Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti, offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan and defensive coordiinator Bryant Haines spoke with the media on Monday ahead of Indiana's College Football Playoff clash with Notre Dame.
Below are their full Q&As, as well as a transcript for each conversation.
CURT CIGNETTI: All right. Game week, game week, game prep. Take the preparation, attention to detail, sense of urgency at practice, energy to another level. We've got to get it back to game week.
We've had good practices, but we weren't getting ready to play. Everybody's got to ramp it up a notch, players and coaches.
With that, I'll open it up to questions.
Q. I don't know how different it is schematically in terms of the way they run the quarterback, the way they fit the quarterback run element into their offense, but when you're dealing with a team that does want a little bit more of that option sort of look, how helpful is extra time to prep? I know coaches used to talk about with the triple option, I know that's a little bit extreme, but it always helped to have a few extra days. How helpful is that?
CURT CIGNETTI: I think at this point in the season you've seen about everything, and you put the best scheme together based on who you're playing and what they do. Notre Dame is an excellent football team. They're extremely well-coached.
In reference to your point, they run the quarterback quite a bit, and he's an excellent player. I've been watching him for a couple years, studying Duke offense, when he was at Duke. He's a competitor, and he throws the ball well. He's got good movement skills, good size.
When you play Notre Dame offensively, it starts with the run game, and the quarterback is a big part of the run game, not only on the designed quarterback runs but when he drops back and he's in the pocket and escapes the pocket and his ability to create plays with his arm and his legs.
Q. How has your offense kind of developed a unique identity this year in terms of your ones at JMU? What's been different about this year's group? Offensively what you've done differently or leaned on?
CURT CIGNETTI: Are you talking about schematically? I think every year you tweak, you add some new things. You've got to do that to stay ahead of the game. Whether you're looking for new pass concepts or RPOs or want to get better in the red area, which I think we've done this year, put a lot of time into that in the off-season because it's three field goals to overcome one touchdown. So touchdowns are important there.
Then you've always got to take into account your personnel and put them in the best positions to be successful and come up with the weekly plan to get that done.
I think there's always tweaks in certain areas or certain game situations.
Q. (No microphone)?
CURT CIGNETTI: As you guys know, I'm a film junkie. In my free time, I'd just as soon be watching tape than be doing anything, other than sitting in my recliner.
That's a couple years of low red, high red work. Nowadays you can PFF every touchdown pass, from the 1 to the 4, from the 25 to the 5, and then you kind of go through those and seeing what might fit and pull up something, depending on who you're playing, that scheme-wise might match something.
You're always trying to gain the edge in this business because all these coaches can coach, all these teams are good despite the records, the margins for error is very slim every game, and you've got to always work toward finding the edge.
Q. Last week when you talked to us, you said the first week was going to be about juggling, preparing for Notre Dame and the portal. Obviously you're just in game mode this week. How was that first week? How challenging was it? If you could change anything about how they've done this calendar, what would you change?
CURT CIGNETTI: It was challenging. I did get home a lot later than I normally do, and I was still in early, 4:30, 5:00 a.m., because you're dealing with portal evaluations, official visits, and still opponent prep to some degree. Then you're dealing with your staff and your player retention as well.
I'm glad that week is behind us. The message this morning to the coaches was, okay, guys, no phones in the meeting rooms. If you've got your phone, take it to your office. Surprisingly, every guy got up except one. So that was revealing.
Off weeks are different than game weeks in terms of what's required in terms of your focus and attention to detail. In terms of the recruiting calendar, I don't know that there's any easy answers to that. When you look at it from a player's perspective, everybody starts school in January, so guys that are switching schools need to have the opportunity to visit prospective schools in December, but yet seasons end at the end of November, championship games the first week of December, and there's always going to be bowl games, and now there's the expanded playoff.
I don't really know the answer to that. I don't think it's a simple situation, and if it was, it would be remedied by now.
Q. Anything unique about Notre Dame's defensive front compared to some of the better defensive fronts that you've seen, especially over the last month or so? Anything that stands out?
