Now it’s time to briefly discuss the Hoosier defense. Same as the offense, not a ton is known about how the Indiana Hoosiers will stack up defensively this year. With attrition and coaching changes, there’s so many question marks I can’t possible forecast with any certainty how it will go. Which isn’t much fun, but here’s some things to learn and watch this offseason.

Bryant Haines

Bryant Haines is the new defensive coordinator for Indiana. Haines comes to us from James Madison University and has been with Curt Cignetti since the Elon days. Officially taking over solo defensive coordinator for JMU in 2022, Haines has been at least co-dc since 2019.

A lot of faith has been placed in Haines. Cignetti described his influence on the defense as way more limited than his influence on the offense. For that reason, and I assume because Cignetti has a lot of faith in Haines, Bryant Haines is Indiana’s first million dollar coordinator in program history. Haines is scheduled to make $1.025 million prior to incentive bonuses. Will it help turn around the smelly turd that has been IU’s defense in the last few years? We’ll see.

Depth

To put it simply, there’s a ton of depth concerns on the defense. With the number of outgoing transfers and graduations coupled with the limited number of incoming transfers, it’s difficult to really even squint and see positive momentum on that side of the ball. Will it get better eventually? Maybe. But if Indiana isn’t able to really coach up some of the bench players that have stayed, they could be in real trouble.

Defensive Line and Pressure

Indiana isn’t exactly known for having many guys that can consistently pressure the opposing QB. They also aren’t known for having big dudes in the trenches and making it hard to run. That’s a majority of the reason that Indiana has struggled on defense since the beginning of time. Even the couple years under Kane Wommack, the defense relied on pressure from corners, safeties, and linebackers. It’s incredibly rare that Indiana actually gets a D-line to pressure QB’s at all. In fact, as a team in 2023 and in 2022, Indiana only recorded 20 total sacks. That’s good for 10^th in 2022 and last in 2023. If Indiana is able to get their lines to compete and pressure QB’s they can find some success. If not, I think it’s going to be shootout city for this program this season.

Returning and Transferring Players of Note

Transfers

Jayden McDonald – LB – Troy

Terry Jones – S – Old Dominion

Shawn Asbury II – S – Old Dominion

Jailin Walker – LB – James Madison (JMU)

James Carpenter – DL – JMU

Aiden Fisher – LB – JMU

Mikail Kamara – DL – JMU

Cedarius Doss – CB – Austin Peay

Now we turn to questions for our panel of “writers:”

1) Indiana was supposedly a defensive school for the last three years, but gave up on average 394 YPG in 2023, 449 YPG in 2022, and 384 in 2021. That ranks dead last in YPG in 2023 and 2022 in the B1G. If Indiana is able to simply have a middle of the road defensive scheme, do fancy Indiana’s chances to get to a bowl?

2) If you’re putting your child/nephew/niece down for the night, what’s your go-to book to read them?

Jesse: At first I thought, “surely Indiana’s defense suffered from being on the field a lot and that’s why they give up so many YPG.” But uh… the underlying don’t look much better with YPP, Rushing YPG, and passing YPG all near the bottom of the conference. Getting a new defensive coordinator can change everything, though. As a Nebraska fan who saw what Pelini did, and then didn’t, and then did again AND even looking at the world of difference Tony White did in a year, it’s possible to have a turnaround.

That said, do I think it ups the odds? I dunno. Middle of the road doesn’t fix all the woes of previous regimes and they usually come out at the worst times. It’s a step in the right direction for sure, but there are a lot of fundamental flaws to fix here.

As for go-to book? Currently all-in on Mo Willems books in general. Been a big fan of Gerald and Piggie lately with “A Big Guy Took My Ball” getting a good chuckle each time from me.

Kind of…: It’s the B1G. “Middle of the road” is still a big ask. If Indiana were in the Big 12 and was middle of the road on defense, then we’re talking 8-4 or something. But, no, I see Indiana losing glorious shootouts more easily that suddenly looking stout-ish on D. But I could be wrong. And so could anybody else. Because we live in Portal World now and nobody knows shit. (I do like Indiana’s overall future compared to the last three years.)

AlmaOtter: Hard to really project out with a brand-new staff and roster, but I’ll optimistically say that regression to the mean gives the Hoosiers a slight boost? Don’t think that a bowl in year 1 is impossible, but I’d take the under. 5-7 seems fair.

When I was in Milwaukee last month, I did read a lot of books to my nephew, but they never really put him to sleep. That kid does not want to go down for naps at all. That said, I did get my buddy/OTE commenter Verdauga a copy of the Knight Owl for his son’s birthday and that’s apparently been a hit!

Do you have any thoughts on Indiana’s defense other than “bad”? Let us know down below!