Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines heard the comments from former Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson about the teams' matchup last season in the Rose Bowl and responded with his own observations this week.
Haines used his social media account to call out Simpson for saying he didn't think the Hoosiers' defense was terribly complex in their 38-3 rout. Simpson was speaking on a podcast hosted by former Ohio State safety and ex-Tide teammate Caleb Downs.
Indiana handed Alabama the most lopsided bowl loss in program history while limiting the Crimson Tide to their lowest scoring total in a bowl game since the 1960 Bluebonnet Bowl against Texas ended in a 3-3 tie. Simpson was 12 of 16 for 67 yards and ran three times for 17 yards before leaving with a cracked rib. Alabama's offense produced 193 yards and rushed for only 23.
As Simpson and Downs wait to find out where they'll start their NFL careers, Simpson took some time to explain what he thought happened in Pasadena, California.
“From my point of view, I was like, they don’t do much,” he 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.
“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 then explained how it happened.
“Adorable,” Haines said in his social media post. “We also saw everything they were doing, on every single snap... It’s just that we exploited those cues. And didn’t get frozen and crushed by them.”
Alabama fans pushed back against Haines, the Broyles Award winner as the nation's top assistant. He wasn't impressed with what the Tide fans said, either.
“That’s all it took to break your entire fanbase?” Haines wrote. “Wow.. maybe I should’ve just said ‘Boo.’ No apologies, no compliments. Grow up folks. He had a bad take and I said the painful truth. Bounce back better.”
The Hoosiers beat Oregon in the next round of the College Football Playoff and then topped Miami in the Hurricanes' home stadium to capture their first national championship. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the Heisman Trophy winner, is expected to be the first overall selection in Thursday night's NFL draft.
A school-record nine Hoosiers, including receiver Omar Cooper Jr., attended the NFL scouting combine in February. Cooper and Downs are widely expected to be first-round picks.
Some analysts project Simpson as the No. 2 quarterback in this year's class.
Indiana is preparing for its annual spring game Thursday night and opens the season Sept. 5, hosting North Texas. Alabama opens its season at home Sept. 5 against East Carolina.
AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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