In a move that shouldn’t surprise anyone, Northwestern is expected to hire interim head coach David Braun as their permanent head coach, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports.
The decision comes four days after Braun led his team to a landmark 24-10 win at Wisconsin, Northwestern’s first in Madison since 2015 and their widest margin of victory there since 1960. It was Northwestern’s fifth win of the season, leaving them one victory away from bowl eligibility with two left to play.
Northwestern had enlisted a search firm for the position in preparation for an offseason hiring process, but Braun’s unprecedented success took the decision out of their hands.
Braun received a wave of public support from fans and especially from his own roster after the game. Dozens of players posted #removethetag messages and X, and they chanted “We want Braun!” in the postgame locker room.
Two key players, starting quarterback Ben Bryant and two-time captain and linebacker Bryce Gallagher, had voiced their support of Braun over the past week.
“We’ve rallied around him and want him to be our next head coach,” Bryant said. “He deserves to be named head coach and not just interim anymore.”
“There’s not a single guy in that locker room that doesn’t love Coach Braun,” Gallagher said. “Everyone’s excited to go to war with him leading us out of that tunnel on Saturdays. He’s a guy that we want around here for a long time.”
Now they will get him.
Braun inherited a program in disarray when he was named the interim head coach in July, days after a mushrooming hazing scandal led to the firing of Pat Fitzgerald, the winningest and most beloved coach in school history.
Coming off of a 1-11 season and a 4-20 mark over the past two years, expectations were at rock-bottom for the program, with many experts predicting a 2-10 finish at best. But somehow, Braun was able to not only keep the locker room together, but thrive under adverse conditions.
The Wildcats currently stand at 5-5 (3-4 Big Ten) and have three wins this season as a double-digit underdog, over Minnesota, Maryland and Wisconsin. They host Purdue on Saturday and close the season at Illinois. A win in either game would make them bowl-eligible for the first time since 2020.
More to come from WildcatReport
Matthew Shelton, Wildc
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