CURT CIGNETTI: Well, they're good. Their defense is good, and Al Golden does a great job of coordinating their defense. They're a high pressure, blitz outfit, quite a bit of man coverage. Then they've got the zone mixers and fire zones to keep you off ballet little bit.
They get 11 guys doing their job pretty consistently. They play fast. They're physical. They're good tacklers, and they get a lot of hats to the ball. They adjust well during the course of the game. They haven't given up many points because they've got good coaches and they've got good players.
Up front, they're quick, a lot of movement. But when you take into account then the blitzes, there's a lot of moving pieces, and they play coverage extremely well. They do a great job in man coverage.
They're a really good defense, and that's why they've won a lot of games.
Q. I know you brought in West and Kamara to make an impact, and they certainly have. What has made them stand out?
CURT CIGNETTI: Good prospects. Mikail is a real smart player. He's explosive, dynamic, quick. He's a good technician. C.J. West, for a big guy, moves extremely well, has really good get-off.
I think it all starts with Derek Owings and our strength and conditioning program. He does a great job of taking body fat off these guys and adding lean muscle mass. They'll gain weight, but it's good weight. And still making them more flexible and quicker, faster, explosive.
Then I've got to give our defensive coaches a lot credit. I think Coach Haines does a great job as a coordinator finding ways of creating disruptions up front and stop the run and pressure the quarterback. Coach Kuntz, Pat Kuntz, and Buddha Williams do a tremendous job as well. We have two defensive line coaches, Pat coaches the inside guys and Buddha has the outside guys.
It's a team effort, and these are guys that really want to be good. So they commit and they work hard every day to improve. You see the end result.
Q. When you look at what Kurtis has done, I think he's the top rated guy of quarterbacks in the playoffs per Real Football Focus. He's No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 in the country in a whole bunch of categories. What's made him so good and so consistent throughout the whole year?
CURT CIGNETTI: A lot of things go into that. First of all, he had a body of work before he came here, and he's played a lot of football. So you learn by doing. He's gotten a lot of reps at playing quarterback, a lot of successful reps.
Coming to a new school is an adjustment. Schematically, some of the concepts may be similar but the language is different and obviously a new way of doing things, new players, what have you, and a lot of new portal guys at receiver.
I think it all starts with protection. We've done a pretty good job of protecting him most of the time. We have certainly had our hiccups during a couple games, and we've got a group of receivers that have really good ball skills and can make contested catches, and our backs are good out of the backfield as well.
I think schematically a lot of our pass plays, they have answers versus man-zone, one high-two high. He's a quick thinker, and he processes quickly. He's extremely accurate, and he's good in the pocket. He doesn't panic. He's a really good quarterback. He has certainly taken his game to another level, there's no doubt about that.
He was a Player of the Year in the MAC in '22 but suffered an injury at the end of the season. So he really couldn't benefit from the off-season strength and conditioning program going into his senior year. Still had a good year.
Since he's come here on a bigger stage, I think he's built on every success and developed more confidence and belief and continues to improve. I think you really saw that starting Game 2 and then out on the West Coast against UCLA. Then when you can involve 10, 12 different guys in terms of touches between running backs, tight ends, and receivers, that's a great thing to have multiple guys that can separate, get open, and make plays.
Q. Obviously Notre Dame doesn't have a lot of firsts left in its program, but this is one for them on Friday. It's new for them. It's new for you guys. I wonder how your team will handle this type of stage where everyone in the country is going to be watching you guys?
CURT CIGNETTI: I think to me and our guys, in my mind, it's just another game. You prepare for this one like you prepare for all of them. I think for our players, they're going to be excited to play and excited to prove something.
I don't think anyone was happy with the way we came out of Ohio State. We didn't give ourselves a chance to be successful, giving up 14 points on the punt team and then having some of the communication breakdowns we had on pass pro. We didn't give ourselves a chance to play offense.
But I think our guys have learned from that too and we'll be better in a hostile environment than we were that particular day. At the end of the day, it's just football. The game is going to be won or lost between the white lines. I want them to go out there, fly around, have a little swag, and play the way we can play.
Q. You talked about Notre Dame's defense and the respect you have for them. Obviously they have a really good secondary with some very good defenders back there. How important is it for Indiana to get their running game going to help open up their passing game?
