.
Initially, it looked like DeBoer was only taking his offensive staff with him to Alabama and there was a chance that Inge would stay in Seattle under Jedd Fisch. That wasn’t exactly a surprise given how much better the offense was than the defense. Inge attended Fisch’s introductory press conference and it seems likely he at least interviewed for a spot on the new staff. Inge staying looked even more likely once linebackers coach was the last remaining vacancy on the staff.
Instead though Inge to Alabama started to leak out before the Huskies filled that LB coach vacancy and a few days later Inge instead was being introduced at Tennessee. Whatever happened during that week, it seems clear that Inge either wasn’t DeBoer’s first choice to come to Alabama with him or that Inge was willing to wait and see if he could stay on at Washington and risk not getting a job in Tuscaloosa.
5. My main concern about Inge is him as a recruiter. He’s replacing one of the best recruiters on staff in Brian Jean-Mary, and he doesn’t have much experience recruiting the South. Should that be a concern, or do you see him hitting the ground running?
Inge had a mixed record as a recruiter. Washington only signed three linebackers while he was on staff and none were a four-star prospect. I mentioned that Pitt transfer Cam Bright didn’t work out but UAB transfer Kris Moll and USC transfer Ralen Goforth were both solid as backups in those two seasons.
It looked like things may have turned a corner though as UW got a commitment from four-star LB Zaydarius Rainey-Sale, the top 2025 prospect in Washington, the week before DeBoer left. He has since decommitted and in a 247 interview said that Bama would be tough to beat if Inge went there since they had formed a strong bond. A lot of recruits seem to love Inge in their comments but the Huskies weren’t able to close. Is that Inge’s fault or a sign of Washington’s reticence to pay high school players. Something Tennessee seems to have no problem with (allegedly).
6. Finally, what are Huskies’ fans opinions of Inge now that he’s gone? Good, bad, indifferent?
Overall, I think UW fans would say that they had somewhere between good and indifferent feelings towards Inge. I’m sure it helps that he didn’t instantly go with DeBoer and then spurned him in the end. There were plenty of people who wanted Inge fired during specific games where the defense was struggling. But he was always candid in interviews and everyone loves him as a person so he’s just a genuinely good guy. That’s usually a more valued character trait in the Pac-12 (RIP) than in the SEC though.