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Indiana DC Bryant Haines fires back at Ty Simpson's view of Hoosiers defense
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- Indiana DC Bryant Haines fires back at Ty Simpson's view of Hoosiers defense
Indiana football defensive coordinator Bryant Haines seems to have taken offense to recent comments from former Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson on the about the Hoosiers' defense in the Rose Bowl.
Haines responded to comments Simpson made on the "Downs 2 Business" podcast with Josh and Caleb Downs in which he described Indiana 's defense as being "the same thing every down." Haines also said Indiana knew "everything" Alabama was doing in the Hoosiers' lopsided 38-3 win in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal.
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Simpson, projected as a potential first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, mentioned Haines' system at Indiana doesn't "do much" and it's "so much different than the SEC." But he also noted that the Hoosiers "didn't mess up."
"From my point of view, I was like, they don't do much," Simpson said. "They do the same thing every down. So when I got the ball, I knew exactly what was going to happen. They just didn't mess up, bro. They were in the exact same spot they were supposed to be. They were so well-coached.
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"It was so much different than the SEC. In the SEC, they'll play man, they'll do these unorthodox coverages. That's kind of how it is. That game was crazy to me. Of course, I got hurt . So that was a bummer. I knew what they were going to do. We couldn't really run the ball, didn't really throw. It was just so crazy to me how it happened."
Haines doubled down on his original post after Alabama fans expressed their dislike of his previous comments.
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Indiana, which finished with the second-best scoring defense in the country last season, held Simpson to 12-of-16 passing for 67 yards. Simpson left the game after the first series of the second half after he cracked his rib in the second quarter.
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Simpson is ranked as the No. 2 quarterback on the board by USA TODAY Sports' Ayrton Ostly heading into Thursday's first round of the NFL draft in Pittsburgh . He is ranked as the No. 49 overall prospect in the class by USA TODAY Sports' Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz.
USA TODAY Sports' Nate Davis has the former Crimson Tide quarterback going No. 28 to the Arizona Cardinals in a proposed trade in his latest NFL mock draft .
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Adorable.' Indiana DC Bryant Haines calls out Alabama's Ty Simpson
