Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines grabbed the headlines for his online feud with former Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson last week. Haines risked the ire of Crimson Tide fans by mocking their lopsided 38-3 loss to the Hoosiers in the Rose Bowl, which represented the worst bowl loss in the program’s history.
Bryant Haines Snubs Alabama From His List of Elite 2025 Offenses
After the beef with Alabama, in a comprehensive tweet on X Saturday, Haines publicly snubbed the Crimson Tide from a list of the best offenses that the Hoosiers faced during their historic unbeaten season.
“Best offenses we saw in 2025 (scheme based) 1. Miami 2. Oregon 1 3. Ohio St 4. Penn State (unorthodox but challenging) 5. Paul Finebaum just being weird 6. Oregon 2,” Haines tweeted.
Haines further clarified why he listed the Oregon Ducks twice in his rankings after their former offensive coordinator, Will Stein, was appointed as the Kentucky Wildcats’ coach before their College Football Playoff journey. The Hoosiers demolished the Ducks 56-22 in the Peach Bowl and upset them 30-20 in Eugene during the regular season.
“Oregon 2 had an OC that was torn away by a new job. Coach Stein is elite, but he was not at full game-plan… and their RB room was decimated,” Haines tweeted.
After masterminding the best defense in the country last season, Haines won the Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant coach, and was rewarded with a three-year contract worth $3 million annually through 2028.
Haines has served under coach Curt Cignetti for a large part of his coaching career, first holding the defensive line coach and strength and conditioning coordinator jobs at IUP between 2014 and 2015.
He further coached under Cignetti at three different teams, starting as the linebackers coach for the Elon Phoenix between 2017 and 2018 before adding the defensive coordinator title to his job description at James Madison and Indiana.
During last week’s public spat with Simpson, Haines’ hostile comments fueled widespread discourse when he refused to back down on social media, mocking and calling out Crimson Tide fans.
“That’s all it took to break your entire fanbase? Wow.. maybe I should’ve just said “Boo.” No apologies, no compliments. Grow up folks. He had a bad take and I said the painful truth. Bounce back better. #GoIU #NoCompliments,” Haines tweeted.
Under Haines, the Hoosiers’ defense earned an impressive PFSN College Defense Impact score of 97.9, which was the best in the country. Indiana allowed just 11.7 points per game, yielding 20 or more points only four times last season.
