If Northwestern hires Braun how disappointed would you be?

[HungryEyes42]

I feel like the administration wants an excuse to hire him to replace Fitz. Is in large part because they don’t want the embarrassment of getting turned down by 75% of the coaches they inquire about. They also likely don’t want to pay big money for a new head coach.

Still……

Hiring Braun as full time coach would show that the administration is not serious about athletics. He’s a nice guy and proving himself to be a good DC hire. However he’s not qualified to run a Big Ten program and would be a disaster hire.

 

[SadCat]

It all depends on what you call a disaster. 3-4 wins per year and no scandals probably sounds pretty good to the current administration.

And I doubt that they are going to pay the going rate to attract someone who can turn the program around. At least not until the lawsuits are settled.

 

[catcrazy]

Don't think that's fair. He was thrown in an environment with players which are not his recruits. I think he is doing a decent job but the OL recruiting has been horrible and the qb recruiting(hs) has been miserable with the jury being out on Lausch and Gray. He has made the defense respectable but Fitz offensive recruiting has been atrocious

 

[stpaulcat]

Not a bit. If he finishes this season with reasonable respectability, he should have the chance to condtinue. i believe Braun is the real deal. Give him that chance. Today proved two things--NU has a good defense, resurrected from two years of Fitz and JON horrible, and that NU has a bad to terrible offense, which Fitz relentlessly drove into the ground for years. That is not on Braun

 

[mesacat]

It's the easiest route for Gragg. But , unless NU ponies up big $ why do we assume he takes the job as opposed to seeing what's available at winning situations ? Surely he knows better than most what is going to happen at seasons end and how difficult it will be for NU going forward in the expanded BIG

 

[drewjin]

I think NU should consider itself very fortunate if they can land Coach Braun or somebody of his caliber.

 

[Eurocat]

Not a bit. If he finishes this season with reasonable respectability, he should have the chance to condtinue. i believe Braun is the real deal. Give him that chance. Today proved two things--NU has a good defense, resurrected from two years of Fitz and JON horrible, and that NU has a bad to terrible offense, which Fitz relentlessly drove into the ground for years. That is not on Braun

I agree with every word stpaulcat wrote.

Braun is doing a great job in nearly impossible conditions.

Let's take a breath and see how it all shakes out. The final record will determine a lot.

 

[WestCoastWildcat]

Today’s defensive performance made me lean towards retaining Coach Braun but let’s see what happens the rest of the way. I admire how he has stepped in/ stepped up to take on a nearly impossible task esp with the ongoing admin and lawsuits sideshows. Just hope the team continues to perform above expectations but our tepid offense could derail the rest of the season. You can’t scoring just 3 fg’s.

 

[phatcat]

Although the guy can only do so much, and most of that appears to be on defense, he needs to be accountable at some level for the offense. No excuse for all of those penalties yesterday. Someone has to be accountable for the atrocious line play. If Jake and Anderson are that bad and cannot be fired, let them keep the title but let someone else do the actual coaching (Holtz? Idk) like OSU did when they demoted Kerry Coombs.

Despite 3 wins, the offense has had 2 functional quarters the whole year. Q3 UTEP and Q4 Minn. He must somehow do something . It is a herculean task, but the statis quo is unacceptable. Too many shite opponents to go 3-9

 

[HungryEyes42]

Guys come on- Don’t you want to watch a competitive Northwestern football team again? That will NEVER happen with David Braun leading the program in a powerhouse Big Ten. Ask yourself this. What power 5 school would hire David Braun as head coach. Answer: Zero.

He needs to bring his own recruits in? The guy has NEVER recruited FBS players before. The talent will likely get even worse under Braun.

The division is bad enough this year where he could possibly win 1 more big ten game. However the divisional format is going away. If Northwestern wants to be competitive they need a qualified Big Ten level head coach. Either someone who has years of experience as a head coach or a coordinator that has paid his dues and built connections to high schools and has the ability to put together a strong staff.

Braun has done a good job and this year will open up opportunities for him. There will be a number of P5 DC jobs or FCS/G5 head coaching jobs he can interview for if he wants to go that route.

