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Media Days Notebook l David Braun at the podium l Braun survives first turn in the spotlight

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We don’t know much about David Braun yet. He’s only been on the job since January, and Big Ten Media Days was just the second time he’s spoken publicly. We know next to nothing about what kind of a football coach he is.

But judging by the second press conference he had with media late Wednesday afternoon at Lucas Oil Stadium, Braun showed that Northwestern picked the right guy to lead the program through the 2023 season. He may end up being the one thing the administration did right in the mushroom cloud of a hazing scandal that has radiated through the entire program.

If you saw Braun at the main podium earlier in the day, you probably didn’t get that impression. He looked nervous. Unsure of himself. Like a guy just trying to survive his first moment in the spotlight.

But in the afternoon, at a smaller table in front of about a half dozen cameras and a couple dozen reporters, Braun was a different man. Comfortable, earnest and straightforward. Even confident. He looked every questioner in the eye and answered every question head-on, with nothing to hide.

Why the difference? Because, the second time around, he was being himself.

At the larger podium earlier in the day, Braun’s speech was scripted. He was deliberately trying to stretch his opening remarks to minimize the number of questions he would field. He was uncomfortable, and it showed.

But later, in the more intimate but no less pressure-packed meeting, he was much more impressive. He looked like a stand-up guy that players would want to play for. He spoke from the heart and took his wife, Kristin’s, advice to “just be you.”

Maybe nothing displayed who Braun was more than when he was asked if he had any second thoughts about accepting an interim head coaching job in the most difficult of circumstances.

“Absolutely not,” he shot back without hesitation. “I hope I've been raised in a way that I'm a guy that people can count on. You know, I'll stand in the fire with [them], and run to the fire. I hope when I look back on this 20 years from now, and I'm proud of the way that that we went about this.” He added that he did it to set an example for his players, whom he is also asking to face the fire this season.

Another moment was when tears welled up in his eyes as he talked about the gravity of preparing for Media Days.

“I'm very thankful for,” he said with his voice briefly cracking, “a lot of people praying for me right now.”

Braun knows the ugliness in Northwestern’s rearview mirror. The hazing scandal that resulted in head coach Pat Fitzgerald’s firing on July 10 has spawned six lawsuits involving the football program, as of Thursday – five from former players and one from Fitzgerald. Braun’s bosses, athletic director Derrick Gragg and school president Michael Schill, are both under fire in the media.

Braun knows that there are likely hazing victims and perpetrators in his locker room right now, and at least two members of his staff – associate head coach Matt MacPherson and strength coach Jay Hooten – have been named in one of the lawsuits.

But he is trying to keep his eyes firmly on the future by doing two things: focusing on his players and preparing for the season.

Braun said that he has nearly completed the task of meeting all of his players one-on-one. His goal is simple.

“Just getting to know these guys, know who they are,” he said. “And it has had nothing to do with football. I have not asked them any questions about anything related to before I arrived, but we have put together a path of how we're going to move forward.

“But most importantly, just really trying to meet these guys where they're at, and make sure that there's clear expectations of how we're going to move forward.”

He thinks that players knowing that the coaches and the program are behind them is most important right now.

“Our guys just need to know that they're supported,” he added. “Yes, it is absolutely critical that we prepare ourselves to go beat Rutgers. But we have no chance of doing that if our guys just don't feel supported right now.”

Braun is well aware that many of the players came to Northwestern primarily to play for Fitzgerald, and he isn’t shying away from having those conversations. He admitted to still admiring Fitzgerald for being “a man that stood for the holistic development of young men and prioritizes family things that I admire and look up to you.” He added that he still talks to Fitzgerald as a parent of one of his players, freshman tight end Jack Fitzgerald, who is still on the team.

Braun avoided any hazing talk by speaking only about things that he’s witnessed since his arrival on Jan. 16. He also wouldn’t talk about any pending litigation, meaning any hazing questions were off limits. When asked about MacPherson and Hooten, he said that they have done nothing but support their players since he’s been on the job, so he trusts them with his players.

Whether that’s myopic is for others to decide – and some media outlets criticized him for it. But he is a football coach, after all, trying to prepare for a season opener in a little more than a month. That’s his focus right now.

It’s also worth noting that Braun was the only member of the program to attend Media Days and answer questions in an open forum. Three Wildcat players who were originally scheduled to go did not attend, while Gragg made the trip but talked to only ESPN and the Big Ten Network. Schill has yet to field questions from anyone but The Daily Northwestern.

Braun spoke confidently about his team, which he repeatedly called “special”. He says that the goals of the program – “to win a Big Ten West championship, show back up in Indy and go win a bowl game” – haven’t changed, even if they are currently navigating a minefield.

He says that there is only one way to put all of the negativity swirling around the program to rest: by winning football games.

“Put our players on full display,” he said. “There, they will change that conversation and that narrative. Anyone that has had an opportunity to meet the young men that are part of Northwestern football, we know they are men of character, integrity, toughness, grit, highly intellectual, selfless individuals that are awesome to coach….

“I can only speak to my experiences and everything I've experienced. It gives me great conviction that that I'm rolling with a group that will take this thing head on and come together to do something really special.”

We don’t know how many games, if any, Braun will win this season. He has been placed in an impossible situation for his first head coaching job. But on Wednesday, he showed the Northwestern community that he may be the right man at the right time to lead the Wildcats into the fire.