After the firing of [autotag]Northwestern Wildcats[/autotag] head coach Pat Fitzgerald, the school has made a move to address who will lead the program, at least for now.
According to a report from Jordan Mendoza, defensive coordinator David Braun will now run the Northwestern program for the 2023 college football season. He came over from North Dakota State where he coached the defense and safeties from 2019 to 2022. Braun never coached at the Power Five level and is now tasked with running the Northwestern program.
Braun started his coaching career at Winona State, where he played from 2004 to 2007. He would eventually move to Northern Iowa before joining the Bisons’ staff, where he helped win two national championships.
Braun and offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian, who has been with Northwestern since 2019, could both be auditioning for the permanent head coaching gig beyond this upcoming season.
Given where we are at in the offseason, this seems like the only logical move for 2023. Keeping the staff in place will help ensure that most of the team remains together. How it plays out in 2023 remains to be seen but it can’t be much worse than the 1-11 campaign from last season.