CURT CIGNETTI: I think it's always important to be balanced. If you can run the ball successfully, then it opens things up in the pass game and vice versa. We have been pretty balanced this season. We've run the ball well. Those guys have done a good job up front. Coach Bostad did a great job, Coach Miller, the running backs, everybody involved. That will be a big part of it again Friday night.
Q. Who have you kind of seen in the locker room as a player take charge the last couple weeks as you guys prepare mentally and physically for this game?
CURT CIGNETTI: The same guys that really have done it all year long. I've said this a few times, we have a lot of guys that could be the leader or one of the two or three leaders on this team. We've got a lot of older guys that played a lot of football that have high character, great competitive excellence. They're consistent day in, day out. They represent the principles and values of the program, and they're respected by their teammates.
There's probably at least a dozen guys I could name there. You've got to send three captains out for the coin toss, or maybe you're allowed four, and we send the same three out every game -- Carpenter, Katic, and Ellison.
We just have a bunch of guys that love to play football and work hard every day. We've had a great locker room from the get-go, and it's never changed.
Q. I want to say it was James Carpenter who said last week it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. How do you go about trying to manage that and also with the idea that it is kind of just whatever's ahead of you?
CURT CIGNETTI: It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him because this is his senior year, and he hasn't had to do it yet. He's played in the FCS playoffs before.
But he also understands that the cap lies on the opportunity. He's got to stack meetings and days and put himself in the best position to be successful on Saturday. It's no different than if we were getting ready for Game 5. He's an older guy. He understands that.
I think they're all excited to be a part of it, but I think they also all understand what it's going to take to be successful and play their very best football.
Q. I know Jamier Johnson missed the game against Purdue. Health-wise, how is he doing? How is everybody on the team doing? In general, how tricky does it get to manage that aspect, keeping everybody healthy when you get this late in the year?
CURT CIGNETTI: Yeah, our health is good. Jamier is out there practicing, looks good. We're in pretty good shape.
Q. You called yourself a film junkie, I guess. With the extended break you have between Purdue and Notre Dame, how much of Notre Dame did you go into? Is it deeper than normal? Did you key in on anything specific?
CURT CIGNETTI: We've been watching Notre Dame from the get-go. I also like the sense of urgency during game week in terms of preparation where you're more detailed and focused and putting that plan together.
We put a few core things in that we've been practicing forever that fit the Notre Dame game, and we'll get a little bit more specific this week.
Q. Aiden Fisher has been really consistent all year long. What does that mean to you, a guy that came from JMU and followed you along on this ride?
CURT CIGNETTI: He gets better every year, and when he talks, people listen, but he backs it up with his play on the field. I'm glad to see the recognition that he's received postseason, as well as the other guys that have. And he's the quarterback of the defense.
Q. When you look at this Notre Dame team, they're one of the best at turning teams over on defenses. How important do you feel like it will be for you guys to protect the ball and not put it into danger on Friday?
CURT CIGNETTI: Critical. I think we're plus 15 on turnover ratio, and they're plus 16. They've forced 25 fumbles on the season. That's a high number. So ball security for us and them is going to be really important, winning the turnover battle.
I'll tell you, the other area that they're really dangerous is their punt return team, they've blocked three punts and forced a couple bad snaps because of the pressure they put consistently. So they've gotten points there.
Then when they punt, they faked three punts, which those kind of plays can be game changers in a game. So they use their punt and punt return as weapons. We've got to be right on point.
Our teams have been really consistent this year, other than the Ohio State game, and we're going to need a good special teams effort this week.
Q. Curt was in here and said one of the kind of differences for the offense here is one of the focuses he had the last couple years, kind of improving on the red zone, finding new concepts, what's that been like and how has that developed? What's been different with your red zone approach maybe than few past years?
MIKE SHANAHAN: I think it started in training camp in August. We definitely spent a lot more time in that field zone and practicing different plays. We added a few things that I think have helped us, but we want to be aggressive when we get down there. Sometimes that means throwing the ball into the end zone on first or second down when typically teams might be expecting you to run the football.
