Inge began his coaching career in 1998 as a graduate assistant and recruiting coordinator at Iowa. Inge continued in that role in 1999 when Hayden Fry retired and Kirk Ferentz succeeded Fry as head coach. In 2001, Northern Iowa head coach Mark Farley, then in his first year, hired Inge as his linebackers coach. Inge spent the next four years at Northern Iowa, becoming the defensive line coach in 2003 and the co-defensive coordinator and special teams coach in 2004. He left Northern Iowa in 2005 to coach the defensive line at the University of Colorado under head coach Gary Barnett; the 2005 team posted a 7–6 record and Barnett resigned at the end of the season.
