‘They compete in everything they do’: How IU football’s off-field intensity turned its defense into a nightmare

IU football linebacker Aiden Fisher directs the defense.

ATLANTA – Indiana football’s defense makes headlines with its process-oriented and business-like approach to being the No. 1 team in the country.

On the field, they play to their motto of ‘Fast. Physical. Relentless.’ and break the will of their opponents on the way to a 14-0 record. The complex and disciplined nature of coordinator Bryant Haines’ scheme baffles offenses.

Its prowess on the field is built not only on the practice surface, but on the Monopoly board at linebacker Isaiah Jones’ house.

“If you’ve ever been around Aiden Fisher and [Jones] and those guys, they compete in everything that they do,” Haines said Wednesday night. “These guys argue about playing Monopoly.”

The captain of the defense and self-anointed Monopoly champion, Fisher, says the games bring out the competitiveness of everyone on defense. The game started as an activity exclusively for the linebackers.

Once word got out that Jones’ house in Bloomington was the place to show their competitiveness, other members of the defense joined in to not only dethrone Fisher, but to further build rapport during the long season.

In the over three weeks between the Big Ten championship game and the Rose Bowl, with no students on campus, Fisher and the rest of the defense had no choice but to spend time with one another.

Fisher took a couple of days in New York to celebrate Fernando Mendoza’s Heisman Trophy victory. The rest of the days would start with a text message in the ever-active group chat to see what everyone else was doing. Sometimes they venture out to get food, but most of the time is spent in a house full of laughter.

“I think [spending time with one another] has been the biggest step that we’ve taken in terms of relationships on the team, getting closer and the things that we’ve been able to experience together,” Fisher said. “It’s the little things… that’s what makes playing on this team so special.”

The relationships built off the field show when it’s time to put the pads on. When it’s time to work, laughter and jokes give way to business.

Practices become as competitive as the games played either at a house or the ping pong table adjacent to the locker room. Reps taken display nothing but all-out intensity. Unrelenting intensity is all they know, playing for Haines and head coach Curt Cignetti. It is what led them to become the nation’s most-feared defense.

Fisher’s process of grounding himself in the present moment differs from most. When he’s not interacting with his teammates or his playbook, he turns to the most important person in his life: his mother, Leslie. Her words of wisdom about basking in the moments that the senior won’t have in two weeks resonate with him.

“The realization that the season is coming to an end here in two weeks is something that makes you just kind of want to be with your team a little bit more every week,” Fisher said. “So, we spend a little bit more time with each other and I think that’s great for us.

The Indiana defensive unit as a whole takes a similar approach. They don’t know anything other than taking advantage of every opportunity.

All it has done this season is capitalize on its opponents’ mistakes. Its two takeaways per game ranks in the top 10 in college football. Game after game, it strives to do something it was unable to do the week before.

Two interceptions on the road at Iowa one-upped D’Angelo Ponds’ punt block touchdown the week prior against Illinois.

A game later, the Hoosiers swarmed the well-oiled machine that is the Oregon offense. They sacked quarterback Dante Moore six times and intercepted him on back-to-back plays in the fourth quarter to seal the road victory in Eugene.

Friday evening’s rematch with Oregon in Atlanta holds higher stakes for both programs. A trip to the national championship game is on the line in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Yet Indiana, as it has shown in its first 14 games, won’t get caught up in the moment.

Though they’ve watched film of the October contest this week to see what worked and didn’t work, Indiana is aware that a lot has changed in the nearly three months since.

This week marks the first time in his coaching career that Haines has had to prepare for a rematch. He filtered through each of Oregon’s games this season. He placed particular emphasis on recent matchups against Texas Tech, James Madison and Washington.

“There are things that you can take away from each game, and there are things that are irrelevant,” he said. “At the end of the day, we’re gonna have 11 guys on the field. I just want to put those guys in a great position to be successful.”

Fisher and the Indiana defense don’t have much else to prove to the cloud of doubt that followed them throughout the regular season, even after the win in Eugene. Instead of proving their worth to the outside noise they’ve so diligently blocked out, they emphasize controlling what they can control.

Fisher wants to be the best at what he does, no matter the environment he’s in. Whether it be inside the white lines or on the classic board game, he demonstrates a drive to win.

He’ll eventually look back on his two seasons at Indiana fondly for the shared moments on and off the field. But his eyes remain set on surviving and advancing to play one more week.

Fisher and the rest of the Indiana defense will take a moment pregame to take ground themselves. Once they take the field, it’s back to business as usual. Indiana will play 60 minutes of unrelenting football to earn the chance at a 16th and final game.

“It’s just been special to be a part of,” Fisher said. “But nothing’s better than winning football games, so that’s got to be the main thing.”

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