| David Braun | |
| Current Title: | Head coach |
| Current Team: | Northwestern |
| Current Conference: | Big Ten |
| Current Record: | 12–13 |
| Birth Date: | 2 April 1985 |
| Birth Place: | Lake Forest, Illinois, U.S. |
| Alma Mater: | Winona State |
| Player Years1: | 2004–2007 |
| Player Team1: | Winona State |
| Player Positions: | Defensive lineman |
| Coach Years1: | 2008–2009 |
| Coach Team1: | Winona State (GA) |
| Coach Years2: | 2010 |
| Coach Team2: | Culver–Stockton (DC/LB) |
| Coach Years3: | 2011–2014 |
| Coach Team3: | Winona State (co-DC/LB) |
| Coach Years4: | 2015–2016 |
| Coach Team4: | UC Davis (DL) |
| Coach Years5: | 2017 |
| Coach Team5: | Northern Iowa (RGC/DL) |
| Coach Years6: | 2018 |
| Coach Team6: | Northern Iowa (STC/OLB) |
| Coach Years7: | 2019–2022 |
| Coach Team7: | North Dakota State (DC/S) |
| Coach Years8: | 2023 |
| Coach Team8: | Northwestern (interim HC/DC/gained full-time job in week 12 2023) |
| Coach Years9: | 2023–present |
| Coach Team9: | Northwestern |
| Overall Record: | 12–13 |
| Bowl Record: | 1–0 |
| Awards: |
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David Braun (born April 2, 1985) is an American college football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach for Northwestern.
Braun is from Wales, Wisconsin, where he attended Kettle Moraine High School.[1] Braun began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Winona State University, his alma mater, in 2008. In 2010 he was made the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Culver-Stockton. In 2011 he returned to Winona State[2] where he worked as the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach[3] until the end of the 2014 season. In 2015 he became the defensive line coach at UC Davis[4] where he stayed until the end of the 2016 season. In 2017 he was made the defensive line coach and run game coordinator at Northern Iowa.[5] In 2018 he was made the outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator. He was named the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at North Dakota State University in January 2019.[6] [7] [8]
Braun was hired by head coach Pat Fitzgerald as defensive coordinator at Northwestern in January 2023.[9] [10] After head coach Pat Fitzgerald was fired amid allegations of widespread hazing within the football program, Braun was named Northwestern's interim head coach.[11] The week after Northwestern broke its 14-game road losing streak by defeating Wisconsin, Braun was made Northwestern's permanent head coach.[12] Northwestern finished the regular season with a 7–5 record—the most wins for any first-year Northwestern football coach since 1903—and qualified for a Bowl game for the first time since 2020.[13] Braun was named the 2023 Big Ten Coach of the Year for his turnaround of the program.[14] He led his team to a victory with the Wildcats at the Las Vegas Bowl—against the Utah Utes—on December 23, 2023.[15] Braun is the first Northwestern head coach to lead a team to a bowl in his opening season.