Tennessee football assistant William Inge received 'positive news' in health battle
· Yahoo Sports
Tennessee football linebackers coach William Inge had "small wins" in his health battle heading into the game against No. 1 Texas, coach Josh Heupel said.
Inge, 52, has been in the hospital with an undisclosed medical issue. He missed the Vols' 20-17 loss to Texas at Neyland Stadium on Sept. 26. Inge also was not present in Tennessee's home win over Kennesaw State on Sept. 19.
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“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. I know our fans are, too. He’s got a real fight on his hands still, but he’s had some positive news."
Inge was one of two defensive assistants retained after defensive coordinator Tim Banks was fired in December. New coordinator Jim Knowles brought familiar faces with him from Penn State and other previous ties, but kept Inge and defensive line coach Rodney Garner.
Inge came to UT before the 2024 season, previously spending time as Kalen DeBoer's co-defensive coordinator at Washington.
One of Inge's three children, Isaiah, is a walk-on defensive lineman for the Vols.
“Emotional for everybody inside of our program," Heupel said. "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 is really important, but they were able to focus, too. We’ve just got to be better as a football team. So I look forward to seeing him soon.”
How Tennessee's linebackers, defense performed vs Texas
Tennessee allowed an opening-drive touchdown to the Longhorns. Then, the Vols' defense settled in.
Texas generated a season-low 262 yards of offense. Tennessee forced quarterback Arch Manning to throw an interception, sacking him six times.
Arion Carter recorded a team-best 11 tackles, adding half a tackle-for-loss. Amare Campbell was third in tackles with five, but had two for a loss including a big third-down sack early in the third quarter. Qua Moss returned the game-tying punt return on the next play.
The linebacker unit was a big part of the defensive success. Carter said the news of Inge's hospitalization made him "lock in even more," rather than lose focus.
"Just understanding what he will want you to do as a coach and just having that competitive composure and fighting spirit like how he has literally fighting for his life and understanding that this thing is bigger than football," Carter said. "And just us wanting to go out as a group collectively and put our best foot forward and represent him in the best of our ability."
Trevor McGee covers the Knoxville Smokies and One Knox SC for Knox News. Email: [email protected]; X: @TrevorMcGee12
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football assistant William Inge received 'positive news' in health battle