Inside The Huskies

William Inge Is Latest Alabama Coaching Defection, Lands at Tennessee

The former UW co-defensive coordinator lasted just a few weeks with Kalen DeBoer's new team.

Dan Raley

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Kalen DeBoer's University of Washington football coaching staff, so tight and cohesive for two seasons in Montlake, continues to splinter in unusual ways post Huskies.

On Monday, William Inge became the third DeBoer assistant to spend just a few weeks with the head coach in Alabama before taking another job — hired away by Tennessee as its linebackers coach.

Inge, 50, moved from one SEC school to another after former UW offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb and offensive-line coach Scott Huff spent less than a month in Tuscaloosa before returning to the Northwest and taking those same jobs with the Seattle Seahawks.

A co-defensive coordinator in Seattle, Inge attempted to land a position with Jedd Fisch's new UW staff before showing up in Alabama reportedly as DeBoer's linebackers coach, though the school never made a formal announcement.

Curiously DeBoer has just two of his Husky coaches with him in Alabama now in wide-receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard and tight-ends coach Nick Sheridan.

One has to wonder if everyone still considers themselves friends after enjoying a lot of success, getting paid well and having job security in Montlake, only for some of them to see it all end with DeBoer taking the Alabama job. 

Besides the Seahawks hires, former UW edge-rusher coach Eric Schmidt and defensive-line coach Inoke Breckterfield work for San Diego State as the defensive coordinator and the line coach, respectively, while co-defensive coordinator Chuck Morrell, cornerbacks coach Julius Brown and running-backs coach Lee Marks haven't taken new positions yet.

Inge had a deep connection with DeBoer, following him from Indiana to Fresno State to the UW and momentarily to Alabama. 

A 25-year coach, Inge, with kids still in school, had kept his California home the entire time he was with the Huskies, choosing to meet up with his family whenever he could in a long-distance manner.

The Huskies now have a wide SEC footprint with DeBoer, Shephard and Sheridan at Alabama, along with former UW starting center Parker Brailsford, reserve wide receiver Germie Bernard, freshman quarterback Austin Mack and edge rusher recruit Noah Carter; while Nate Kalepo and Julius Buelow, former Husky starting offensive guards and now seniors, transferred to Mississippi; former Husky offensive guard Geirean Hatchett has joined Oklahoma; and former UW safety Asa Turner and ex-cornerbacks coach Will Harris, not a DeBoer assistant, have turned up at Florida.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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