Again: nice guy. Appreciate what he’s done here, but he’s not a qualified power five head coach.

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

It's the easiest route for Gragg. But , unless NU ponies up big $ why do we assume he takes the job as opposed to seeing what's available at winning situations ? Surely he knows better than most what is going to happen at seasons end and how difficult it will be for NU going forward in the expanded BIG

He would 100% take the full time job. He is not landing another P5 head job any time soon. To think he would turn down the position is a bit naive.

 

[FanatiCat]

Although the guy can only do so much, and most of that appears to be on defense, he needs to be accountable at some level for the offense. No excuse for all of those penalties yesterday. Someone has to be accountable for the atrocious line play. If Jake and Anderson are that bad and cannot be fired, let them keep the title but let someone else do the actual coaching (Holtz? Idk) like OSU did when they demoted Kerry Coombs.

Despite 3 wins, the offense has had 2 functional quarters the whole year. Q3 UTEP and Q4 Minn. He must somehow do something . It is a herculean task, but the statis quo is unacceptable. Too many shite opponents to go 3-9

I don’t think you appreciate how much Braun has had to do in the roughly 3 months since becoming head coach in the context of how much he could be expected to do with the offense.

The first month was entirely PR and damage control, being the face of the program when literally no one else was willing to go in front of a camera. Then having to re-recruit the entire roster to prevent transfers, and the incoming class to prevent decommitments,

Then hire a defensive assistant.

Then he had fall camp to pull the team together. One area to potentially critique is the seemingly prolonged selection of starting QB.

3 months ago Braun was a new DC in this program on equal footing at best with the older OC who has been here longer. What is he going to do, tell Bajakian in August that he has to redesign the offense or else? Call the touchdown play more? Perhaps Braun was under the impression that Jake’s offense of 2021-22 was at least partially hampered by Fitz’s game planning philosophy and Jake would now perform more like he did at previous stops.

TLDR, I don’t know what you expect Braun to have done in a matter of weeks to fix one of the bottom 10 offenses is college football. At least the defense had been top 25 somewhat recently. Even in our winning years the offense was 80-100 at best I think.

 

[Skunkpilot]

Where’s skip holtz?? Haven’t seen him once all season long.

 

[NYPurpleFan]

Shocked by the lack of enthusiasm for Braun here. Defense is night and day from a year ago. He stepped into an impossible situation and is one win away from matching Fitz's win total from the past 2 years. From an outsiders perspective, it also seems he's been able to keep the team together and motivated despite the circumstances - no easy task on its own.

Reality is no quality P5 coach will even take a look at NU with this admin. If Braun walks out of this season with 4+ wins and is committed to making changes on the offensive side of the ball, should be an easy decision

 

[KnottSlim]

I agree Braun has done as much as I could reasonably expect for this season. Had none of this happened with Fitz what would one honestly have expected NU to be 6 games into the season based on our last two? I doubt Fitz would have done any better. I am constantly drawn to the repugnant OL play. It's impossible to compete in the Bigten with such an underwhelming unit as this. Poor recruiting, poor strength and conditioning or poor coaching and development? I don't know. I'd settle for a few Matt O'Dwyer types who played with nastiness and attitude. I understand it's a team sport and it takes all phases to compete at this level but OL play has been nothing short of putrid.

 

[corbi296]

Shocked by the lack of enthusiasm for Braun here. Defense is night and day from a year ago. He stepped into an impossible situation and is one win away from matching Fitz's win total from the past 2 years. From an outsiders perspective, it also seems he's been able to keep the team together and motivated despite the circumstances - no easy task on its own.

Reality is no quality P5 coach will even take a look at NU with this admin. If Braun walks out of this season with 4+ wins and is committed to making changes on the offensive side of the ball, should be an easy decision

He has done a good job, I'd retain him in a heartbeat as our DC and at some point he may make a fine head coach but unless NU wants to be the doormat of the Big Ten for the next decade, there is absolutely zero chance they should hire David Braun. NU needs an energetic proven head coach that is known to have a great eye for undervalued talent and being a top developer of talent, as a top notch recruiter at the highest levels of college football and who preferrably is known to oversee an innovative, successful QB friendly offensive scheme. I'd love to poach a guy like Lance Leipold from Kansas but I am not sure a guy like that would come to NU. Guys that should be on our radar are folks like Sean Lewis at Colorado, Kane Wommack at South Alabama, Charles Huff at Marshall, Willie Fritz at Tulane, Chris Creighton at Eastern Michigan or Jeff Hafley at BC.

