Indiana Defensive Coordinator Bryant Haines Thinks Football Culture Has Improved

A graduate assistant in 2012 under Kevin Wilson, Haines has returned with Curt Cignetti.

Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines gives instructions during a 2024 spring practice. / Indiana athletics

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines may have come to Bloomington with Curt Cignetti from James Madison, but this isn’t his first Indiana rodeo.

In 2012, Haines was a graduate assistant on Kevin Wilson’s staff, two years before he connected with Cignetti at the “other” Indiana University in Pennsylvania.

The contrast from then to now – Memorial Stadium’s north end had just recently been closed at the time and the south end was still open – goes beyond just the physical plant.

“It’s the buy-in. The culture feels a little bit different this time than last time. I think it was year three for coach Wilson when I got here,” Haines said on Friday when he met the Indiana media.

“Not to say that it had a losing feel to it, but I don’t know if the program was ready to take off. I don’t feel that way anymore. I feel something special happening,” Haines said.

Haines knows the state of Indiana well. A linebacker, the Piqua, Ohio native played at Ball State from 2005-08. He was All-Mid-American Conference third team in 2008, Ball State’s signature football season when the Cardinals finished 12-2 and were ranked as high as 12th in the Associated Press poll. His first college coaching job was at Manchester College in North Manchester, Ind.

However, with the exception of one season, Haines has been with Cignetti since 2014 when the Indiana head coach was head coach at Indiana of Pennsylvania. Haines has been at every stop along the way. Cignetti, a man who values trust, has put his in Haines almost from day one - to the point where Haines is the highest-paid assistant in Indiana’s history at $400,000 per season.

Haines’ task in improving the Indiana defense is a tall one. Indiana ranked 85th in total defense in 2023, last among the Big Ten schools of 2024.

One of the things the new coaching staff has done is to have a generous sprinkling of James Madison transfers spread throughout the team. The defense is largely defined by its JMU transfers.

Defensive tackle James Carpenter, defensive end Mikail Kamara, linebackers Aiden Fisher and Jailin Walker and cornerback D’Angelo Ponds are all capable players, but their institutional knowledge of the system helps smooth out any rough patches in the coaching transition for other transfers and returning players.

“The guys that I brought from JMU, they already know the language, they speak it fluently,” Haines said. “The second is the cultural buy-in. What do we want? We do coach Kuntz and I believe in with our defense? They taught the guys like, this is how we do it,” Haines said.

In 2023, the Dukes owned the nation’s best rushing defense (61.5 ypg) and was a FBS-best at 9.1 tackles for loss per game.

Haines did talk some defensive specifics on Friday after the Hoosiers practiced inside Memorial Stadium.

There are no surprises in-store yet, but some players who have stood out.

“There’s been good competition in the linebacker room. Guys that are pushing both Walker and Fisher. Isaiah ‘Bones’ Jones is the first one I’ll bring up. He’s playing really good football and I’ve been pleased with him,” Haines said.

“Naji Logan has flashes, Josh Rudolph has flashes. Jeff Utzinger is a walk-on from Cathedral High School having a good camp. Smart kid. He knows the system well,” Haines added.

Haines said the defensive line has solidified after injuries in the spring left the unit short-handed.

“The standard of execution has been raised to a new level now,” Haines said. “We need to continue to push the scheme and let those guys find their roles in the scheme.

“To be a front guys in this defense? There’s no better place to be. You want to be a front guy in a defense that kind of philosophically believes in what we believe in,” Haines continued.

Related stories on Indiana football

• DEFENSIVE END PREVIEW: A look at Indiana's edge rushers. CLICK HERE.

• DEFENSIVE TACKLE PREVIEW: A look at Indiana's interior defenders on the line. CLICK HERE.

• LINEBACKERS PREVIEW: A look at Indiana's linebackers. CLICK HERE.

• CORNERBACKS PREVIEW: A look at Indiana's cornerbacks. CLICK HERE.

• SAFETIES PREVIEW: A look at Indiana's safeties. CLICK HERE.