We have a variety of plays. We still RPO. Then I feel like we've stuck to what we've done well with the personnel that we have here and find ways to create matchups down there that are favorable for us.
Q. You talked about RPOs there. It's a little bit simplistic, but how important has Kurtis been in terms of the trust you guys give him -- I'm not asking for a percentage of plays, but it just seems like more than maybe most quarterbacks he's getting the option pre and even post-snap to decide what happens, how plays run. How has he earned that trust, and how important is his decision-making in those moments?
MIKE SHANAHAN: I would say he earned the trust since he got here in January. He had some experience with it at Ohio as well. Just the amount of reps that we accumulate on those throughout spring ball and then into training camp and then throughout the season. I feel like he's become really comfortable with all those things we're asking him to do.
Then his decision-making has been obviously very on point throughout the whole year. He knows when to hand the ball off. He knows when to give a receiver a chance. He trusts some guys to win versus man-to-man at times. He's very smart with the football.
Each and every week that we've gone through the season, I just feel like he's felt more comfortable with it and definitely has gained our trust from a very early stage in practice.
Q. Notre Dame's played well on defense this year. Talk about facing what you've seen on film. Do they remind you of anybody you guys have played this year?
MIKE SHANAHAN: They have really good personnel. I would say their personnel is going to be very similar to the Michigan's and Ohio State's. We've seen countless other good players throughout the year, whether that's in the secondary or on the D-line, linebackers. They're going to be up there with the best that we played.
They play really fast. They keep you off balance. They don't make anything easy for you. They challenge you on the perimeter. They're physical. They're always running the football, and they've created a ton of turnovers.
We've got to do a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage in the run game and in protections. Obviously protecting the football is a key every single week, and then we've got to find a way to create some explosive plays.
Q. Notre Dame Coach Marcus Freeman said yesterday that Howard Cross will be back for this game. I know he hasn't played lately, but I'm sure you've prepared for him. What does one guy kind of -- how can one guy kind of change the way the defensive front looks? I don't know if that changes your preparation, but how much do you kind of account for that?
MIKE SHANAHAN: We'll be very aware of when he's on the field and making sure that we're calling in that situation our up front, if we're able to get some double-teams on him, we'll take advantage of that if we can.
He's a proven guy. He's very active for a bigger guy with his size. He moves very well. He's quick. He reminds me of some of the D-linemen that we have here on our team, and he's very disruptive.
We'll have to do a good job of getting double-teams on him, like I just said, but also we'll try to stick to what we do well and maybe change some schemes up where we might be able to get the ball on the perimeter or maybe not run it right at him.
Q. You brought in Sarratt and Price to make an impact, and they certainly have. What makes them stand out?
MIKE SHANAHAN: They're both extremely competitive. They work their butts off throughout the week in their preparation. On the field they're really good. Smart football players as well. They have the ability to adjust what the defense is giving them and find ways to get open.
I would say that with a lot of guys playing on the perimeter, Ke'shawn Williams, Miles Cross, Coop, Coby and those guys, whenever they're in there. I've been very fortunate with that whole group, and Miles and Elijah have had really good years up to this point.
They're always hungry. They're hungrier to find ways to continue to get better, and they've just been able to make a lot of different plays for us with the ball in their hands or down the field in the pass game, and it's been good to see their hard work pay off throughout the year.
Q. One thing that stands out about you guys is downfield blocking by the receivers. It gets a lot of praise. PFFs are referenced in it. At what point did you guys decide, hey, this is going to be a point of emphasis for us because it can be really impactful. What's the genesis of making this something that's really important?
MIKE SHANAHAN: That starts from day one. That starts with Coach Cignetti and myself demanding it from those guys.
I've put it like this to them. There's about 70 plays in the game roughly. Usually if you get five to ten footballs thrown your way throughout the game in the pass game, you feel pretty good about it, but that still leaves about 60 other plays in the game where you may not be getting the ball, so how are you making an impact without the ball in your hands?
I'm always very -- I like to point out whenever we see the running backs pick up a blitz in protection or a tight end make a key block for them on the perimeter after the catch, things like that where their teammates are busting their butts to help them get a catch or make a big play, we should be doing the same thing for the other guys.
