EVANSTON-David Braun has had his hands full since getting the Northwestern defensive coordinator job in January.
He met with every player on his defense individually. He was heavily involved in hiring two defensive assistants to fill out his staff. He built a defense from scratch, getting input from all of the coaches.
But ask him about it, and he says his job has been easy compared to what his wife, Kristin, has had to deal with. While he jumped into his new job with both feet in Evanston, she was back in Fargo, N.D., raising their two boys while pregnant with No. 3. All while trying to pack up a house and get ready for a move in the dead of winter.
“I've been here ripping and running, doing it with great people,” said Braun after Thursday morning’s practice as the Walter Athletic Center. “It's my wife, Kristin, back home, and our two boys, Lucas and Andrew, that have the heavy lifting, looking to sell a house in Fargo.”
That tells you a lot about Braun right there. He’s a family man. He lights up when talking about his wife and kids. And while football coaches often get so wrapped up in their jobs that they forget about what’s going on in the outside world, he’s a guy who keeps it all in perspective.
Braun is young-looking, fit and bearded. He was personable, open and thoughtful throughout his media session, standing there and answering back-and-forth questions from two reporters for more than 18 minutes after a long practice. It looked like he enjoyed himself.
Braun seems like an easy guy to like. Linebacker Bryce Gallagher is certainly a fan.
"He's brought great, great energy to us," said Gallagher. "He's come in with high-, high-level energy. All the guys love him."
But, in the end, fans are going to judge Braun on his defense. Northwestern’s success in the ‘90s, and in head coach Pat Fitzgerald's best years, was built on defense. After two years of subpar play under previous defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil, fans want nothing more than to see the Wildcats get back to the defensive brand of football that made them successful.
Braun agrees.
"When you turn on the film, what are you gonna see? You better see a group that plays really hard, is full tilt for full 60 minutes, that plays a very physical brand of football that wins in the Big Ten, and a group that plays for one another."
Everyone wants to know what Northwestern’s defense will look like this year.
Will it be a clone of what Braun ran at North Dakota State for the last four years? Will the Wildcats look more like it did under longtime defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz, who retired after the 2020 season? They’re probably hoping that it looks very little like the defense that had trouble stopping the run under O’Neil the last two years, when the Wildcats went a combined 4-20.
Braun says it will be a little bit of all those schemes. We’ll let him explain the mix.
“I'd say it's probably a combination of 50% of some of the things we were doing at North Dakota State, another 30% of some of the things that [linebackers] coach [Tim] McGarigle and [safeties] coach [Matt] MacPherson were really familiar with, with Coach Hank. And then [20%] of some things that they were doing with Coach O'Neil last year that was really productive and our guys liked and they played fast.”
That’s one of the keys: playing fast. Fitzgerald intimated that Northwestern’s defense may have been a bit too complicated at times the last couple years, hindering players' ability to play instinctive, aggressive football.
Gallagher thinks that Braun’s system is a little bit easier than his predecessor's. The early returns are positive.
“I would say it's definitely a little simpler, but at the end of the day, it comes down to execution,” said Gallagher, who led Northwestern with 100 tackles last season. “Last year, like I've said before, it's on us to ultimately go out there and execute. No matter what the plan is, it's our responsibility. But I'd say there definitely has been some things that have been simplified.”
While the system is certainly different, he says that it's similar enough to previous defenses to make picking it up fairly easy. Gallagher should know: the redshirt senior played in both Hankwitz’s and O’Neil’s schemes before learning Braun's over the last couple months.
"It's got its similarities and there's obviously little tweaks here and there, but I would say, kind of once you get those concepts and kind of understand football, it's not that hard to adjust to," he said.
Braun took a collaborative approach to building the defense. He wanted to take the best of what O’Neil, Hankwitz and all of the other coaches on the staff had to offer. In addition, he wanted to fit it to his personnel's strengths.
“Jim O’Neil is a really smart football coach, a really good football coach. This staff is populated with great coaches. When I stepped in the building, it wasn't like we walked in and said, ‘You know, everything that's been done here in the past wasn't good, and here's what we did in North Dakota State, and this is the perfect way to do things.’ It hasn't been that at all,” he said.
“What it's been is, ‘Here's some things that [I believe in] that we did in the past. Let's talk about it. Hey guys, what are some things you guys have done in the past if you [really believe in]? Well, hey, here's how we ran Cover 3 with Coach Hank. Let's talk about that as we start to build it.’
“What meshes together, what complements one another? What complements the guys that we have in the locker room? There's gonna be a lot of things that are different from last year, but the things that we’re really good at, that our guys are really comfortable in, we've kept those things consistent."
Braun has spent the last couple months evaluating what his defense does well, and where they need to get better.
He likes the depth and talent he has in the safety room and will look for opportunities to get more safeties on the field in sub packages. He's equally concerned about defensive tackle, where the Wildcats have just two scholarship players after graduation and losses to the transfer portal. Braun said they need to get help immediately in that room from the transfer portal.
Braun maintains that his defense will try to maximize the strengths of his personnel. "But," he adds, "at our roots, in our foundation, we anticipate being a four-down [linemen], D-line-centric operation like they have been here for years."
But, Braun hopes, better. He wants them to tackle better and more consistently, and put pressure on opposing quarterbacks more effectively. More than any alignment, Braun likes to talk about the characteristics that his defense will display.
"We gotta find ways to create takeaways to put [the offense] in advantageous situations," he said. "That's the fun part of the formula right now, is looking at this team and how we are going to play off one another, complementary football that leads to, at the end of the day, victories.
"Defensively, we're gonna look to limit explosives. We're gonna play with great leverage. We're gonna look to take advantage of takeaways. And at the end of the day, if an offense finds a way to move the ball on us a little bit, you know, field goals shouldn't get you beat. If we can really buck up in the red zone and force people to kick field goals, our offense is gonna find a way to put drives together, score points, and put us in a situation to win games in the fourth quarter."
Braun is just getting started installing his defense. He, the rest of the coaches and the players, still have a lot of work to do.
The same goes for his move to Evanston. His family won't arrive until Monday. Then, things will get serious.
So we'll close by letting Braun tell you another story about his six- and seven-year old boys. They have a big transition in front of them, moving from Fargo to Chicagoland. But they may assimilate faster than you might think.
"So the first question they asked when we told them about the move was, 'Dad, does this mean that I can't play for the Bison someday?' And, you know, they got tears in their eyes. I got tears in my eyes. But that shows you their allegiance to the people that they've become so fond of up there.
"But quickly after that, when we told him, 'Oh, that's okay, Andrew, you can still play for the Bison someday if you want to,' he immediately was looking at the Northwestern schedule next year. He was excited that we got Minnesota on the schedule. You know, being a neighbor in state to North Dakota, he's not a big fan of the Gophers. So Andrew's excited about that.
"And their favorite colors now are green, yellow, and purple. I said, 'Buddy, why is that?' He goes, 'Dad, I’m a Wildcat fan now.'"
Braun is already working with his team on the field at Northwestern. Soon, he'll get the home team up to speed, too.
For a complete transcription of the interview with Braun, go to The Rock Premium Message Board
Not a subscriber? Sign up today!
