Tanner Ingle is the NC State Wolfpack’s self-proclaimed version of the Tazmanian Devil
You could search all of social media and you would have a hard time finding someone with a profile picture more fitting than N.C. State safety Tanner Ingle.
Go ahead, try it: Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, whatever. Ingle and his online avatar are a match made in heaven. For him, it’s probably like looking in the mirror.
On his social media platforms, Ingle doesn’t have a picture of himself in a football uniform, instead it’s a picture of the Looney Tunes character Taz, also known as the Tazmanian Devil.
In the cartoons, Taz is one of a kind. He’s a burst of energy, all gas, no breaks, 100 miles per hour at all times. Vicious, ferocious, aggressive, wrecking everything in his path.
Sounds a lot like Ingle on the football field, doesn’t it?
Staying on the field
Listed at a generous 5-foot-10, Ingle is the smallest guy on the Wolfpack defense, but plays the biggest. The Orlando native will hit anything that moves, flying up from the secondary like a heat-seeking missile, looking for contact at every snap.
Ingle has been a regular in the N.C. State lineup since his freshman season in 2018, starting seven games and all 11 the following year as a sophomore. Ahead of his junior year he was voted one of the team captains, showing that guys follow his lead on and off the field.
Unfortunately, Ingle led more from the sidelines than the secondary in 2020. Through the first three games, a nagging hamstring injury hampered Ingle. He only took two snaps in the opener, missed the next game and was limited to just 54 plays in the third game of the year. Once it appeared he got the hamstring issue taken care of, there was another issue: the aggression. The same quality that made him one of the most feared safeties in the ACC, also cost him playing time.
Ingle was ejected three times last season for hits to the head. Due to his three regular season ejections, Ingle had to miss the team’s bowl game. N.C. State won all three of the games from which he was ejected, but he didn’t help the team standing in sweats on the sideline. It’s something that’s been addressed in the off season.
“That hurt us a lot. He knows he needs to stay on the field,” head coach Dave Doeren told the media at ACC Kickoff. “Tanner wants to play in the NFL someday. Part of his profile is going to be learning from last year, showing him that he can play the way he does, but play where they’re not going to take him out of the game for how he’s hitting people.”
Ingle doesn’t want to get a reputation as a dirty player, but the three ejections in one season make that hard. If you talk to him for five minutes, though, he is a “yes sir, no sir” young man, quick with a smile when answering questions. He just really, really likes to hit people.
Full speed all the time
Growing up in Florida, where football is a religion, Ingle was always ready to baptize someone.
He can’t explain where it came from, but that urge to hit was always there. He had to beg his mother to let him play tackle football because even at a young age he was feening for contact.
“Literally I told (my mom) I want to go play football because I want to hit somebody,” Ingle said.
Ingle confessed that part of that may have to do with “little man syndrome” and having to prove himself on the field. At Dr. Phillips High School, Ingle did plenty to show he was a bona fide football player, finishing with 101 tackles as a senior. He was selected to the all-state team in talent-rich Florida. He arrived on campus at N.C. State and started right away, earning the nod in the first seven games, finishing sixth on the team in tackles, leading the Pack in tackles in three separate games. In 2019 Ingle made the switch from nickel back to safety, and was second on the team in tackles, despite missing the final game of the year with an injury.
When he was on the field in 2020, his impact was felt, more so by opposing offensive players. Ingle finished with 33 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss. Even when he wasn’t making stops, it was wise to keep your eyes on No. 10.
For example, in week three against Virginia, freshman defensive back Joshua Pierre-Louis pulled down an interception. When Pierre-Louis caught the ball, he was at least 5 to 8 yards in front of Ingle. When you watch the highlight of the return, Ingle isn’t in the frame at first, but out of nowhere he catches up and passes Pierre-Louis, quickly turning into a lead blocker, looking for someone — anyone — to hit. Later in the year against Syracuse, there were multiple plays when Ingle attacked the line of scrimmage, and if he didn’t make it to the ball carrier, he plowed full speed into a 300-pound offensive lineman. There was no way he was running all the way to the line without hitting someone.
“I just feel like I have to make a statement,” Ingle said.
That 100-mile-per-hour statement isn’t just on Saturdays. Ingle is the same way in practice, so much so that coaches have asked him to dial it back.
“Every day,” he said with a laugh. “It’s just how I live my life. I just try to do everything I can with 100 percent effort, you know. Whether it’s at practice, whether it’s in a game or if I go home and make my bed, I try to do my best at everything I do.”
Hence the Taz avatar?
“Yes sir,” Ingle said. “Full speed all the time.”
‘Channeling passion’
The question heading into 2021 is whether Ingle can still play that full-speed game and stay on the field to help his team.
Doeren has been saying the staff has talked to Ingle about tackling points. Ingle was never aiming for the head of his opponents, but he wants to be more conscious of his strike zones.
The one good thing that came out of Ingle missing so much time a year ago was that it opened the door for young players like Devan Boykin and Jakeen Harris, young players who were thrust into the spotlight with Ingle on the sideline. Harris was third on the team in tackles (76) in his first season as a full-time starter.
The secondary is one of the deepest units on the team and a lot of guys grew up fast last year. Ingle wants to play alongside those guys in 2021 instead of coaching them up. If he can somehow find a balance between Taz and Tanner, he’ll be just fine.
“It’s about me channeling my passion,” Ingle said. “I feel like I’ve been doing a really good job. I’ve been leading really well and I feel like our team is going to be good this year.”
This story was originally published August 13, 2021 at 3:28 PM with the headline "Tanner Ingle is the NC State Wolfpack’s self-proclaimed version of the Tazmanian Devil."
