Northwestern’s football season started under the cloud of a hazing scandal that led to the dismissal of former head coach Pat Fitzgerald, but it’s ending with a berth in a bowl game in Las Vegas and a new permanent head coach in David Braun.
Braun, who was hired as the team’s defensive coordinator in January, found himself thrust into the spotlight when Fitzgerald was fired by Northwestern over the summer.
WATCH: Mike Berman sits down with David Braun after debut season as Wildcats' coach
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Now, following a seven-win season and a new contract as the team’s full-time coach, Braun is blown away by the journey to this point in Evanston.
“A whirlwind, a challenge, joyful, exciting, confusion, frustration at times, but it’s been a whirlwind,” he said. “It’s been an opportunity to grow a lot, and really to just be proud of the way this group of 103 guys found a way to galvanize, come together, and put on full display this season what they’re all about.”
Braun said that another thing that stood out to him was the way that the team responded to their early season struggles, with losses to Rutgers and Duke putting them on the front foot.
The squad responded with some strong comeback victories, including an epic one over Minnesota in Evanston, and showed the character that Braun had observed throughout his stint as interim coach.
Big Ten
“A lesser-character team could have packed it up and said ‘you know what? The season’s not ours,’” he said. “They could’ve found all sorts of excuses and explanations for why we’re not going to have the season we want. That’s what has exceeded my expectations, is the way this group has continued to respond through adversity.”
As for his own journey, Braun said that his big chance revealed how important his emphasis on relationships with players has been to his growth and success as a coach.
“The thing I’ve learned about myself is I feel like I have a unique ability to laser in on what really matters and what’s important, and focus my decision-making on those things, and at the end of the day, that’s our student-athletes,” he said. “Every decision that I’ve made, I’ve tried to put them at the forefront of my thought process.”
Now, with the Big Ten expanding to 18 teams in 2024, Braun is looking forward to the new obstacles that will face the Wildcats, and he’s relishing the challenges ahead.
“I’m really excited to be the one at the front of this, to guide us into a very unique time in college football,” he said. “A changing landscape in the Big Ten, a rapidly changing landscape across football, and really root into the values of Northwestern and Northwestern football, while also being open minded to things we have to evolve and change to be competitive in a new era.”