Northwestern officially names David Braun as interim head coach

Northwestern officially named defensive coordinator David Braun as the interim head football coach for the 2023 season. Braun is filling in for Pat Fitzgerald, who was fired on Monday amid mounting pressure as Northwestern addressed hazing within the football program.

The 2023 season was set to be Braun’s first at Northwestern no matter what, as he was originally brought in prior to the season as the defensive coordinator. Braun had previously been the defensive coordinator at North Dakota State, where he had won a pair of FCS titles.

“The opportunity to lead this team at this crucial moment in its history is not something I take lightly, and I’m grateful for the trust placed in me by Dr. [Derrick] Gragg and Northwestern leadership,” Braun said in a release announcing his elevation to interim coach. “Our focus today and every day moving forward is on supporting these men, many of whom have only been on campus for several weeks, in their preparation for the 2023 football season and the 2023-24 academic year.”

With as decorated a resume as any coach, Braun hadn’t held an FBS job until Northwestern picked him to be the defensive coordinator. Now, he’ll be an FBS head coach for at least a year.

Elevating Braun fits with a bigger decision to retain the football staff under Fitzgerald

 There are plenty of long-term questions in Evanston but a decision had to be made about the rest of the coaching staff as well.

Northwestern plans on keeping those people on board according to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg. All assistant coaches and support staff will remain with the Wildcats for the 2023 season. Rittenberg says Gragg informed them of the decision on Tuesday.

“Northwestern is retaining its assistant coaches and support staff for the 2023 season, the school tells ESPN,” Rittenberg said. “The coaches and staff were informed of their status in a meeting with athletic director Derrick Gragg earlier today.”

During this week, Braun was expected to be running the Northwestern program on a “day-to-day” basis. This was reported by Matt Fortuna of The Athletic on Tuesday shortly after the news of Fitzgerald’s firing was released.

Braun is in his first season with the Wildcats, previously being the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at North Dakota State. He got the acting head coach role over offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Bajakian, who has been in Evanston since the 2019 season.