David Braun Named Defensive Coordinator
1/17/2023 2:51:00 PM | Football
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern has hired David Braun as defensive coordinator, Dan & Susan Jones Family Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald announced on Tuesday.
"We are thrilled to officially welcome David, Kristin, Lucas and Andrew, to our football family," Fitzgerald said. "His record on the field speaks for itself during a decorated leadership tenure with one of the most successful programs in college football. The innovative ways he thinks about defense, and his passion for creating relationships with players immediately stood out during a comprehensive search process. His enthusiasm for the game is obvious and infectious, and we already are beginning to see the impact he's having on our student-athletes and staff."
The 2021 FCS Coordinator of the Year, Braun joins the Wildcats after four years in the same position at North Dakota State, where he helped lead the Bison to two FCS national championships in 2019 and 2021. In both of those seasons, Braun's defensive unit finished as the top-ranked scoring defense in the FCS.
"I'm thankful to Coach Fitzgerald, Dr. Derrick Gragg, and the entire Wildcats community for welcoming me to Evanston," said Braun. "My entire family will forever be grateful for an incredible experience at North Dakota State University, and the opportunity Coach [Matt] Entz provided to be part of a championship culture in Fargo. As someone who was born on Chicago's north shore, this dream job also is a homecoming for me. Every day I meet more and more exceptional people at Northwestern, and I know our entire staff can't wait to get our team on the field for spring ball."
Over the course of his four seasons overseeing the North Dakota State defense, Braun's unit allowed just 15.3 points per game, 292.2 yards per game, 4.74 yards per play and 166.4 passing yards per game. In his first year in Fargo, Braun produced the No. 1 scoring defense in the FCS at 12.3 points per game, helping the Bison complete a perfect 16-0 season and capture a Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) title and an FCS National Championship.
Two years later during the 2021 season, Braun was named the FootballScoop FCS Coordinator of the Year after producing the FCS's best scoring defense once again en route to another conference title and FCS National Championship. That season, the Bison limited opponents to an MVFC record 11.1 points per game, ranked third nationally in total defense (264.7 yards per game) and third down conversion defense (26.8%), fifth in red zone defense (68%) and sixth in rushing defense (87.6 yards per game).
During his tenure at North Dakota State, Braun's defense was one of just two units (Montana State) in the FCS to produce multiple NFL draft picks, as linebacker Jabril Cox was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft and linebacker Derrek Tuszka was selected in the seventh round of the 2020 draft.
Named to the 2020 class of the American Football Coaches Association's 35 Under 35 Coaches Leadership Institute, Braun is a graduate of Winona State (Minn.), where he was a team captain and two-time all-conference recipient playing defensive line for (current North Dakota State head coach) Matt Entz from 2004-07. Braun led the Warriors to three conference titles and three NCAA Division II Playoff appearances in his four years as a player. He tallied 15.0 career sacks, 12th most in Winona State history, including a team-high 8.0 sacks as a sophomore in 2005.
Braun joined the Winona State staff as a graduate assistant for two years after earning a bachelor's degree in social science education in 2008. After a stint as the defensive coordinator at Culver-Stockton in 2010, Braun returned to his alma mater where he spent four years as Winona State's co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach from 2011-14. In 2015, Braun made the jump from Division II to FCS, where spent two seasons (2015-16) as the defensive line coach at UC Davis before moving to Northern Iowa as the defensive line coach and run game coordinator in 2017 and the special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach in 2018. Braun was hired as the defensive coordinator at North Dakota State prior to the 2019 season, succeeding Entz after he was promoted to head coach.
Braun and his wife, Kristin, are the parents of two boys, Lucas and Andrew.
David Braun Coaching Career
2008 Winona State (Graduate Assistant)
2009 Winona State (Graduate Assistant)
2010 Culver-Stockton (Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers)
2011 Winona State (Co-Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers)
2012 Winona State (Co-Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers)
2013 Winona State (Co-Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers)
2014 Winona State (Co-Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers)
2015 UC Davis (Defensive Line)
2016 UC Davis (Defensive Line)
2017 Northern Iowa (Run Game Coordinator/Defensive Line)
2018 Northern Iowa (Special Teams Coordinator/Outside Linebackers)
2019 North Dakota State (Defensive Coordinator/Safeties)
2020 North Dakota State (Defensive Coordinator/Safeties)
2021 North Dakota State (Defensive Coordinator/Safeties)
2022 North Dakota State (Defensive Coordinator/Safeties)
