Follow Coach Haines on Twitter: @Coach_BHaines
Recruiting Areas:
• North Carolina (Fayetteville, Wilmington), Ohio (Dayton, Cincinnati), Indiana
Bryant Haines joined the Elon football staff in February 2017 following a one-year stint as the linebackers coach with the Aggies of UC Davis.
In his first season at Elon, Haines coached Warren Messer to all-conference and All-America honors. Messer would place 10th in the voting for the 2017 Buck Buchanan Award. Led by Messer, the 2017 linebacker unit accounted for 22.5 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks.
The 2018 season saw Matt Baker have a career year with a team-best 7.5 sacks with Messer making a team-best 93 tackles for the season. Along the way, his unit had 17.5 of the team's 31 sacks for the season to go with 36 of the 78 tackles for loss.
In 2016, Haines helped Nas Anesi to second-team All-Big Sky accolades.
Haines directed the defensive line at IUP for two seasons, helping the Crimson Hawks lead the Pennsylvania State Athletics Conference in scoring defense, total defense, third-down defense and red-zone defense in 2015. IUP was fourth among all NCAA Division II teams in rushing yards allowed in 2014 and was 13th in 2015.
Following coaching assignments at Manchester University and Adrian College, Haines moved to the Big 10 where he helped coach linebackers at Indiana University in 2012. He followed that with a memorable coaching stint at Ohio State University where he worked with the linebackers during the Buckeyes' undefeated 12-0 season in 2013.
As a player at Ball State University, Haines was one of the nation's top linebackers, earning College Football News Freshman All-America second-team honors in 2005 and later being named to the Dick Butkus Award Watch List for the nation's top linebacker as a senior in 2008, when he was also named All-Mid-American Conference.
Haines graduated from Ball State in 2009 with a bachelor's degree in general studies.