Q. I know you guys have started fast, but you actually have more points in the second and fourth quarters. I'm curious in a game like this, what's more important, executing that script and starting quickly or adjusting to their adjustment of you in that second quarter or maybe later in the game?
MIKE SHANAHAN: Definitely equally as important. With this time off, one of the things we're always trying to get a gauge on in that first series and into the second quarter is what is their plan against us? Is it man coverage? Is it zone coverage? Are they blitzing? Are they just rushing four? How are they trying to affect the passer? Things of that nature, we're trying to get a gauge on and then make the proper adjustments from there.
Really at the end of the day, it comes down to our execution. In this time off, we've been able to prepare for these guys for a couple weeks now and also give our players not only their main couple looks that they like to run on defense, but some of the one-offs as well, just so whenever things come up in the game, we're able to talk about it and get it adjusted.
Q. I want to see you mention OSU and UM and just how challenging whatever it was. When you look at Notre Dame, what have you guys maybe learned from the two challenges then that you might change here this week?
MIKE SHANAHAN: The Ohio State and the Michigan game were a little bit different for us. Really some of it was winning one-on-one matchups, some of it was maybe we dropped a couple passes that we typically don't drop or missed a throw, missed a read, things of that nature. Sometimes it was mental errors with assignments. So it was a combination of all those things.
I felt like our guys really learned a lot over those last two weeks, and you saw the response that we were looking for in the Purdue game. So I'm looking forward to carrying that over from what we put on tape against Purdue and learning from those past experiences against Ohio State and Michigan and being able to go out there and execute at a high level on Friday.
Q. On that Ohio State game, what are some of those things that you guys learned from yourselves in that road and hostile environment, and how prepared do you guys think you'll be for that in South Bend?
MIKE SHANAHAN: We learned that mistakes that we made were definitely magnified in a tight ballgame against a really good team. A lot of those things were under our control and things that from an execution standpoint, we just weren't -- we just didn't get it done.
I think our guys learned from that film. The crowd noise did play a little bit of a factor in that, but at the same time, we're ready to respond and get another chance to play in a big time atmosphere like we will be on Friday and prove that that wasn't us in some instances where we fell short against Ohio State.
Q. Zach Horton can be kind of an unsung heroes in the offense at times, in terms of the snap count, one of the higher usage tight ends in the country. What makes him such a valuable piece to your offense?
MIKE SHANAHAN: He brings an edge. He brings toughness. He's a guy that's very detailed. He wants to do it exactly the way we're asking him to do it every single play.
He's in incredible shape. For him to play as hard as he plays and the amount of plays that he's playing within a game, I've always been very impressed with that part of his game.
Just his versatility. He can block the defensive ends in the box. He can block linebackers and DBs out in space, and he does a really good job catching the football whenever a pass comes his way. He's really just an all around, really good player, complete player, and a guy that we have a lot of trust in.
Q. Specifically with Kurtis Rourke after the Ohio State game, what were some of your conversations like with him, and what do you think he took away from that game?
MIKE SHANAHAN: We just evaluated it the way we did every other game throughout the year. There's always room for improvement. There's always things we can do to be better. Not only him, but just everybody on offense, myself, everybody involved.
We just evaluated it really closely, learned from it, and moved on. I think, like I said, just a little bit ago, you saw the result that we had the following week and the response was everything that we wanted it to be.
That's in the past now. It's all about us being able to go out there and do it all again this Friday.
Q. The secondary of Notre Dame are obviously very, very good, one of the best around. What is it you need to see from your run game to have a bigger impact for the offense in totality?
MIKE SHANAHAN: Definitely controlling the line of scrimmage. It starts up front with those guys. Being efficient whenever we are running the football, keeping us in positive down distance scenarios. We're going to have our one-on-ones on the outside at some point or the other. They like to play a lot of man coverage.
They challenge you. They make every throw is contested. They make you be accurate with the football. They make you have to be great with releases, top of the routes, things down the field to be able to create separation and get open.
So relying on that run game because the thing about playing a lot of man to man is sometimes, when you can break through that first and second level, there's opportunities for explosive passes, explosive runs there as well. Being able to stay ahead of the sticks, I think, will be really big as far as just our whole operation on offense will go.
