CFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: WASHINGTON VS MICHIGAN

January 6, 2024

William Inge

NRG Stadium

Washington Huskies

Press Conference

Q. I wanted to ask you a big-picture question. With just everything that's going to change in the college football landscape next season, Washington going to the Big Ten, the playoffs are going to expand, what does it mean to be a part of the last-last of all of this, and how do you view this game moving forward with you guys going to the Big Ten, how it might change rivalries and stuff?

WILLIAM INGE: It's really been an honor to be a part of the system that's always forever changing and evolving, and the one thing that we like on our end is we've been a part of a few lasts, just being in the Pac-12 Conference. On our end, it's something that we definitely embrace, we enjoy, we like, and sometimes change is good, and the one thing that we've learned in 2020 is you have to have a real high level of adaptability, and that's really what the college landscape is becoming. You just have to have the ability to adapt and know that nothing is ever going to be the same, nothing is ever going to be consistent.

In two years, everything could change again. You just have to always keep an open mind to change.

Q. Is there any sense of nostalgia?

WILLIAM INGE: Being a Big Ten person growing up in the Midwest, you always saw the Big Ten and the Pac-12 playing in those championship caliber games, especially primarily the Rose Bowl, so to see it change is definitely kind of a bittersweet moment for a lot of people in a lot of homes, but that's kind of the change that's happening just in the landscape of college football.

Q. Is there one game or a few games that stick out between the two conferences?

WILLIAM INGE: I just think about the history of having the Ohio State, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, all of your Big Ten schools playing all of the Pac-12 schools. I know being from the Midwest, everyone really got to embrace and enjoy coming out west at the end of the year for the holidays.

It's not really one particular team per se, it's just the moment of knowing -- we grew up listening to Keith Jackson coming on at 2:30 in Missouri talking about the granddaddy of them all, and seeing how it's evolving, it's unique, but it's definitely a good time for sure.

Q. Could you comment generally on just the dynamic of the age of -- there's five starters of yours on the defensive side are sixth-years guys and you have a bunch of fifth-year guys, fourth-year guys, no true freshmen?

WILLIAM INGE: The one thing that is good is maturity definitely helps. When you have individuals that have what we call sweat equity, the equity in your program, they have playing time, they have maturity, they understand how to win, how to practice, how to prepare. You can see this being a great benefit, and that's something that we're getting to experience right now.

Q. You guys have won so many close games down the stretch, tons of close games. Has that maturity do you think been a factor in you guys being able to win those games?

WILLIAM INGE: Yes. Some for sure. The one thing that we always tell our players is definitely luck favors the prepared. So if you prepare well and you're mentally ready, often the ball is going to bounce your way more times than not. So we've definitely been happy with how the ball has bounced.

Believe me, we don't want to be in those games being that close because just as everyone else is on the edge of their seats, so are we, and we're in the thick of it.

Q. You might have been asked about this earlier, but this becomes a conference game starting in October. I know you've considered that. But what are your thoughts on that? I know a lot of people are hurting because of the Pac-12 going away, but yet the Big Ten has got to really be happy with this match-up.

WILLIAM INGE: Yeah, I would imagine all of the Big Ten folks in Chicago in the office there, they're sitting like a rat in a cheese factory right now for sure. But it's just kind of the new landscape of everything that's going on. It's definitely a bittersweet moment to see a conference kind of dissipate, but the one great thing about life is there's always going to be evolution, and you have to be ready to evolve.

Q. Coach, when you're 25-2 at a place in two years, you don't think about program development like from the outside, but when you guys are still just less than two seasons in, where do you think the program is headed? I'm talking specifically about -- even though you're at a championship level, what's left for the defense?

WILLIAM INGE: Yeah, I think just like you said, the one thing that we have to do and one thing that we know, development is constant and development is consistent. So those are the things that we're always continuously, consistently doing in our program, where the development of all of our young players, even sometimes the development of some of our mature players when it comes to their football preparedness or just understanding football more. So there's still a lot left to do on our end because we know once you're done with this particular season, it's a whole 'nother season and a whole 'nother football team, and that's the exact approach that we took coming into this year from last year. It's a whole 'nother season. It's a new team. We have to start from ground zero and make sure that the foundations stick in order for us to be able to win close games.

Q. Jim Harbaugh teams are always built very strong in the trenches, and you look at that Michigan offense, JJ McCarthy is very athletic, they have a really creative and complex running game. What kind of challenges does that offense pose to your defense?

WILLIAM INGE: A lot of challenges. Probably the main aspect, like you said, they definitely define the elements of physicality, and as a coach, it makes you so happy because this is what really defines football from any other sport, the elements of contact that you have to have.

So we have to be able to match that exact same physicality with us on defense.

