BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana Football Defensive Coordinator for the second year in a row Bryant Haines was announced as a finalist for the Broyles Award, which honors college football’s top assistant coach.

Haines is the second Indiana assistant coach to be named a finalist for the award, which has been presented every season since 1996. He joins Kane Womack, who was a finalist in 2020 and 2021.

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

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

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

According to Pro Football Focus, Indiana has the second-best rated defense in the country (94.2), behind only Texas. Overall in 2024, the defense has allowed more than 20 points just three times, allowed 30 points just once, and held opponents to less than 300 yards of total offense seven times.

His ability to adapt in-game was also an advantage for IU, and nothing was 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 in the first two offensive drives of the game (70 yards on the next 10 drives – 7.0 yards per drive).

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

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

Haines is one of five finalists 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 established in 1996 to honor Coach Frank Broyles’ legacy in selecting and developing great assistants during his Hall of Fame head coaching career at Arkansas.