Q. I know it's maybe not as extreme as dealing with a team that does the triple, but when people talk about preparing for a team that has a strong quarterback run component in their offense, extra time, more than just a week, is really helpful. When you have that extra time, what do you focus on, whether it's linebackers, ends, whoever is making those reads that are necessary? What are the keys that you drill with them in terms of both pre and post-snap, what they need to be ready for when you have an offense like Notre Dame's that's going to run the quarterback as often as they do.
BRYANT HAINES: Post-snaps nothing really changes too much. Our reads are our reads. Our keys are our keys. It all fits into that bucket. What I can call pre-snap can help with those pictures. Nothing can fully help plus one run game like a quarterback that's simply going to run the ball with a lead blocking running back. There's only so many things you can do to account for that. You got to use all 11. They use all 11 of theirs. We've got to use all 11 of ours.
I can work through that with what I call, but in terms of pre-snap, this and that, we have our reads, we have our fits, get off blocks, make plays, attack.
Q. In speaking to some of the guys up front this year and some of the guys that came over from JMU, they said you've thrown a lot more at them, doing a lot more movement. Is that because you're more comfortable and have more experience with them coaching multiple years with the guys at JMU? And why do you like them so much, those opportunities and twists up front and how they impact the offense or how you think they impact the offense?
BRYANT HAINES: To your first question, I think that's part of it. The reason I've added more is because I've been with those guys for a long time. They know what a loop game is. How many times are you going to call a loop, Coach? You got anything else? Part of that is them wanting to do some different things, so that's part of it.
Then too, I'm a big fan of angles. I want to create angles and picks and rolls, like I said, good way of getting home and freeing guys up. If I can find a new one that Coach Kuntz, Coach Buddha like, the defensive linemen like, we'll try it. That's the first part of the question.
Secondly, why do I like it? I like to dictate the terms of where the quarterback is going to go. I can call jet and I can come and use a lineman and they just rush and they just run up the field and they're hitting swims and they're falling down. But why? Because the quarterback can choose where he wants to go. He can step up into this gap, he can feel a vertical surge, he can step up into the pocket. I don't want that, I want to tell him where he wants to go. Right-hand quarterbacks, maybe they want to escape to their throwing hand. Whatever the situation, the game-plan is, I can use stunts to dictate the terms of the quarterback instead of vice versa.
Q. The impact that West and Kamara have delivered this year, obviously you brought them in to do so and they have. What makes them so special?
BRYANT HAINES: They're both really hard workers. They're both great individuals. They both want to be great. They hold themselves to a really high standard, so that's the first thing.
In terms of what they bring skill set-wise, two different types of guys, and C.J. is a big powerful guy. His role is so important because as the nose guard of our defense -- and any defense for the most part -- is at the center point of everything. He's taking on double-teams. He's got to win that one-on-one against center. It's important to win the middle of the defense, and C.J. does that for us.
Then similar but a little bit different, the field then is in a unique position too. It's like the funnel point to like are you going to spill the ball and the ball has to bubble over the top of you, or are you going to build the wall and build it back inside? Each call has its own purpose behind that. But Mikail kind of dictates the terms. Am I going to let this ball make it to the field? If so, how much can he make it bubble so the rest of the guys can kind of take great pursuit angles?
They're very important roles, and those guys flourish in their roles.
Q. Aiden Fisher has talked often about the connection you guys have, how you're just really in sync. How important has he been for you coming here to Indiana, implementing this defense, being right in the middle, being the quarterback, the guy that's got the green dot or whatever it is, and just making everything work so well?
BRYANT HAINES: I get that one frequently. It's hard to put into words how important he's been. Yes, the green dot component and my trust in him, but also his ability to convey for other guys. I coach all the linebackers, but sometimes when Fish says, no, no, you're doing it wrong. It coming from your teammates is different than Coach Haines yelling at me every time I misfit this thing.
He's helped me develop that room. I'm proud of where that room is at, the linebacker room, we've got young guys that are there coming along. That wasn't just me. Aiden was part of that too. He's part of the culture change here. He's part of my voice, my mouth piece to the guys on the field. He's the green dot. He's the leader. He's the unquestioned leader.
