David Braun is an American
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
coach and former player. He is currently the head coach and
defensive coordinator
A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...
for
Northwestern.
Coaching career
Braun is from
Wales, Wisconsin
Wales is a village in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, first settled by Welsh immigrants. The population was 2,862 at the time of the 2020 census.
Geography
Wales is located at (43.003882, -88.377558).
According to the United States Census Burea ...
, where he attended
Kettle Moraine High School. 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 where he worked as the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach until the end of the 2014 season. In 2015 he became the defensive line coach at UC Davis 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. 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.
Northwestern
2023 Season
Braun was named the defensive coordinator at Northwestern in January 2023. After head coach
Pat Fitzgerald was fired amid allegations of widespread hazing within the football program, Braun was named Northwestern's interim head coach. The week after
Northwestern broke its 14-game road losing streak by defeating
Wisconsin, Braun was made Northwestern's permanent head coach.
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. Braun was named the 2023
Big Ten Coach of the Year
Coaches and media of the Big Ten Conference award the following individual honors at the end of each American football, football season. In addition, the ''Chicago Tribune'' awards the Chicago Tribune Silver Football to the most valuable football p ...
for his turnaround of the program. He led his team to a victory with the Wildcats at the Las Vegas Bowl--against the Utah Utes--on December 23, 2023.
Braun is the first Northwestern head coach to lead a team to a bowl in his opening season.
Head coaching record
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Braun, David
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Culver–Stockton Wildcats football coaches
North Dakota State Bison football coaches
Northern Iowa Panthers football coaches
Northwestern Wildcats football coaches
UC Davis Aggies football coaches
Winona State Warriors football coaches
Winona State Warriors football players
Coaches of American football from Wisconsin
Players of American football from Waukesha County, Wisconsin