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Indiana DC Bryant Haines ranks defenses Hoosiers faced in 2025

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby: Grant Grubbs04/27/26grant_grubbs_

On Sunday, Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines posted rankings of the best offenses the Hoosiers played last season. After the tweet drew significant attention, Haines deleted the post.

Thankfully, many quick-witted fans screenshotted the post and have continued to discuss it online. Haines noted his rankings were based on offensive “scheme,” not necessarily personnel. Check out Haines’ rankings below:

  1. Miami
  2. Oregon (regular season)
  3. Ohio State
  4. Penn State (“unorthodox but challenging”)
  5. Oregon (College Football Playoff)

Haines jokingly listed “Paul Finebaum just being weird” above the latter-ranked Oregon. Naturally, Ducks fans took offense to Haines’ shot at Oregon’s offensive effort in the CFP. Haines didn’t shy away from addressing the ranking when a fan asked for his reasoning.

“Oregon 2 had an OC that was torn away by a new job,” Haines wrote on X. “Coach Stein is elite, but he was not at full game-plan… and their RB room was decimated.”

At the time, Will Stein was Oregon’s offensive coordinator, but he’d already accepted an offer to become Kentucky‘s next head coach. Stein opted to finish the season with Oregon. However, his attention was undoubtedly divided.

After all, Stein had to recruit players and hire staff for Kentucky while building an offensive game plan for Oregon. Stein’s split attention seemingly translated into on-field results when Oregon fell 56-22 to Indiana in the CFP semifinals.

In contrast, Oregon only lost 30-20 to the Hoosiers during the regular season. Despite Haines’ assertion, Oregon recorded 111 more yards of total offense in its game against IU in the CFP than during their regular-season show.

It’s worth noting that Oregon committed three turnovers in the CFP game, compared to two in the regular season. One of Oregon’s turnovers in the CFP matchup resulted in a pick-six just 11 seconds into the game.

For the sake of comparison, Miami, which Haines ranked as the best offensive scheme, recorded 36 fewer yards than Oregon against Indiana in the CFP. Nonetheless, Miami came much closer to toppling the Hoosiers, ultimately falling 27-21.

With last season in the rearview mirror, Bryant Haines and Indiana plan on boasting the best defense in the country again next season. Indiana is returning 58% of its production, per ESPN.

Additionally, Indiana reeled in eight defensive players from the NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason. Indiana is No. 1 in On3’s 2026 Team Transfer Portal Rankings.