On the April 17th edition of the Downs 2 Business Podcast, featuring former Ohio State safety Caleb Downs and his brother, Indianapolis Colts WR Josh, former Alabama QB Ty Simpson appeared as a guest to discuss draft preparation and his college career. Caleb Downs brought up Indiana’s 38-3 win over the Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl. Simpson responded, in part, with this statement:
"I was like they do the same thing every down. And 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 and they were so well coached."Ty Simpson
If you read that as a compliment, then Indiana DC Bryant Haines would disagree. The Broyles Award winner responded with a snarky post on X, reading:
"Adorable. 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."Bryant Haines
The backlash was inevitable, with Alabama fans and others criticizing the coach for his response to a fairly innocuous comment. Haines wasn’t done. He responded, this time to the criticism, and posted:
"“That’s all it took to break your entire fanbase? 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.”"Bryant Haines
The replies and comments on both posts make for entertaining reading, with Indiana fans predictably defending their coach and others critical of Haines for over-reacting.
It’s worth noting that what Simpson said was the general consensus of coaches, analysts, and opponents all season. What the Indiana defense relies on, schematically, is not considered overly complicated. The difference is that they execute their scheme at the level of near perfection. If you paraphrase what Simpson said, it’s basically the same. Indiana in 2025 didn’t trick you, or confuse you, they simply lined up and beat you by being more fundamentally sound. It should be taken, by Haines or anyone else, as the ultimate coaching compliment.
Is Haines just hyper-sensitive? Is he trying to challenge Lane Kiffin for social media views? Who knows? But it should be fairly obvious to anyone with an elementary understanding of public relations that a college coordinator coming after a 23 year old player on social media…especially when that player just called your unit “so well coached”…is a bad look.
There is a great line from George R.R. Martin’s novel A Game of Thrones that says “A lion doesn’t concern itself with the opinion of sheep”. Perhaps Haines is just not a G.O.T. fan?
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