He knows what I want, and he's able to get it done and gets his ten teammates to play the right call. Yeah, I can't say enough good things about him and what he means to this defense.
Q. Kind of flowing along the same lines, all the guys you brought from JMU, you have at least one at each level of the defense. What's that personal relationship like with those guys and how has that kind of passed along from them to their teammates to the field?
BRYANT HAINES: Yeah, I've known these guys for a long time. I was thinking about it the other day. I've known James Carpenter since 2019, and I was thinking, it's going to be weird being in a defense that doesn't have James Carpenter in it. Been together so long, so relationships are close, but that's the case with all the guys now. I'm close with all of the players in my own way. It's no different to a JMU guy to a guy that wasn't here before. I love all those guys. I'm hard on all those guys. I want the best for all those guys.
That's the case in terms. I love them. They've been great. They changed the culture. They're a huge part of what you're seeing now in terms of the change in IU football is those guys we brought from JMU, no question.
Q. Coach Cignetti was talking about this a little bit a couple weeks ago, the whole fast, physical, relentless, the concept of we attack, we don't sit back. When did you guys like decide, okay, this is how we want to play? Were you guys watching another game? Were you watching your own team? Kind of what was the genesis of when you decided this is who we're going to be defensively?
BRYANT HAINES: I guess I've just always, always felt like that's what I would want my defense to be, whether I was calling it. I've been with Coach Cignetti for a long time since I started as a defensive line coach. Defensive line coach, I'm not calling the defense, but what did I want my defensive line to be? I wanted them to be fast, violent physical, northbound, I wanted to play in their backfield. I just took that and become a linebacker field. I wanted that to be part of the linebackers fits too. I wanted to be downhill aggressive, slipping blocks, getting vertical playing in their own backyard.
Now that I'm a defensive coordinator, I'm doing all of it. I want the same thing. That's never changed on my end. I don't know where the phrase came from, I don't know where it generated, but just philosophically, that's who we both are. That's who we are from a personality standpoint. We want to attack.
Q. Bryant, I'm just wondering, you guys have defended the run so well all year, what type of challenge is this in particular with a team that has multiple backs and a quarterback who obviously can attack you, and all of them are averaging over five yards a carry? What's the key to stopping that type of attack?
BRYANT HAINES: It's a very good rushing attack. I think it's tenth in the country overall, 224 yards a game, 6.3 a clip. You can't stop the run if they're going to run the quarterback. I mean, you'd have to over commit so aggressively to stopping the run that you would put other parts of the defense in peril. It's not necessarily about stopping the run. It's making the quarterback pay a toll every time he decides he doesn't want to run it. If that's 20 times, then that's 20 hits for the good guys.
They're a very good rushing attack. I like our front seven. I think we're aggressive at all levels. We have different things we can do, whether it's blitzing, or mixing the looks up. He can run some, and he probably will, and he'll get a couple yards, but he'll also get a couple hits from the Hoosiers.
Q. When you're preparing for a Notre Dame team that has a good tight end and utilizes their tight end well, how do you kind of look back at maybe a game like Michigan where they like to use their tight end? How do you kind of prepare for that scheme-wise?
BRYANT HAINES: They use their tight ends in a different capacity than Michigan and even Nebraska and those guys, but you definitely have to account for them.
Again, it's kind of like the same thing as the run fits, post-snap, the rules are the rules. We account for the tight end in all of our defenses, all of our coverages. Having awareness of where he's at, what his alignment might tell us, those are some of the pre-snap indicator that's can help guide us into a better, cleaner reaction time, getting the ball.
The coverage is what the coverage is. We're not going to overcompensate for the tight ends, but there's a healthy respect there for what they do with their tight ends.
Q. On Mikail, I want to say as someone who Cig mentioned in the fall, he realized this spring he had just reached a whole new level. I'm curious what it was or when realized he had ascended as he ultimately has?
BRYANT HAINES: First thing first, as far as Mikail, Mikail is the hardest worker on the defense. He's the harder worker on the defense, he's the last guy off the practice field, so he's always looking for his own improvement.
