KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – New Tennessee assistant coaches De’Rail Sims and William Inge met with the media on Monday, two weeks before the Volunteers begin spring football practice in the fourth year of the Josh Heupel era.

Sims joins the program as running backs coach after serving in the same role at James Madison, East Carolina, Louisville and most recently Cincinnati, which had the nation’s fifth-best rushing attack last fall (217.1 ypg).

“When I was growing up, being able to watch them (UT) on Saturdays, and in my opinion it was RBU,” Sims said. “You turn around and you watch Jamal Lewis when I was growing up, Travis Stephens when I was growing up. Seeing them run through that Power T to come in here, and they were beating up on everybody. It was one of those deals that you had admiration for the program.”

Inge comes to Knoxville after serving as the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for College Football Playoff national title game participant Washington. He takes over a room led by veteran Keenan Pili and talented young players in Elijah Herring, Arion Carter, Jeremiah Telander, Jalen Smith and Kalib Perry.

“Starting from scratch, we have a really good room of guys that are ready to take the next step,” Inge said. “It just excites me as a coach continuously putting them into scenarios where they can be developed and getting them to be able to do things that they couldn’t ordinarily do themselves.”

Tennessee begins four weeks of spring practice on Monday, March 18. The Volunteers host the annual Orange & White Game on Saturday, April 13 at 1 p.m. ET in a limited capacity Neyland Stadium.