Indiana football DC Bryant Haines named a Broyles Award Finalist — honor given to top assistant coach in nation

Indiana football defensive coordinator Bryant Haines is a finalist for one of the most prestigious awards among college football assistant coaches.

This week, he was named one of five finalists for the Broyles Award — given each year to the top assistant coach in the country. Haines is joined by Arizona State offensive coordinator Marcys Arroyo, Boise State offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter and then defensive coordinators Robert Livingston of Colorado and Nate Woody of Army.

Haines joined Curt Cignetti with the Indiana football program last offseason after spending four years on his staff at James Madison.

In year one with Indiana, Haines had an immediate impact with the IU defense, leading it to numerous top-10 categories nationally.

“Bryant’s done a tremendous job as a coordinator and has every year since he’s been a coordinator,” Cignetti said this week. ” … If I’m not mistaken, we’re No. 1 against the rush and No. 2 in least amount of yards given up per game.”

According to Pro Football Focus, IU’s defense rated No. 2 overall this past year.

Below is the full release from the Indiana football program.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – For the second straight season, Indiana football’s defensive coordinator Bryant Haines has been announced as a finalist for the Broyles Award, which honors college football’s top assistant coach.

Haines becomes the second Indiana assistant coach named a finalist for the award, which has been handed out each season since 1996. He joins Kane Womack, who was a finalist in 2020 and 2021.

In just his first year at IU, Haines has had an immediate impact on a unit that ranks among the top-10 in numerous defensive categories. He revived an Indiana defense that ranked 98th in scoring defense and 85th in total defense in 2023 into a top-5 defense in just one season.

His unit has limited opponents to under 100-yards rushing in eight of 12 games in 2024, which is a program record (since 1950), and leads the FBS in rushing defense (70.8). His aggressive style of play helps IU rank top-20 nationally with 86.0 tackles for loss and 34.0 sacks on the season.

His defense has led the nation in rushing defense in each of the last two regular seasons.

Per Pro Football Focus, Indiana has the No. 2 rated defense in the nation (94.2), behind only Texas. Overall, the defense has allowed 20-plus points on just three occasions in 2024, 30 points just once, and held the opposition to under 300-yards of total offense seven times.

His ability to adjust in-game has been a plus for IU, as well, and none more impressive than holding Michigan State to 193 yards of total offense – including a program-record minus-36 yards rushing – after the Spartans gained 123 yards on the first two offensive drives of the game (70 yards on its next 10 drives – 7.0 yards per drive).

In Week 11, the Hoosiers held Michigan to 206 yards of total offense to mark its lowest offensive output since the start of the 2016 season. A Week 13 meeting with Ohio State saw IU hold the Buckeyes to its fourth-lowest total offense output (316 yards) since the beginning of the 2018 season.

In Week 14, his unit limited Purdue to its fewest yards of total offense in program history (67) and helped Indiana posts its largest margin of victory against an FBS opponent.

Haines is one of five finalists that were selected from approximately 1,500 assistant coaches representing 131 FBS programs across the country. A selection committee of distinguished former head coaches, broadcasters and a committee representing the Football Writers Association of America will name an overall winner on February 13, 2025, at its annual awards banquet in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

The Broyles Award was created in 1996 recognizing Coach Frank Broyles’ legacy of selecting and developing great assistants during his hall of fame career as head coach at Arkansas.

SEE ALSO: Curt Cignetti says it’s a ‘major statement’ to provide IU football with resources, funding following historic year

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