Braun still has work to do to drop the interim tag

David Braun has already exceeded expectations as Northwestern’s interim head coach. No one can reasonably dispute that.

He has the Wildcats at 3-3 at the bye week. Players love him. He has been open, honest and accessible. He's even picked up a few verbal commitments in the process.

He has done just about everything right since he took over in mid-July for fired program icon Pat Fitzgerald, in next-to-impossible circumstances.

Braun’s exemplary performance in his first year as a head coach at any level should earn him a spot at the head of the line when it comes time for Northwestern to hire a head coach at the end of the season. He should get the first interview.

But Braun hasn’t done enough to warrant the removal of his interim tag quite yet. There are several reasons why.

The first one is that, while the Wildcats have already tripled their win total from a year ago, they’ve only won one game they weren’t supposed to win thus far. They were expected to beat UTEP and Howard; most experts predicted them to go 2-10, with those two wins to their credit. The game the Cats weren’t supposed to have in the W column is their thrilling comeback over Minnesota, 37-34, in overtime on Sept. 23.

That was a cathartic win for the program, the first victory in Big Ten in more than a year. But it’s important to consider that the Wildcats looked overmatched for three quarters of that contest, trailing 31-10 before Gopher coach PJ Fleck opened the door by playing not to lose, and Ben Bryant kicked it in with three touchdown passes in the last 12-plus minutes and overtime.

The Wildcats were not competitive in dismal losses to Rutgers and Duke. They put up a heck of a fight for a half against Penn State before the Nittany Lions’ superior talent took over.

They scuffled around for two quarters against UTEP, tied 7-7 at the half, before turning it on and blowing them out in the second half to snap the program’s embarrassing 12-game losing streak. They were supposed to overwhelm Howard, too, but after building a 16-0 halftime lead against the FCS Bison, they got outscored in the second half and barely escaped with a 23-20 win.

Ironically, a lot of fans felt more encouraged about the future by the Wildcats’ loss to Penn State than they did the win over Howard.

All that matters is wins and losses, of course. But the takeaway here is that Northwestern has yet to put together four good quarters in any game this season. Braun will tell you that himself, and he and his staff bear responsibility for that inconsistency.

Braun doubles as the team’s de facto defensive coordinator on game day, and has told us several times that he pretty much leaves the offense to coordinator Mike Bajakian. So he doesn’t really have the same level of responsibility as a typical head coach. And that’s fine, as plenty of head coaches heavily favor one side of the ball or the other.

But he also doesn’t get the same level of scrutiny as most coaches. Because everyone realizes the dire situation he’s in, and because he’s such a likable guy, he gets the benefit of the doubt more often than not.

One example is the second-half collapse against Howard, when the Bison outplayed the bigger, faster and deeper Wildcats. NU fans were just happy to reach the break with three wins and breathed a sigh of relief, when most fan bases would have torched the coach on social media. After a week of Braun saying they wouldn't overlook an FCS opponent, the Wildcats took their eye off the ball and nearly suffered an embarrassing loss.

Another case in point is the second of his two decisions to go for it on fourth down in the third quarter against Penn State. The Wildcats had just been stopped on fourth-and-1 to hand the Lions a field goal. Braun called for a fake punt on fourth-and-4 from his own 31, a long distance to go so deep in your own territory. The attempt fell a yard short, Penn State scored a touchdown to go up three scores and Wildcats' upset bid was dead with a quarter and a half to go.

Maybe the biggest question about Braun is whether he can recruit at a Big Ten level. He spent his entire career coaching in Division II and the FCS, so he is getting his first taste of Power Five recruiting on the fly.

So far, the results have been positive. He’s managed to land three commitments in a very challenging environment since he took over.

Think about what he's up against: Braun doesn’t know if he, or any member of his staff, will be back next season. Several players might transfer. The former coach and several former players are suing the university in the fallout of a hazing scandal. His bosses – president Michael Schill and athletic director Derrick Gragg – have been roundly criticized by just about everyone. Crowds on game day at Ryan Field have been smaller than usual.

Yet, facing all those obstacles, Braun and his staff were still able to land two-star wide receiver Carson Grove in July, and a pair of three-stars, safety Tito Williams and offensive lineman Aiden Newbill, just last week. That’s impressive.

But of those three, only one, Williams, had other Power Five offers to his credit, with three. Grove and Newbill didn’t have any, and of that pair’s 14 other offers, 11 of them were from FCS programs.

This isn’t to say that those players won’t develop into bona fide impact players; they might make All-Big Ten one day for all we know. The point is that Braun and his staff haven’t beaten any other Big Ten programs for prospects as of yet.

On the flip side, Braun has drawn raves from the prospects WildcatReport has spoken with, indicating he may be a successful recruiter at the highest level.

Williams, who was previously offered by Power Fives Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and West Virginia, came right out and said that his connection with Braun was a major reason he committed, even though he knows that Braun might not be the head coach by the time he arrives on campus.

"Coach Braun is a great dude," Williams said. "He let me know before I committed, 'Just so you know, in January, you know, I might not be here.’ He let me know he might not have the same job as when he offered me, which I'm cool with. Because as long as I'm playing with Coach Braun, or for Coach Braun, I'm good."

It’s also fair to wonder whether Braun, hailing from the FCS, has the type of network to fill out a coaching staff, if necessary. Five of his assistants are holdovers from Fitzgerald’s staff, and those guys might be on the way out regardless of whether Braun is retained, if only to distance the program from the scandal.

Braun had a lot of input on the hiring of defensive line coach Christian Smith from his former rival, South Dakota State, in February. Smith has made a major impact as both a coach and a recruiter in his first season. Braun also hired DJ Vokolek in July to replace himself on staff, though we don’t know much about Vokolek's impact because his role as a “defensive assistant” has been kept ambiguous with Braun remaining as coordinator.

There’s also the possibility that Braun comes back next season not as the head man, but as the defensive coordinator under a new head coach. But that may be unlikely if the new guy is a longtime head coach who has assistants lined up that will follow him to the new job.

The other strike against Braun is not on him – it’s the situation he finds himself in at Northwestern. He would leading a down-to-the-studs rehab of the program.

Not only would Braun be likely to lose coaches, but players as well. He’ll have to replace players through the transfer portal, and we all know how difficult it is to get non-grad transfers to pass admissions at NU.

And he’d have to do it all while coaching a homeless, roving team playing home games at various Chicago venues for at least the next two years while Ryan Field is rebuilt.

That’s a mountain of a challenge for even a well-seasoned Power Five head coach. Does Braun have the kind of experience, vision and clout to manage that type of rebuilding process? We just don’t know.

Northwestern should be in no hurry to make a rash, emotional decision. This remains a Power Five job in one of the two super-conferences in college football. The administration and board should let Braun finish the season and then make a decision.

Looking at the remainder of the schedule, games against Maryland and Wisconsin look like longshots at this point. But the Wildcats will have at least a shot at knocking off Nebraska, Illinois and Purdue, and maybe even offensively-challenged Iowa -- assuming Braun can get a more consistent performance from his team, especially the offense.

If the season goes south like it did in 2021, when the Wildcats also started out 3-3 and finished 3-9, you thank Braun for his exceptional stewardship and write a glowing letter of recommendation. If Braun continues to defy the odds and posts another .500 record in the back half of the schedule to earn a bowl berth, then drop his interim title.

Of course, if Braun leads the Cats to a bowl game, he'll earn more than the full-time job. He'll likely take home the Big Ten Coach of the Year award, too.