Q. Where do you think the defense has made the most progress this season?

WILLIAM INGE: I would say from us being able to be opportunistic and us being able to take the football away. I think that's probably where we have made the biggest strides, being able to go attack the football, and that's one of our primary focuses, as well. Being able to be great on 3rd down, be better in the red zone, and being able to get the football away, give it to our offense.

Something that we talked about potentially having to happen was because of our offense, us being able to be better or being good on 4th down because teams are going to have to go for it because of our offense. We feel those are the things that we've definitely stressed, have improved on, and that's probably one of the reasons why we're here at this point in time.

Q. How do you try to create those takeaways against a team that is not very mistake prone?

WILLIAM INGE: Well, often it's got to be a mindset. When you have your opportunity, it's got to be kind of the one-shot, one-kill mentality. When you see the ball, you've got to go attack it. When you have an opportunity, you just have to be a ball hawk. Hopefully those things will happen.

I knew definitely coming into Michigan for sure, the reason they are where they are is because they've done a great job of being able to take care of the ball.

Q. Michigan is a football team that really has made trick plays a staple of its game. You see the double pass against Alabama, but pretty much every game they're doing something tricky or some sort of fake. How do you prepare for that on the defensive side of the ball?

WILLIAM INGE: Probably the biggest thing just for all the players, you have to understand your rules and always keep your eye discipline. I definitely commend Coach Harbaugh and his staff because the one thing they always have, it's always been Halloween. They have always had a bag of tricks in every game that you see in some way, shape or form.

We just have to make sure on our end that we keep our eyes where they need to be, stay disciplined with respect to your job and make your plays when you're at the point of attack because you know you're going to get those trick play elements at some point in time. You just don't know which one you're going to see.

Q. How has Bralen Trice evolved since you've had him?

WILLIAM INGE: Bralen is a joy to coach. The one thing that we love about Bralen is he does a lot of things kind of that you don't have to coach because he plays so hard. That's one thing that we require of all of our players on the team. If you play hard, a lot of things will sort themselves out. He has what you'd call a high-running motor, and that's where he's been very effective because he's going to go hard, play in, play in, play out. That's one thing that we've seen as a strength for him, and that's why he's going to have a chance to make this his occupation someday.

Q. How do you manage that kind of fire?

WILLIAM INGE: We'd rather say "whoa" than "sic 'em."

Q. When speaking on specifically Michael Penix's relationship with the offensive line, the receivers, from your perspective, how has that stood out over the course of the season, and how has that evolved, as well?

WILLIAM INGE: To see how primarily he has evolved just as a leader, it's literally what you would see in a book, from square one coming in where he only knew a few people. I know myself and Coach DeBoer were probably the few people that knew him. I knew him because I had a chance to recruit him when he came to Indiana. I was one of the coaches that was there. So to see how he opened up and was embraced by everyone, he started out quiet because he didn't know anyone, they didn't know him. It was like he was coming into their territory, and he was going to win them over with his work and with his actions, and he did exactly just that.

Q. We know that Michael has battled unfortunate injuries, and that must have been hard for him. You mentioned him coming in rather quiet in the beginning and opening up as time goes on. Speaking in terms of those sorts of things and those relationships with coaches and players alike, when going through those adverse times, you talked about the leader that Michael is. Can you elaborate more on how that has helped him become a stronger quarterback over time?

WILLIAM INGE: Well, I think the one thing that we get to enjoy is whether it's sport, whether it's life, just being able to live in some way, shape or form, you're going to endure or experience some kind of adversity. Really the old saying life isn't about what happens to you but more how you respond to it, that is a testament to him, and that's kind of how he has been, where he has always been an I'm going to respond, I'm going to attack, I'm going to be better, I'm going to improve, I'm going to be better through this, that's kind of the mentality he has always had, and when you have a growth mindset like he has, that's what you get.

Every time he's gotten injured, it's been a setback, but he's had a major comeback, and he would have one setback, he would still have a major comeback. To see his mindset is probably more a testament to his family and his parents to how he was raised, and that's something that we appreciate of him and his family because he's been raised to understand and know that I can deal with adversity, I can attack adversity, and I'm going to be okay through adversity.

Q. What makes him so special and so hard to defend as an opposing defensive coordinator, for example?

WILLIAM INGE: That left arm magic. When the ball comes off of his fingertips, it is coming off howling, and he can put the ball exactly where he wants the ball to be put. It's one of those scenarios where it's not going to be put on the bull's eye, it's going to be put in the center of the bull's eye exactly where it needs to go, and that's something that he does. He can make those decisions very fast. He's very elusive. He can get away when he needs to, but he can really put the ball in the hands of some of the skill guys right where it needs to be.

Q. Does having so many veterans, does that allow you to layer on things that you maybe would not have been possible even when you guys took over last year?

WILLIAM INGE: Yeah, yeah. When you have some individuals that are kind of football savvy and understand football, you can push the envelope a little bit from their learning and understanding. So that's something that we try to do for them coming into year one and into year two. We say we're really going to push the envelope just from our knowledge and understanding from a player's perspective, and they have really embraced it.

