Takeaways from David Braun's Week 1 press conference
Week 1 is finally here and interim head coach David Braun addressed the media before his looming debut at Rutgers on Sept. 3.
Braun made the decision that players would not take questions or give comments this week. They will be available by request on Tuesdays during the season, but this week he wanted their focus solely on their first game.
"My policy on that is that we're less than a week away from our first football game," Braun said. "I'm here to talk about football, our players are ready to talk about football, that's what we're going to focus on."
Here are our takeaways from the rest of Braun's comments:
A quarterback has been chosen, but not disclosed: Braun said that the coaching staff has picked their starting quarterback and doesn't seem to intend to split series. But he decided not to make the decision public yet.
"This locker room and this program is hungry for a starting quarterback and someone that everyone can look to and say that's our starting quarterback," Braun said. "That's who's going to lead us to victories and we've made that decision, but we are just choosing to keep that information in-house at this time."
Offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian has preferred dual-threat quarterbacks in the past, like incumbent starter Brendan Sullivan, over pocket passers like incoming transfer Ben Bryant. But Braun said he isn't worried that potentially choosing Bryant could limit the playbook.
"There's no doubt that a dual threat quarterback finds different ways to stress a defensive play caller... But a true pocket passer that can be efficient with quick games, screens, RPOs and drop-back passes. That's a weapon in and of itself," Braun said.
"Mike's going to find ways, regardless if that's a pocket passer or a dual threat back there. Great coaches find ways to lean into the strengths of their players and I'm confident Mike will do just that as we navigate this."
Mock game has team ready for Rutgers: Northwestern held a mock game at Ryan Field last Saturday to go over some scout looks and prepare for the game this Sunday. Braun said it was productive and has the team ready for the season.
"This group has been on a slow build, and they're amping up to the point they're ready to play," he said. "The other takeaways were that I've seen this group mature throughout fall camp...
"Some of the quirks that we had to work out from the first live scrimmage have started to work themselves out. I can tell that we have a focused group right now."
Captains will be announced this week: Keeping his cards close to the vest, Braun didn't disclose the team's captains for the 2023 season, either. But he said that the program would announce them at some point before Sunday's opener.
"That's something that we plan on doing this week," Braun said. "We're excited to announce those names. [We're] excited not only about the results, but also really impressed by the number of young men that were voted for by their teammates.
"That reflects not just a small group of leadership. I think there's there's leadership throughout our locker room right now that has been absolutely necessary as we navigated late July and August."
Special teams carry extra weight: Braun's experience as a special teams coordinator has not been forgotten in his role as an interim head coach. He coached special teams and outside linebackers for Northern Iowa in 2018.
"One thing that we've identified as a staff, considering our current situation and numbers, everyone is going to have to play a critical role," Braun said. "One thing our guys understand is that your effort on special teams, in my opinion as a former special teams coordinator, is an ultimate reflection about how much you truly care about your team."
No two-deep depth chart to come: Northwestern didn't release a two-deep for its game against Rutgers. And it won't be doing so for any of the other games, either.
Northwestern has joined the majority of Big Ten programs and won't be releasing a preseason, or in-season two-deep depth chart during game weeks. The athletic department will list the last game's starters and a full roster for game sheets only.
Braun thinks he's ready for the role as head coach: Ahead of his first game as a head coach, Braun says he is ready to lead the program, and he knows what kind of leader he wants to be for the Wildcats this season.
"I am extremely confident in my ability to lead, to inspire and to pull people together for common purpose," he said. "I also believe I have a unique ability to identify the things that I don't know...
"I know I'm up for the challenge but I'm up for the challenge because I've got great people around me, and I've been willing to lean into that."
Wildcats are a band of brothers: When asked to distill the team down into one or two things that speak for their mentality, Braun quickly responded with one word: "brotherhood."
"There's a bunch of guys right now that have come together, they leaned into one another and pushed one another through offseason workouts and fall camp... If you were to talk to our football team, specifically our leadership right now, and describe one thing that drives this group, I think a very common answer would be brotherhood and camaraderie between the guys in that locker room."
Northwestern is prepared to have all hands on deck: The Wildcats entered fall camp with 103 of the possible 120 players on their roster, and Braun knows this team will need to stay ready in case of injury.
"I think it stems back to some of the things we've done in terms of our fall camp model," Braun said on preparing the team top to bottom. "We found ways to try and double-rep some of our team run to find ways to make sure that our [third-stringers] are getting opportunities...
"That was intentional in its design because at some point we're going to have to lean on a freshman to play football. This year we're going to have to lean on a young man that is a [number] three [on the depth chart] right now, but all of a sudden its Week 7 and he's going to be starting for us."