If you would of told me that Northwestern Football after firing longtime head football coach Pat Fitzgerald due to a hazing scandal during the off season that they would go on to win 8 games including their bowl game against Utah is an amazing accomplishment. Think about it the off season was full of so much noise about oh Northwestern they shouldn’t be playing football this fall or they won’t win any games except for the non conference games. The Wildcats in 2022 only won 1 football game as they finished the season 1-11. I was saying to myself let’s see how David Braun the interim HC would do given the circumstances that happened in the off season and how many games he can win. I was amazed that Northwestern under interim head coach David Braun who was supposed to be the defensive coordinator under Pat Fitzgerald was as the team stayed focused where they won 5 conference games in the Big 10 conference while winning 2 games in non conference schedule under his watch.
In mid November after winning in Madison against the Wisconsin Badgers where the Northwestern Wildcats were 5-5 winning their biggest game of the season so far, David Braun had the interim tag removed and was named the football head coach moving forward. Braun was voted as expected Big 10 Coach of the year which came at no surprise given the circumstances that happened over the summer. David Braun became the first Northwestern Head Coach to win 5 games in his first season as head coach since Walter McCornack way back in 1903 when they won 10 games. Northwestern capped off the season with a 14-7 win in the Las Vegas Bowl against the Utah Utes as the Wildcats ended an eventful season in triumph. No Northwestern is not a power house in the Big 10 with the likes of Michigan or Ohio State but David Braun is the right guy to keep Northwestern as a solid team in the Big 10 and I am just fine with that.