Ex-Husky Coach William Inge Survives Health Scare

William Inge, a former University of Washington co-defensive coordinator and the current Tennessee linebackers coach, was released from a Knoxville hospital after a near month-long stay to treat an unspecified yet apparently serious illness.
Inge, 52, released a statement late Wednesday on social media indicating he was recuperating after leaving University of Tennessee Medical Center.
Following Saturday's game against Arkansas, Volunteers coach Josh Heupel gave a health update about his coach in fairly ominous terms.
"Coach Inge faced a ton of adversity and was really fighting for his life and kind of came out of nowhere," Heupel said. "There's a lot of people that have been praying [for] our football family, university, but our fans too, and sometimes it's rare in in this world that you get to see a true miracle right before your eyes, but that's truly what we've been able to see."
No details have been offered about Inge's health and what led to his hospitalization.
#WeRollin. Thank you from my family to yours. #GBO @Vol_Football pic.twitter.com/kqtftvTCmC
— Coach William Inge (@WilliamInge1) October 15, 2026
Inge has been with the Tennessee football program for the past three seasons after leaving Washington when Kalen DeBoer took the Alabama job and the coaching staff split up.
"I want to thank all the staff at UT Medical Center for their amazing care and support," Inge said in his statement posted on social media. "I was released from the hospital on Tuesday. I have begun the rehab process, and I am getting stronger by the day. My family and I are incredibly grateful to everyone who has reached out, Vol Nation and especially our staff and team. Your love and support during this time has been inspiring."
The personable Inge shared the UW defensive coordinator job with Chuck Morrell for the two seasons that DeBoer's staff was in Montlake.
The two coordinators came to the UW with DeBoer from Fresno State and helped the Huskies win 25 of 28 games over two seasons and advance to the 2024 Football Playoff national championship game against Michigan.
On the day that Jedd Fisch was hired to replace DeBoer, Inge was still in the building in Husky Stadium, indicating he was willing to stay with the UW if wanted, but the new coach chose Steve Belichick as his defensive coordinator.
As a player for Iowa, Inge faced the Huskies in the 1995 Sun Bowl and shared in a 38-18 victory in El Paso.

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.