 

[Gatabowl]

I can see three outcomes:
1. Braun extended until the new stadium is to be completed
2. New coach with a very competitive salary; Braun interviewed, doesn’t get it
3. New coach, Braun stays as DC

In all three cases:
I don’t think Gragg will be the one to decide and don’t think he’s going to be here.
I don’t think any existing assistants will be retained.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

I agree Braun has done as much as I could reasonably expect for this season. Had none of this happened with Fitz what would one honestly have expected NU to be 6 games into the season based on our last two? I doubt Fitz would have done any better. I am constantly drawn to the repugnant OL play. It's impossible to compete in the Bigten with such an underwhelming unit as this. Poor recruiting, poor strength and conditioning or poor coaching and development? I don't know. I'd settle for a few Matt O'Dwyer types who played with nastiness and attitude. I understand it's a team sport and it takes all phases to compete at this level but OL play has been nothing short of putrid.

Settle for Matt O’Dwyer? Take away the three first rounders and he was probably the best college OL we had in the last 3 decades.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

I can see three outcomes:
1. Braun extended until the new stadium is to be completed
2. New coach with a very competitive salary; Braun interviewed, doesn’t get it
3. New coach, Braun stays as DC

In all three cases:
I don’t think Gragg will be the one to decide and don’t think he’s going to be here.
I don’t think any existing assistants will be retained.

Braun on a 2- or 3-year deal would be the dumbest possible outcome.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Every organization on the planet should strive to get the best employees they can possibly secure. It is administrative malpractice if Braun is hired full time without an exhaustive search for the absolute best candidate available. He has a grand total of 7 games HC experience at any level. If we can’t find a more qualified HC we are in deep shit.

This doesn’t take away the tremendous job Braun has done keep the team together. He has been a Godsend. The players love him. He needs to be treated fairly, and I would love to see him retained as DC. If Braun is kicked to the curb without a real opportunity to stay on staff as DC the players IMO will bolt. He admittedly is learning on the job, and I believe he would gladly accept the original job he was hired for and he would be good at it.

Hiring Braun full time as HC seems very short sighted. Everyone in here loves the man, but that doesn’t make him the best candidate going forward.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Braun on a 2- or 3-year deal would be the dumbest possible outcome.

Yep, just like that stupid deal Illinois have to what’s his face for 2 years. A disaster.

 

[KnottSlim]

Settle for Matt O’Dwyer? Take away the three first rounders and he was probably the best college OL we had in the last 3 decades.

Not settle for Matt, settle for lesser talented kids(current OL) that would play with the nastiness O'Dwyer did. Fire off the ball with the intent of smashing someone in the face.

 

[Gatabowl]

Braun on a 2- or 3-year deal would be the dumbest possible outcome.

Yep

 

[Styre]

I would be perfectly happy keeping Braun around as defensive coordinator. Northwestern can and should do better at the HC position.

 

[FanatiCat]

He has done a good job, I'd retain him in a heartbeat as our DC and at some point he may make a fine head coach but unless NU wants to be the doormat of the Big Ten for the next decade, there is absolutely zero chance they should hire David Braun. NU needs an energetic proven head coach that is known to have a great eye for undervalued talent and being a top developer of talent, as a top notch recruiter at the highest levels of college football and who preferrably is known to oversee an innovative, successful QB friendly offensive scheme. I'd love to poach a guy like Lance Leipold from Kansas but I am not sure a guy like that would come to NU. Guys that should be on our radar are folks like Sean Lewis at Colorado, Kane Wommack at South Alabama, Charles Huff at Marshall, Willie Fritz at Tulane, Chris Creighton at Eastern Michigan or Jeff Hafley at BC.

