When David Braun took Northwestern Football’s interim head coach position 16 months ago, he controlled the reins of a program firmly entrenched in national headlines. The program legend who gave the Wales, Wisconsin, native his then-dream job of a Big Ten defensive coordinator was ousted.
Braun, who’d arrived in Evanston just six months earlier, seemed a certain one-year stop-gap. But in his relative introduction to the spotlight at the 2023 Big Ten Media Days, Braun outlined a story that his team hoped to write for itself.
In a quiet, workmanlike manner, Braun led the Wildcats to an 8-5 record and Las Vegas Bowl win in 2023. Braun’s remarkable opening chapter at NU culminated in him receiving the permanent head coaching job — and the keys to bringing in his own hires at various coordinator and position coaching positions.
On the surface, the 2024 season carries the look of a dismal second act for Braun. The ’Cats regressed to a 4-8 record, won just two Big Ten games, offensive coordinator Zach Lujan struggled mightily in his adjustment from FCS powerhouse South Dakota State to the FBS and NU dropped its last three games by a combined margin of 119-41.
In terms of on-field product, the ’Cats presented one of the Power Four’s least efficient and productive offensive units, while boasting a bottom six defense in the conference. This marked a recipe for disaster in the realigned Big Ten gauntlet.
“We knew we were going to have to play complementary football, especially early in the season defensively, to provide our offense an opportunity to really catch a rhythm and keep games close and low scoring at times,” Braun said. “As the season continued to go along, results (were) far from what we were looking for.”
Although NU finished well short of its program goal of a bowl bid in 2024, the story the ’Cats presented this season goes far deeper than the team’s losing record or any stat sheet.
Less than 100 days ago, NU unveiled its new temporary facility at Martin Stadium for its season opening clash with Miami (Ohio) on Aug 31. Just five months ahead of the campaign, the ’Cats had no concept of a home stadium.
Talks of playing games about 30 miles away from campus at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois, were well underway, and reports even circulated of “hosting” Wisconsin at Lambeau Field. Then, various visionaries — and a significant contribution from the Braun family — turned a Field of Dreams on Lake Michigan into a picturesque reality.
“I don’t know if there’s anything to compare it to,” Braun said following his team’s 13-6 win in its season opener. “It’s just so unique.”
A venue put together in a matter of months, Martin Stadium was far from a perfect home during its five-game span. Indiana and Wisconsin fans well outnumbered the purple spectator sections, and NU won just two of its five lakeside tilts. But it presented the ’Cats with a chance to compete on campus, cultivated a family-like feel in the tightly packed stadium.
When the temperatures dipped and NU shifted its operations to Wrigley Field, the program’s historic doldrums in the Friendly Confines persisted. The ’Cats are now 0-5 in the ballpark. But, on a team of more than 30 Illinois natives, the Wrigley games pack an extra element for every player.
The venue hits especially close to home for graduate student linebacker Xander Mueller, a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan and one of the engineer’s of NU’s emphatic 2023 campaign. Mueller, who missed three games with a lower-body injury, battled back for his final two collegiate games.
Mueller embodies the spirit of the ’Cats’ departing senior class — one which stuck with the program through thick and thin. Braun didn’t recruit these players, and they could’ve easily departed once the portal opened for them in July 2023, but they stuck around and left a lasting legacy at NU.
It’s why Braun’s young sons made sure to get every senior’s autograph on the eve of Saturday’s season finale.
“These guys are our boys’ heroes,” Braun said. “The way they carry themselves, as a dad, there’s no one else I’d want my boys to look up to. What really stands out to me is the resiliency of this group, the mental toughness of this group. Regardless of the results that showed up on the field this year, they have so much to be proud of.”
With the aspirations the program had for itself, a four-win season marks a disappointment. Braun knows it. The team knows it. And, Braun’s staff has plenty of work to do in terms of both evaluating what went wrong in 2024 and maximizing its potential for next season.
A myriad of question marks and setbacks took place this season, but the chronicle of the 2024 ’Cats packed a plethora of noteworthy storylines. Graduate student A.J. Henning said he and his teammates could nitpick singular plays for countless hours, but at the end of the day, he held tremendous pride in his group’s consistent fight.
“There was never an ounce of quit in this group,” Henning said. “Every week, we came into the game with the belief that we’re gonna get back on track.”
It’s the story of redshirt junior defensive tackle Carmine Bastone — the walk-on turned defensive captain whose strip sack vaulted NU to a resounding victory over Maryland during his return from injury on Oct. 11. It’s preferred walk-on and true freshman wide receiver Drew Wagner learning the day before the Iowa game that he’d be returning punts and catching lightning in a bottle with 72-yard score on Oct. 26.
It’s Chicago native and redshirt sophomore quarterback Jack Lausch losing the preseason quarterback battle but staying ready for when his number was called ahead of Week 3. And, it’s graduate student Mike Wright staying committed to his role as a mentor, even when the coaching staff went in another direction.
As with any football season, the ’Cats dealt with their fair share of injuries.
Redshirt junior cornerback Ore Adeyi went down with a lower-body injury in the preseason, throwing young contributors like redshirt freshman Josh Fussell and redshirt sophomore Braden Turner into the limelight. Injuries to starting center Josh Bailey and left guard Nick Herzog left Braun deeming his offensive line room “the few and the proud.”
If anything, the season afforded the team’s young talent valuable in-game reps against stacked opponents. For Braun, there are no greater growth tools than playing time “in the arena.”
Just two years removed from his time calling defensive schemes in the FargoDome, Braun has led NU into storied sites such as Kinnick Stadium, Michigan Stadium and Camp Randall Stadium. He has helped craft consequential sections of program history during his first two seasons, but he is now faced with perhaps his grandest challenge.
Last season, Braun launched a sensational turnaround — albeit with former coach Pat Fitzgerald’s system, recruits and staff. Now, as the ’Cats navigate an ever-changing college football landscape, he must usher the program into a new era behind his own vision.
“It’s not pointing any fingers, it’s just an exciting endeavor to say, ‘We get an opportunity to attack the 2025 season,’” Braun said.
Surely, that groundwork is well underway.
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