Seemingly thrown to the wolves, interim head coach David Braun has Northwestern playing good football

CEDAR RAPIDS — By all accounts, he aced the Big Ten Conference football media event he was literally throw into in late July.

David Braun was just months into being defensive coordinator at Northwestern University when the program was besmirched by a hazing scandal that cost head coach Pat Fitzgerald his job.

Lawsuits by former players against the school and Fitzgerald against the school for wrongful termination have followed. At least partly because he wasn’t around during the alleged hazing incidents, Braun was named interim head coach.

His appearance at the Big Ten media days meant he was the first person associated with Northwestern to speak publicly about the turmoil. Not even the school’s athletics director Derrick Gragg did interviews.

Talk about being thrown into the very middle of the fire, to the wolves.

“I’ve been out of my comfort zone at times, many times, and that’s where a lot of growth has come. I’ve never been this far outside my comfort zone before,” Braun said at the time.

Fast forward everything to November, and what appeared to be a throwaway promotion at the time just might end up turning into a permanent promotion. Somehow, someway Northwestern has been able to tune out the distraction of the scandal and play good football.

At least better football than anyone seriously thought possible, especially under the circumstances. The Wildcats are 4-4 going into Saturday afternoon’s game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Wrigley Field (2:30 p.m. kickoff/Peacock).

“Northwestern looks to be a team that's really playing well, playing with confidence, playing with energy, and showing improvement week to week,” said Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz.

All under a 33-year-old guy who has literally worked his way up the ranks. A Wisconsin native, Braun played at Division II Winona State, where he got his coaching start as a graduate assistant.

His first true coaching gig was with NAIA Culver-Stockton, followed by a stint at California-Davis and two years at Northern Iowa. From Cedar Falls, Braun went to FCS power North Dakota State, where he won two national championships.

Fitzgerald hired him to be his DC after last season. Next thing you know, he’s replacing Fitzgerald.

“Exciting time to be around the facility right now,” Braun said. “A team that battled on Saturday and found a way to get a big win against a really good Maryland team ... I think the thing that is exciting for this group and this coaching staff moving forward is we feel like we’re getting better as a team, we’re improving. But I think it’s pretty obvious to everyone in the building that there’s still a lot of room for improvement moving forward.

“I’ve said this before, and I’ll continue to say it. I think our best football is still in front of us.”

Northwestern beat Maryland last week, 33-27. It literally has traded losses and wins, in that order, this season, the victories coming over Texas-El Paso, Howard, Minnesota and the Terrapins.

If it can break that pattern Saturday, the Big Ten West Division will be thrown into utter chaos.

“Last week was a response after a really tough, crushing loss (to Nebraska),” Braun said. “Well, how are we going to respond to success? How are we going to respond to people talking about bowl games and the Big Ten West? ...

“Tune it all out, guys. It’s interference. What do we have to do today to position ourselves for a great practice in preparation for a really good football team? That is so much easier said than done. But I have a tremendous amount of belief in the maturity and the leadership in this football team, with a lot of reminders that this team will be able to do that. Because we have to (against a team like Iowa).”

Braun said playing the game at historic Wrigley Field makes Saturday’s game even more special.

“I know I’ve had a lot of these moments in the last year, but it’s another pinch-yourself moment. The first professional baseball game I ever went to was with my dad at Wrigley Field,” he said. “To be part of a football game (there), what a unique and special experience. To say that I get to coach in that game is pretty special.”

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