Indiana's Seismic Shift at Defensive Tackle

In a single calendar year, Indiana has completely shifted its defensive identity, with DT at the center, and it's still not satisfied.

Earlier this week, Indiana landed a verbal commitment from Naperville DT Gabe Hill – a top-300 overall prospect in the 2026 class and the No. 32 DL. He would be the 12th-highest rated prospect Indiana has ever signed, according to 247Sports’ Composite Rating, and the 4th-highest DL, behind Dasan McCullough (2022), Stephen Williams (2000), and Darius Latham (2013). Indiana’s 2026 class now ranks 31st in the nation, with nine commitments before June. Read more here about Indiana and its recent history with Spring commitments.

This is a great moment to stop and consider Indiana’s growth at the DT position.

When Curt Cignetti was hired and announced that his coordinators – OC Mike Shanahan and DC Bryant Haines – would be joining him in Bloomington, it was clear that defensive line would be a priority for Indiana in a way it hadn’t been for nearly a decade, perhaps more. JMU stud DE Jalen Green was coming off a nation-leading 15.5 sacks, and JMU led the nation in collective pass-rush snaps from its DL – three of whom recorded 7.5+ sacks. With two DL starters joining Indiana (James Carpenter and Mikail Kamara), there were certainly questions about whether their talent would translate to the Big Ten and about whether Haines’ system could work if Indiana’s DL couldn’t find effectiveness through havoc. How long might it take for Indiana to get this DL where it needed to be?

The answer was less than one season, as Indiana finished No. 1 in DL havoc rate for the Big Ten. But it was understandable to question whether it would happen in 2024, especially before Indiana University’s intentions to increase football investment were known. Acquiring the raw talent necessary for an effective Big Ten DL typically requires years of stacked resources and proven return on investment (for both sides). And this is where this staff was beginning from…

During the 2024 Spring Game, Carpenter was unavailable due to injury, so the DT starters were Marcus Burris and Robby Harrison, which yielded a concerning performance that I and eight members of the local media highlighted afterwards. This was on the heels of former Indiana DT Philip Blidi electing to play for Auburn rather than return, as well as young Nick James’ transfer to Pitt and the graduations of LD Cox and Patrick Lucas. Even with those contributors, Indiana ended its 2023 season with the least amount of DL havoc (and 14th-most DT havoc) in the Big Ten. But it was primarily concerning because fans had learned that Haines’ defense typically likes to attack from the center of the trenches, with an inside-out approach, and to do that, it begins with DT. Burris could not blow up the center of a Big Ten OL, especially not on his own.

The staff then essentially added the nose tackle position to its roster by outbidding LSU for CJ West (Kent State) and turning to former JMU DT Tyrique Tucker in reserve during the Spring portal period. Those additions changed everything for Indiana’s defensive front, as West and Tucker graded 6th and 21st among P4 interior DLs in run defense (via PFF) from the nose tackle position.

After the additions of West and Tucker, I wrote a BSB titled “Defensive Tackle is Suddenly Encouraging.” Man, was that an understatement! Now, West is playing for the San Francisco 49ers and Tucker could be a Big Ten-leading nose tackle in 2025.

Outside of the NT position, Carpenter grew into his role as a versatile DT ahead of Burris, and Kamara proved to be a force at DE, graded as the No. 3 Big Ten DE by PFF. Lanell Carr played the 14th-most snaps among the conference’s DEs as well and fared well but didn’t need to be dominant because of Kamara and the DTs.

This was all a product of Haines’ scheme, which led Indiana to the 2nd-highest DT havoc rate in the Big Ten.

The chart above shows that Indiana’s DTs caused havoc on 7.2% of defensive plays. The Hoosiers ranked 14th among these same teams in 2023.

This runs counter to the traditional idea that interior linemen are intended to eat up blocks and allow for linebackers to make plays in the gaps. Haines wants his DTs to make plays too, and he intentionally designs them into situations to do so. This was primarily shown in the interior DL’s effectiveness in run-defense, where Indiana allowed just 2.11 yards per carry in the A-gaps – the national average was 2.75! Read more on that here. It wasn’t because of shear strength or athleticism by the DTs; Haines designed them into many of those situations.

What is scary for the conference, though, is that Indiana doesn’t appear to be satisfied with its interior DL play. The Hoosiers added Hosea Wheeler – a sought-after, versatile DT out of WKU – and Dominique Ratcliff (Texas STate), the 26th-graded DT in the FBS by PFF in 2024. Mario Landino, whom the staff was excited about from Day One, adds the James Carpenter-esque bit of versatility as he develops into the fold as well. The Hoosiers will be heavily rotating on the interior, but that’s not the end of what makes the interior DL dangerous in 2025.

Haines clearly wanted more multiplicity on his fronts this season. He will continue to use three-LB packages against certain offensive looks, but he’s also added an edge piece that didn’t exactly exist in 2024, particularly in the form of Maryland transfer Kellan Wyatt (and in how he flashed his use of redshirt freshman Quentin Clark during the Spring Game, which could be how Wyatt is used). Moving Kamara to Stud DE will have him in more dynamic positions too. This all affects the interior because it improves spacing on the inside. It also means, when he wants to, Haines can deploy more than the typical two DTs at once. Given the versatility in the DT room, there could certainly be some three- or four-DT looks. This particular edition of the Bryant Haines defense might be even tougher for opposing interior OLs to limit, and it’ll be a different type of defense than Indiana fans are used to watching in Bloomington. Given the state of many Big Ten OLs at the moment, Indiana’s DTs might be one of the most interesting position groups in the conference and a determining factor for the Hoosiers’ found success in 2025.

Of course, it’s not just Haines. It’s also Pat Kuntz, who plays a significant role on multiple fronts for Indiana. Not only is he responsible for developing DT technique, but he’s also responsible for recruiting, and he’s doing a phenomenal job. Four of the seven DTs currently on the roster were recruited out of high school by Kuntz, and two were recruited through the portal. Plus, Kuntz has earned three DT commitments from the 2026 class, including Hill.

Looking ahead, Indiana’s DT scholarship chart is as follows:

2025

• Hosea Wheeler

• Dominique Ratcliff

2026

• Tyrique Tucker

• J’Mari Monette

2027

• Mario Landino

2028 (true freshmen)

• Jhrevious Hall

• Kyler Garcia

2029 (current commitments)

• Gabe Hill

• Blake Smythe

• Rodney White

Besides QB, there isn’t a position on the roster that Indiana has philosophically shifted as much as DT. This is certainly shown in that J’Mari Monette is the only Tom Allen Era DT left on the roster but also in the skillsets of the interior DLs, which range from nose tackles to viable 4-tech DLs. See the image below for what this means.

It’s because of this innovation on the interior, and this staff’s history of developing to this system, that Indiana is turning heads – regarding DT play in particular. It will continue to pay off on the recruiting trail, as it builds a versatile DT room from scratch, and in the portal, as it spots particular roles until its developing talent arrives.

As this department of the roster goes, so does the Bryant Haines defense, and right now, the stock is rising.

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