Coaching career
Braun is from Wales, Wisconsin, where he attended Kettle Moraine High School.[1] Braun began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Winona State University, his alma mater, in 2008. In 2010 he was made the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Culver-Stockton. In 2011 he returned to Winona State[2] where he worked as the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach[3] until the end of the 2014 season. In 2015 he became the defensive line coach at UC Davis[4] where he stayed until the end of the 2016 season. In 2017 he was made the defensive line coach and run game coordinator at Northern Iowa.[5] In 2018 he was made the outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator. He was named the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at North Dakota State University in January 2019.[6][7][8]
Northwestern
2023 Season
Braun was hired by head coach Pat Fitzgerald as defensive coordinator at Northwestern in January 2023.[9][10] After Fitzgerald was fired amid allegations of widespread hazing within the football program, Braun was named Northwestern’s interim head coach.[11] The week after Northwestern broke its 14-game road losing streak by defeating Wisconsin, Braun was made Northwestern’s permanent head coach.[12] Northwestern finished the regular season with a 7–5 record—the most wins for any first-year Northwestern football coach since 1903—and qualified for a Bowl game for the first time since 2020.[13] Braun was named the 2023 Big Ten Coach of the Year for his turnaround of the program.[14] He led his team to a victory with the Wildcats at the Las Vegas Bowl—against the Utah Utes—on December 23, 2023.[15] Braun is the first Northwestern head coach to lead a team to a bowl in his opening season.
2024 Season
Braun and the Wildcats struggled in his first full season as Head Coach, finishing 4-8.
2025 Season
After dropping the season opener at Tulane, Braun’s Wildcats won 5 of their following 6 contests.
On Sept. 27th, Northwestern beat UCLA for its first conference win of the season.
Braun’s Wildcats upset preseason Big Ten favorite Penn State 22-21 on Oct. 21st, marking the final game of James Franklin’s tenure at PSU.
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwestern Wildcats (Big Ten Conference) (2023–present) | |||||||||
| 2023 | Northwestern | 8–5 | 5–4 | T–2nd (West) | W Las Vegas | ||||
| 2024 | Northwestern | 4–8 | 2–7 | 16th | |||||
| 2025 | Northwestern | 7–6 | 4–5 | T–10th | W GameAbove Sports | ||||
| Northwestern: | 19–19 | 11–16 | |||||||
| Total: | 19–19 | ||||||||
Personal life
Braun and his wife, Kristin, have three children – Lucas, Andrew and Blake.[16]
References
- ↑ “#93 Dave Braun”. Winona State Athletics. Archived from the original on May 12, 2008. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
- ↑ Scoggins, Chip (November 16, 2021). “Longtime Winona State football coach Tom Sawyer retires to chase a new set of dreams”. Star Tribune. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
- ↑ “West’s Radloff heading to Winona State”. USA Today High School Sports. January 28, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
- ↑ “Aggie D-line has brains and Braun”. Davis Enterprise. August 18, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
- ↑ Southard, Dargan. “UNI football: ‘There are no egos’ on overhauled coaching staff”. The Des Moines Register. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
- ↑ “North Dakota State names Braun as defensive coordinator”. The Associated Press. January 10, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
- ↑ “North Dakota State names Braun as defensive coordinator”. USA Today. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
- ↑ “NDSU Introduces Football Coaching Staff”. KVRR Local News. January 11, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
- ↑ “WildcatReport – Report: Northwestern to hire NDSU’s David Braun as defensive coordinator”. northwestern.rivals.com. January 9, 2023. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
- ↑ “Sources: Northwestern set to hire Braun as DC”. ESPN.com. January 9, 2023. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
- ↑ Thamel, Pete (July 10, 2023). “Northwestern fires Fitzgerald amid hazing claims”. ESPN.com. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
- ↑ Chicago Tribune staff (November 15, 2023). “David Braun named Northwestern’s permanent head football coach midway through interim season”. The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
- ↑ Price, Lawrence (November 28, 2023). “Football: David Braun named Big Ten Coach of the Year”. The Daily Northwestern. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
- ↑ Ortiz, Alex (November 28, 2023). “Northwestern’s David Braun named Big Ten Coach of the Year”. CBS. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
- ↑ Kern, Kirk (December 24, 2023). “Ben Bryant leads Northwestern past Utah 14-7 in Las Vegas Bowl”. AP News. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
- ↑ “David Braun – Dan and Susan Jones Family Head Football Coach – Football Coaches – Northwestern Athletics”. Northwestern University.