Personally, I'm going to see how the rest of this season plays out, there's a lot of football to be played and I think Braun is a fast learner.
Braun still has work to do to drop the interim tag
- Thread starter mshelton33
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Coach Braun has done a fine job representing NU football under high pressure circumstances but I don’t know if a long-term investment in his tenure can be ascertained at this point. I’m pretty torn about this. I think looking at the need for rebuilding the program it may make sense to start over with a clean slate. But he has earned the respect and allegiance of those in the program. I think a few key big wins will tip the scales in his retention. It’s just too early to say. I assume we are also gearing up for a search but who knows given the current administration that is in place. Can the current decision-makers be relied on to make the “right” move? It seems like our new leadership at the top including our BOT are struggling on multiple levels to make decisions. (I met our Trustee for the SoCal area months ago at a local alumni event before the blowup with Fitz and the program. I didn’t realize our BOT had so many members though. I don’t know if the large BOT membership is a help or a hindrance. May be good for fund-raising though.)
Braun needs 6-7 wins to get the full-time HC gig in my book, well at least a gig with a ten figure salary attached to it. The B1G West is really bad this year overall and not a good gauge IMHO if we just make it to 5 wins. Remember no divisions going forward, so our in house competition will be substantially harder.
Retaining him is one thing. He has a lot of positive. Question is in what role
Why would you think of paying Braun $10 mill? His only experience as HC and at P5 level is what he is getting right now, He does not have the credentials to get near that figure today
The reality of it is that I doubt that he will be. If he just wins one more game, other schools will be looking at him. Hell, they probably are already looking at him. They may not be Power 5 schools, may not even be FBS schools. But after his gig at NU, he could get a bunch of offers from FCS schools. A head coaching job at places like, you know, South Dakota State, North Dakota, Eastern Washington, Illinois State, SIU., or even James Madison who is now an FBS school. Schools that aren't in the big 10, but could represent a better career move for him than being demoted, or not retained at NU
If NU hires in over him, he'll be gone one of two ways. Not retained, or leaving on his own As we speak, if he has any kind of decent agent at all, there are probably a whole bunch of feelers out right now.
Of course, I could be wrong, but if I were him, and Gragg and Schiff are still here, and they hired someone in over me, um, you couldn't count to three fast enough.
I'm not suggesting NU offer him the head coach position. I would like to see him at least be considered after stepping in $hit (can you even imagine reporting to Gragg). I think it's a stretch for Braun to get the job so , because I like him and from what I've read and heard, I think he's a good guy, I would rather see him do well for himself, than see him stay under the dubious "leadership" of the two people who are about to cost NU millions - and kill the football program for probably the rest of my lifetime. As a 28-year season ticket holder, my commitment in this regard is on the tipping point. There better be some changes pretty soon, (and I'm not talking about coaching changes). I'm another alum who is NOT AT ALL pleased with a whole bunch of directions in which NU is heading. For more reasons than his boneheaded handling of the Fitzgerald firing, I am convinced that Schill is the wrong person for the job.
