Former Detroit Tiger Brandon Inge added to Brighton baseball coaching staff
BRIGHTON — Brandon Inge, a popular player during 12 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, has been added to the baseball coaching staff at Brighton High School.
Inge’s youngest son, Chase, is a junior at Brighton and played for the junior varsity team last season.
Inge was on the staff at Detroit Country Day, where his oldest son, Tyler, was an infielder. Tyler Inge is now playing at the University of Michigan.
“He contacted me last year,” Brighton head coach Charlie Christner said. “They had just moved to the area. They built their house. They were bringing Chase to Brighton, so we talked on the phone a few different times.”
Inge was a third baseman and catcher for the Tigers from 2001-12, hitting 27 homers in 2006 for the American League championship team and again in 2009 when he was selected to the All-Star Game.
Inge has a connection to the Brighton area, having been player development director at the Legacy Center for two years beginning in 2018.
After leaving Legacy, he was an assistant coach at Michigan before taking an assistant’s role at Country Day.
“I don’t ever want to be a head coach of anything, honestly,” Inge told the Livingston Daily. “What I do well and what I like is development, taking the kid who has the potential and giving him the confidence to step into the next level. It’s fun for me to watch kids take information I give them and put it onto the field and be very excited about the outcome of how things work out after their hard work.”
Brighton players were told about Inge’s addition to the coaching staff during a team meeting last Thursday.
“They were pretty excited about it,” Christner said. “It’s not every day they’ll be able to work with a long-term major leaguer at practice each day.”
The addition of Inge gives Brighton another experienced voice on its staff.
Christner has been the head coach since 2013. His staff includes former Hartland Howell head coach Mike Weatherly, Dan Christner (his father), Randy Dokey and Al Lear.
Like the other coaches, Inge won’t have a specific role on the staff.
“All of our coaches kind of work in all areas where they see something that could be beneficial for us,” Christner said. “Nobody’s locked into anything. He’s one of those guys who has a lot of information, a lot of knowledge with a lot of different positions. So does Mike Weatherly, Randy Dokey, my dad. There are a lot of people with a lot of information, a lot of knowledge, a lot of baseball years. It’s kind of a group effort in terms of the coaching staff. He’ll be a big voice in our dugout and in our huddle.”
Inge understands he’s coming into a program that already has a strong coaching staff.
“All the coaches are great,” he said. “It’s not like they don’t know what they’re doing. They’re extremely talented. Coach Weatherly has two kids in pro ball now, so obviously he’s been doing it right for a long time.
“It’s a matter of figuring out what kids need and adjust accordingly. I’m excited to get around the kids to getting to know them. I thoroughly enjoyed my four years at Country Day and getting to know them. It’s obviously about relationships with me. Baseball is a fun sport, but friendships and memories carry on forever.”
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Former Detroit Tiger Brandon Inge added to Brighton baseball staff
