Good news. Tennessee linebackers will be better this season. Remember where and when you heard it, westwords, four days into preseason practice, four weeks before opening kickoff.

There are valid reasons for this official proclamation. Returning regulars Arion Carter and Jeremiah Telander are a year older, stronger and wiser. Edwin Spillman is healthy and will insist on sharing playing time.

That is called inspirational competition.

Four-star freshmen Jaedon Harmon and Jadon Perlotte are still in the learning stage but are talented and ambitious.

You may have forgotten or never heard of four-star Jordan Burns. He can play, too. He is a redshirt freshman who played all of eight snaps last season. He is a point A to point B linebacker who reads keys and reacts as if shot out of a cannon. He is said to be violent at the point of contact.

Add three-star freshman Brenden Anes and veteran walk-on Ben Bolton and the summation is depth, eight and perhaps more for two positions.

Really promising group but, best I can tell, probably no Steve Kiners or Al Wilsons. There has been but one Kiner and no other Wilson exactly like Al – in the history of Tennessee football.

Both are in the college hall of fame.

I do believe the linebackers, as they now are, will miss fewer tackles and do a better job on pass coverage in the short middle than last season. I believe they will run to meet and greet rival running backs instead of waiting for their arrival. I am optimistic.

William Inge

There were interesting comments from position coach William Inge about Arion Carter’s commitment to details, Spillman’s aggression and Perlotte exceeding the speed limit.

“When you come here in the morning, AC will be the first one here. You come here at night, he’ll be the last one leaving.”

Inge called Spillman the monster of the linebackers – The Incredible Hulk running through brick walls. Colorful, eh?

“With Perlotte, I have to keep a rope on him. He is the one where you have to say whoa, instead of sic ’em. When the ball is snapped, he goes 150 miles per hour. All the time. All the time.”

Inge is the story behind this story about linebackers. Tennessee intercepted him a year and a half ago on his way from Washington to Alabama.

Medium-size headlines said Inge was definitely headed to the Tide, where he would reunite with former Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer. The Tuscaloosa News and Football Scoop thought it was a done deal.

Inge had served under DeBoer for four seasons at two schools. He was Washington assistant head coach, co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2022-23. He had multiple high-responsibility jobs with DeBoer at Fresno State in 2020-21.

Inge’s other coaching stops included Iowa where he played, Northern Iowa, Colorado, San Diego State, Cincinnati, University of Buffalo, Buffalo Bills (2012) and seven seasons at Indiana.

I have an idea why so many college teams wanted him. He can relate. He is an excellent recruiter. He was a leader in the recent recruitment of two four-star commits for Tennessee 2026.

Want to know why William Inge didn’t go to Alabama? I think he felt a touch of being taken for granted. DeBoer just had to have South Alabama head coach Kane Wommack to run his Tide defense. He added former Buffalo head coach Maurice Linguist and former Wisconsin defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler.

How could DeBoer reach out for three other coordinators but offer a lesser job to his coordinator of the past four years? The Huskies had just played for the national championship. They had gone 25-3 with Inge at the defensive controls. Yes, the Washington offense was outstanding.

No matter the reason for the adjusted landing site, I am told Alabama fans were offended that Inge ended up at Tennessee. Cheers.

I remember what Josh Heupel said when he secured Inge for the Volunteers.

“William is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable linebacker coaches in the country. He has a proven résumé of success and understands what it takes to compete for championships on the defensive side of the ball.

“William is also a great family man, and I know our players and coaches will enjoy working with him.”

I liked what Inge said in response, in February 2024.

“Tennessee has a championship pedigree. I am extremely excited to be a part of the Volunteer family and look forward to earning a championship.”

I think he is still excited. Linebacker developments are encouraging. The championship is not in the immediate forecast but it might be out there somewhere.

Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com