Tricky situation. If we want to hire a top flight outside HC then we can't have any stipulation on what DC he wants otherwise candidates will balk. Or course Braun is objectively a P5 DC candidate since shows he was ready to make the jump from championship level FCS to turning around a completely broken and gutted defense, I believe we may be around 50th after this week's game.

Anyway, he is unproven and unknown as a HC and recruiter, that is true. It is not certain that we can get a top candidate with the growing recruiting/academic/NIL disparities, no stadium the next 2 years (a hot up and coming coach which is what most want, may not want to be here more than a few years anyway), poor administration, who can also get outstanding coordinators on both sides.

I absolutely think they should be doing a full search with a search firm etc. But if Braun is among the best available, how about retaining him with a lower salary demand than a top outside HC, and alloting higher funding for him to pay for the best "brand name" assistants possible to create the buzz/draw. Find a DC who aligns with his strategies, find an innovative young OC whose reputation will bring recruits where you feel Braun won't. Give Braun a 5 year, not 2-3 year contract with lower base but lots of incentives.

 

[techtim72]

How about Braun for AD as a compromise?

 

[kawacko]

I feel like the administration wants an excuse to hire him to replace Fitz. Is in large part because they don’t want the embarrassment of getting turned down by 75% of the coaches they inquire about. They also likely don’t want to pay big money for a new head coach.

Still……

Hiring Braun as full time coach would show that the administration is not serious about athletics. He’s a nice guy and proving himself to be a good DC hire. However he’s not qualified to run a Big Ten program and would be a disaster hire.

Any hire at this point should be a bright young coach who could start to build from the ground up. It will be a long hard road and maybe impossible under the present circumstances.

 

[corbi296]

Tricky situation. If we want to hire a top flight outside HC then we can't have any stipulation on what DC he wants otherwise candidates will balk. Or course Braun is objectively a P5 DC candidate since shows he was ready to make the jump from championship level FCS to turning around a completely broken and gutted defense, I believe we may be around 50th after this week's game.

Anyway, he is unproven and unknown as a HC and recruiter, that is true. It is not certain that we can get a top candidate with the growing recruiting/academic/NIL disparities, no stadium the next 2 years (a hot up and coming coach which is what most want, may not want to be here more than a few years anyway), poor administration, who can also get outstanding coordinators on both sides.

I absolutely think they should be doing a full search with a search firm etc. But if Braun is among the best available, how about retaining him with a lower salary demand than a top outside HC, and alloting higher funding for him to pay for the best "brand name" assistants possible to create the buzz/draw. Find a DC who aligns with his strategies, find an innovative young OC whose reputation will bring recruits where you feel Braun won't. Give Braun a 5 year, not 2-3 year contract with lower base but lots of incentives.

We are not getting a top flight head coach. Anybody thinking we can get a head coach who is coaching a top 25 team now or a former top head coach who is in between jobs to come to NU needs to put the crack pipe down. What we should be striving for is a candidate with proven success as a head coach who is either currently a head coach at a lower level but has a pedigree as a top assistant/recruiter in a P5 conference ( see Lewis/Womack/Huff), or a more experienced head coach who has climbed the ladder and has proven himself a winner at every level (see Lance Leopold/Willie Fritz) or a successful head coach in another big conference who may not be as well positioned in the college football landscape as the Big Ten ( see Dino Babers or Jeff Hafley).

 

[corbi296]

How about Braun for AD as a compromise?

What makes you think he is qualified to be an AD?

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Tricky situation. If we want to hire a top flight outside HC then we can't have any stipulation on what DC he wants otherwise candidates will balk. Or course Braun is objectively a P5 DC candidate since shows he was ready to make the jump from championship level FCS to turning around a completely broken and gutted defense, I believe we may be around 50th after this week's game.

Anyway, he is unproven and unknown as a HC and recruiter, that is true. It is not certain that we can get a top candidate with the growing recruiting/academic/NIL disparities, no stadium the next 2 years (a hot up and coming coach which is what most want, may not want to be here more than a few years anyway), poor administration, who can also get outstanding coordinators on both sides.

