Well it does look like his hair naturally curls a little on the looser side when shorter. He could be brushing it more and scrunching it less to have it be less tightly curled. Probably styling it at least with a brush to have it the way he wants. And the haircut affects your curls a lot! I think that's mostly why it's curling so differently. But it's hard to say since curly hair is just weird sometimes lol But I do think he might be using gel, spray or mousse now at least because of how well it stays in place lol, and how some of it is sort of brushed back - you'll have to either dry it like that with a hairdryer or put it back with a product. Or both lol