EVANSTON-Fresh off his first win as permanent head coach and clinching bowl eligibility, David Braun fielded questions from the media in his last game-week press conference of the regular season.
As the Wildcats head into their rivalry game against Illinois with a 6-5 record, intrigue now abounds about how Braun will change his coaching staff after the season in light of his five-year contract.
One thing is for sure: a defensive coordinator will be hired or promoted as Braun will cede his defensive play-calling duties after the bowl game.
"I will not be calling the defensive plays next year," Braun said "[I will] for Illinois and the bowl opportunity. I'll continue to keep consistency but, for me to best serve the program as head coach, it's not in our program's best interest.
"That would be selfish on my part. I trust people that we hired to do their job. I'm not micromanaging them and that's something where we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
Braun said he'll focus on finding the right defensive coordinator for this team, not for necessarily for him personally.
"The non-negotiable is making sure their scheme fits our personnel, fits our players," he said about the future coordinator. "There has to be a certain level of consistency...
"Guys get themselves into trouble when it's 'this is my defense'. No, no, no. This is our defense. What puts our student-athletes to be in the best position Saturdays? That's the non-negotiable for me moving forward is that whoever is making those decisions is looking to do it with that lens."
Braun gave the company line on how he'll assess his staff. He'll start the evaluation process immediately after the Illinois game, but he'll also consider the upside of continuity for their bowl game.
"Those conversations and that thought process will start after Illinois," he said. "We'll also be very conscious of making sure we're doing a great job of staying present for whatever bowl opportunity awaits us."
Northwestern wants the Hat back: This marks Braun's first game as head coach in the Land of Lincoln series against Illinois, and he's raring to get his first crack at bringing the Hat back to Evanston.
"It's been a great learning opportunity to ask the staff, to ask our leadership council this morning, what the rivalry means to them," he said. "The consistent message is 'Coach, we want the Hat back. It's time to bring the Hat back.'"
The Wildcats won six straight in the series but have dropped the last two games to Illinois in embarrassing fashion, losing 47-14 and 41-3.
"There's extra emotion when a trophy is on the line," Braun said. "You want to make sure that trophy has a comfortable place in your facility and stays in your facility. Great opportunity for our guys this week to go battle their tails off and bring the Hat back to Evanston."
There are a dwindling number of available slots in Class of 2024: The line of seniors at Ryan Field's Senior Day last week stretched almost the length of a field, but, in reality, only about a handful of those players are in their last year of eligibility at Northwestern. Many players who have an extra year because of COVID or a redshirt season were no doubt waiting to see whether Braun got hired as the permanent coach before making a decision about whether to come back.
As a result, Braun said that Northwestern's Class of 2024 has just two more spots available as they wait to hear from players on their decisions to return.
"It's unique with roster management right now," he said. "We still have guys on the roster that have a COVID year. It's unique. Looking at it right now, we probably have room for two more commitments in the class as it looks on paper.
"We have to bend our knees and stay flexible with how this continues to push forward and the decisions our upperclassmen make in terms of their remaining eligibility."
The Wildcats are heavily favored to earn the commitment of Timi Oke, who will make his announcement on Nov. 28, so Braun is likely already counting him.
That would set up the Wildcats to bring in a class of just 14 commits for 2024. That would be the fewest commits they've signed in the Rivals era. But, as Braun said, with the unique roster situation, you can't offer scholarships you don't have.
Braun looked back on his growth this season: The Wildcats have won three of their last four games, and it's hard to fathom they're the same team that took a flight out to Rutgers and lost 24-7, with only a garbage-time touchdown to show offensively, in their season opener.
Braun took some time to reflect on how his routine and responsibility as a head coach has changed since then.
"I think I've really grown with understanding where I need to delegate responsibility," he said. "I'm not trying to micromanage, and where that's really embodied is in our defensive prep.
"There's a certain way I've gone about it as a defensive coordinator and probably, in that Week 1, I was trying to do it like I've always done it. I quickly realized you can't do that, not with the other responsibilities on my plate. It's a credit to our defensive staff in terms of the way that we've caught a rhythm, delegated and taken ownership of responsibilities."
One of the new responsibilities Braun has is setting the tone for the sideline. Big Ten Network caught plenty of clips of Braun firing up his team, and even jumping up and down in exhilaration after one fourth-down stop, establishing the energy on the sideline.
"I promise my vertical is not getting me recruited anymore," Braun said with a chuckle. "I think it's an awareness of head coaching responsibilities, calling a defense, really evaluating how I can better manage the game and starting to realize, 'Are you really being you? Are your really bringing your best to the sidelines?'
"I think post-Duke was an opportunity for me to realize, 'Get out of your own way, stop overthinking this and just show up as the best version of yourself each and every Saturday.'"