I absolutely think they should be doing a full search with a search firm etc. But if Braun is among the best available, how about retaining him with a lower salary demand than a top outside HC, and alloting higher funding for him to pay for the best "brand name" assistants possible to create the buzz/draw. Find a DC who aligns with his strategies, find an innovative young OC whose reputation will bring recruits where you feel Braun won't. Give Braun a 5 year, not 2-3 year contract with lower base but lots of incentives.

Don’t make it a requirement for the next HC to hire Braun as DC, but “strongly recommend” that he get an interview. It’s then both the new HC and Braun’s decision on whether that’s the right path or not.

Either way, I suspect Braun will land on his feet if he isn’t at NU. The coaching community still respects Fitz a lot (and I’m sure Fitz would provide a very strong recommendation), plus his impact on the defense has been pretty clear. A young DC with HC experience can be a pretty marketable dude.

 

[techtim72]

What makes you think he is qualified to be an AD?

I refuse to indicate sarcasm in my comments. I figure this is a relatively well educated crowd - overly serious, but educated.

 

[techtim72]

Don’t make it a requirement for the next HC to hire Braun as DC, but “strongly recommend” that he get an interview. It’s then both the new HC and Braun’s decision on whether that’s the right path or not.

Either way, I suspect Braun will land on his feet if he isn’t at NU. The coaching community still respects Fitz a lot (and I’m sure Fit would provide a very strong recommendation), plus his impact on the defense has been pretty clear. A young DC with HC experience can be a pretty marketable dude.

Most of the Big 12 could use Braun based on their defenses.

 

[NUChicago]

Every organization on the planet should strive to get the best employees they can possibly secure. It is administrative malpractice if Braun is hired full time without an exhaustive search for the absolute best candidate available. He has a grand total of 7 games HC experience at any level. If we can’t find a more qualified HC we are in deep shit.

This doesn’t take away the tremendous job Braun has done keep the team together. He has been a Godsend. The players love him. He needs to be treated fairly, and I would love to see him retained as DC. If Braun is kicked to the curb without a real opportunity to stay on staff as DC the players IMO will bolt. He admittedly is learning on the job, and I believe he would gladly accept the original job he was hired for and he would be good at it.

Hiring Braun full time as HC seems very short sighted. Everyone in here loves the man, but that doesn’t make him the best candidate going forward.

First sentence, I give you Dr Derrick Gragg and NU. All common sense out the window.

 

[phatcat]

I don’t think you appreciate how much Braun has had to do in the roughly 3 months since becoming head coach in the context of how much he could be expected to do with the offense.

The first month was entirely PR and damage control, being the face of the program when literally no one else was willing to go in front of a camera. Then having to re-recruit the entire roster to prevent transfers, and the incoming class to prevent decommitments,

Then hire a defensive assistant.

Then he had fall camp to pull the team together. One area to potentially critique is the seemingly prolonged selection of starting QB.

3 months ago Braun was a new DC in this program on equal footing at best with the older OC who has been here longer. What is he going to do, tell Bajakian in August that he has to redesign the offense or else? Call the touchdown play more? Perhaps Braun was under the impression that Jake’s offense of 2021-22 was at least partially hampered by Fitz’s game planning philosophy and Jake would now perform more like he did at previous stops.

TLDR, I don’t know what you expect Braun to have done in a matter of weeks to fix one of the bottom 10 offenses is college football. At least the defense had been top 25 somewhat recently. Even in our winning years the offense was 80-100 at best I think.

I fully agree. I do not trivialize even the win against Howard. He could have lost 10 other starters to the portal. I would have been willing to cancel the season. We were coming off 1-11, had lost 4 guys to the NFL and more to the portal. The kids were aching . I get it. So, what to do now? Other than Q4/OTagainst MN, we are averaging about 10 ppg. Are you suggesting he does nothing differently with the offense? I am merely suggesting that "more Jake" isn't tue answer. Or "more Anderson " for that matter

 

[gocatsgo2003]