When did I start to notice, man, he's really flashing? He's always flashed ever since I've been with him. He seems a little twitchier off the edge. I think part of this is just a mental thing. I think him coming here from group of 5, coming from JMU, can I roll with the big guys, can I roll with the ten offensive linemen? Then recognizing in the spring, second, third practice in, oh, yeah, I can do the same thing that these guys that I was doing to Sunbelt offensive tackles. So it's probably a confidence thing that showed up too.
He's playing confidently. When you're playing confidently, you're going to play fast. You're going to play aggressive. That's what Mikail has done all year.
Q. James Carpenter was in here last week and called it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be in a position like this. I know some of this kind of starts at the top, but for you as a coach, how do you kind of balance it's just another game to allowing them to appreciate the position they're in?
BRYANT HAINES: It's a delicate balance there. Of course it's the biggest game for Carp. Carp played at Roanoke Catholic High School. It's an all-in-one. I don't know what the student body is. A small school guy, walked on, walked on to James Madison, and now look at him. He's playing in the college football playoffs starting at the defensive tackle. I'm happy for him. I'm happy for all these guys, and I'm excited for the moment too.
We're a process oriented operation. It's Monday. It's a rainy Monday. We've got a Tuesday practice. We've got to clean up normal downs, make sure the run fits are tight, got to figure out quarterback run still. So it's just another day.
When the game gets here, I'm sure the moment will be awesome and an electric environment, all those things. But at the end of the day, run, hit, tackle, swarm, the standard is the standard. Another football game.
Q. With James Carpenter, when did you realize that it was possible for him to kind of go from a guy you recruited as a walk-on to now how much he means for your defense? Kind of what's that journey been like to see him go from point A to point B?
BRYANT HAINES: When I recruited him as a walk-on, I just thought this guy could maybe be a pretty good football player at JMU. I didn't necessarily think this is going to be my starting three technique in the Big Ten.
But credit to him, he's another one of these guys that doesn't say a lot, but man, he never stops working. He wants to get better. He wants to get pushed. He wants to get coached. It's one of the reasons he came from JMU. He liked the scheme. He loves Coach Kuntz, they have a great relationship, and he just wants to constantly push himself.
I'm proud of him and how far along he's come. I could have never seen this five years ago in 2019 when I recruited him out of Roanoke Catholic High School. I'm proud of his journey. Same for a lot of these guys.
Q. Marcus Freeman said one of the things you guys, problems you present is all the different formations and fits you throw at him and changes they have to look at. What is it that they do so well offensively that you have to worry about that your unit has to focus on?
BRYANT HAINES: They're a really well-coached offense. They're very balanced. I mentioned like 224 yards running per game. I think it's right at 200 a passing game. It's a very balanced offense.
They're balanced even in their tendencies. Typically what I do when I game plan somebody is I want to figure out how can I attack? This formation is this, boom, I can bring that pressure, or this personnel grouping and that down and distance, I can hit them with this.
These guys are balanced. I think they do a healthy job of self-scouting. They have a counter-punch to anything they throw at you. Yeah, just a good clean offense.
Then guys, at the end of the day, if you're willing to run your quarterback down Main Street, that is unique. Some coaches don't want to do that. You could lose them. You could get hit. So that presents its issues.
Q. We didn't get a chance to talk to you kind of during the season, but were there any moments that this clicked into place for the group, that stood out? Whether it was a game or response to a game. Anything that kind of you thought that's a playoff worthy defense or playoff caliber defense for you guys during the season as things kind of developed?
BRYANT HAINES: I thought we took a big step coming off the first bye week. It was when we played Nebraska here at home. I thought the defense took a step there. We made a couple changes schematically. I changed a couple of things coverage-wise and shell rotation disguise, the staff and I did.
I thought we really did a good job of self-scouting and identifying a couple of flaws in our system and came up with a couple of new ideas that have really paid off. That's to me when I felt like, okay, we have the complete package now, was the Nebraska game.
Since then, it still hasn't been perfect, I don't know if it will ever be what I consider perfect, but it's what I would deem a legitimate defense.
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