One thing we told them, as long as you grind, refine and compete, you will be just fine. That's exactly what they've done. They've kept their head down. They've stayed to it. They've worked, and they've gotten the job done.

Q. Did it help having so many guys that had been around the program?

WILLIAM INGE: Yeah, and one thing that we did was we told them, hey, we choose you. We want you. We're going to embrace you, and we want you here in this program.

I think when they saw that we were all bought into them, in turn, we got 16-fold improvement and buy-in from them. That's exactly what the program is all about, and it all starts from everything from him right there because we know we love him, we're going to lead under him and do exactly as we want.

Q. I was just talking to Eddie about his story going from walk-on to where he is now. What surprises you about the path he was on? Were you surprised he had gone through that walk-on experience to get where he is?

WILLIAM INGE: Yeah, for sure. It's kind of funny, I knew of him when he was in high school because a young man that I coached was his high school coach. So he had some chances to go play at some smaller places, and he said no, I want to do this, I can envision this. That lets you know when you have someone who is destined to want something and you have your mindset to be able to do that, you can accomplish anything that you put your mind to. He is a true testament to that.

When it comes to his work, there probably may be only one other person that you may see in the facility working trying to prepare as much as him. He's one of those guys you'll see a text message at 5:00 in the morning, hey Coach, on play 6 we're looking at this, should I do this, and that's exactly what you want, when you have someone who has the perspective of another coach on the field.

Q. You've talked about the defense from a complementary team perspective. I think I remember the Apple Cup on the 4th down play and it was like, what would you have done if they hadn't made that 4th down, and it was like, I guess we were just going to have to get the stop. When you've got such a dynamic, ambitious offense, what does it mean to play a defense that complements that? You're not going to be microscopic in what you give up because you score so quickly.

WILLIAM INGE: You know what you have is you have something that really defines team football. The offense works with the defense, the defense works with special teams and obviously vice versa throughout everything. But when you have an offense that can make it right and a defense that can make it right, now you're in these positions that we're in right now.

But the one thing that we know, no matter what goes down, we have the back of our offense, and they know that, and we know no matter what goes down that the offense has our back. That's what you get when you're in great programs.

Each individual, each team, each unit can complement each other.

Q. What's the hairiest situation that you've been in defensively?

WILLIAM INGE: Hairiest? You're saying when we're on the sidelines watching and we probably have Reese Davis and those guys up there saying, hey, wait a second, it's 4th down and 1 and they're going for it on our own 20-yard line? That would probably be one of the more hairier scenarios. But we know, we have confidence in Coach Grubb and what they're going to call, so most of the time we're going to be ready and prepared.

We kind of take the fireman's perspective. If we ever have to get on the field in a sudden-change scenario, it doesn't matter how you got on the field, we have to get off the field. That's the perspective that we take and the model that we put in the mindset of our players.

Q. How was that last play, watching the last play (indiscernible)?

WILLIAM INGE: It was so stressful, but we really had a lot of trust in our guys. We knew what was going to happen, so we said, the ball is going to have to come out fast, guys, go make your play. You have prepared for these moments because we've seen some of these very same moments in practice against our wide receivers. It's been kind of one of those scenarios. That's why you saw where he just batted the ball away. We had something like that maybe three weeks ago in practice in a two-minute drill where EJ had to bat the ball away.

Q. You said it was complementary (indiscernible) --

WILLIAM INGE: Michigan? Probably to Oregon. They're built very, very similarly to them. The run game. Now, the runners are a little bit different obviously. They do a great job of really pushing the pile with the offensive line to where you can stop them for a one-yard gain and all of a sudden you look up and it's 2nd and 4. You're like, wait a second, how did that happen.

Q. From a coach's perspective, preparing for almost a month for Texas and having all that time with your players and now just a normal game week to prepare for Michigan, is that easier as a coach to just coach the guys for a normal seven-day game week, or is it exciting? What are your thoughts on that?

WILLIAM INGE: It's definitely exciting, but it just goes back to your normal game week of preparation. The only thing you have to deal with is just the travel is a little bit different, kind of when the game day is, dealing with some of these things that we're doing right now. But in the end, it's still going to come down to blocking and tackling on our end.

Q. With JJ McCarthy's ability to get out of the pocket, throw on the run, but then also now implementing Alex Orji more into the offense, how are you able to contain the quarterback from running outside the pocket but also making sure that they can't make a big throw downfield because JJ loves to extend plays every single time?

WILLIAM INGE: Yeah, and that's going to be a big task, and that's something that they've been able to do game in and game out. It's like they run, run, run, run, and then you get hit with a play action pass, or you pressure and he can be elusive enough to be able to make you miss and now they get the guys running down the field. That's going to be our challenge, and that's what we've been practicing for the last few days of practice.