I fully agree. I do not trivialize even the win against Howard. He could have lost 10 other starters to the portal. I would have been willing to cancel the season. We were coming off 1-11, had lost 4 guys to the NFL and more to the portal. The kids were aching . I get it. So, what to do now? Other than Q4/OTagainst MN, we are averaging about 10 ppg. Are you suggesting he does nothing differently with the offense? I am merely suggesting that "more Jake" isn't tue answer. Or "more Anderson " for that matter

It’s pretty clear that Braun has essentially handed the offense to Bajakian to run independently and I don’t really blame him. Braun’s entire career to date has been on defense, plus he’s trying to navigate all the “other stuff” that comes with being a B1G head coach. Tough to ask him to also weigh in on and/or overhaul the offense as well. I’m not sure what other alternative he has/had, especially with Skip Holtz at least offering an offensive background in the building throughout the week.

 

[NUCat320]

I fully agree. I do not trivialize even the win against Howard. He could have lost 10 other starters to the portal. I would have been willing to cancel the season. We were coming off 1-11, had lost 4 guys to the NFL and more to the portal. The kids were aching . I get it. So, what to do now? Other than Q4/OTagainst MN, we are averaging about 10 ppg. Are you suggesting he does nothing differently with the offense? I am merely suggesting that "more Jake" isn't tue answer. Or "more Anderson " for that matter

In an alternate universe, 2-10 Fitz keeps his job and fires Bajakian and Anderson after this season. So, 🤷🏼‍♂️.

The best result, and possible worst result, is an older, offensive-minded, successful head coach willing to keep Braun and potentially give him a ‘head coach in waiting’ title. There obviously aren’t a lot like that, but the guy at JMU could fit that bill.

The worst possible outcome would be Dino Babers.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

In an alternate universe, 2-10 Fitz keeps his job and fires Bajakian and Anderson after this season. So, 🤷🏼‍♂️.

The best result, and possible worst result, is an older, offensive-minded, successful head coach willing to keep Braun and potentially give him a ‘head coach in waiting’ title. There obviously aren’t a lot like that, but the guy at JMU could fit that bill.

The worst possible outcome would be Dino Babers.

JMU has built its recent success mostly with its defense.

 

[phatcat]

JMU has built its recent success mostly with its defense.

I'm OK with defense-centric. Worked for over a decade. But 2019 was not fun. Need some semblance of offense

 

[eastbaycat99]

Since the original question is “How disappointed would you be if Braun is hired?”, I would say that I would not be disappointed at all. I realize that hiring him would not propel the Cats to a quick turnaround, and might lead to a four or five year stretch where 8-4 is an outstanding year. What seems clear to me, based on his performance this year, is that his defenses will be disciplined and well prepared, and that he would represent his players and the university in a way that is respectful and positive. While the jury is out on offense, if hired, I would give him the benefit of the doubt. I think the Cats would not be terrible, and at the end of five years or so, either the AD would be in a position to hire a coach to move them up to a very competitive level, or Braun would have exceeded expectations and he would be revered by all.

I would not be disappointed if the Cats chose a head coach of the Mike Elko prototype (or Elko himself, for that matter). This would clearly be an upgrade from a football reputational basis, and give the Cats a fighting chance to be good and not just not terrible, without sacrificing the current players or university.

I would be furious if they hired an Urban Meyer type, who could reputationally damage the university on top of the Fitz debacle, or a coach who comes in with the promise to run off the current scholarship players because he wants “his guys” from the transfer portal. I like for the Cats to win, but not at any price.

I would be disappointed if they hired a mediocre journeyman coach just because he had prior power five experience as a head coach.

I think that covers it for me.

 

[TheC]

I think it's possible to both be extremely impressed with how Braun has handled the challenge this year while still not thinking he is the right guy to be back next year. He has done an admirable job in both keeping the team together and clearly improving the defense. That said, the job of running a major college football program beyond this year is a much bigger job for which there is no way he is qualified yet.

While it sounds nice to have him come back as DC, as it seems he's done a great job, I can't imagine how that would work. How does that dynamic work with the new head coach? Would there always be this tension between the new head coach and the previous head coach who is still there? Do the players get confused about which voice they want to follow? The new head coach wouldn't have hired Braun, he would have inherited him. Braun wouldn't be his guy. It would be very tricky.