Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Northwestern head coach David Braun was in his early 20's and in his first coaching job as a graduate assistant at his alma mater Winona State University when Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham's team upset Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
It was a monumental moment in Whittingham's coaching tenure, where he led the Utes to their second undefeated season over a four-year period and helped propel the program into the Pac-12.
"I remember that game vividly," Braun told media Sunday after his team was paired up with Utah for the Las Vegas Bowl. "I remember as a young coach, in my GA days, walking the hallways at coaches convention: 'Hey, that's coach Whittingham.' You've got big eyes and you're just like, man, what they're doing at Utah, and you only get a chance to observe it from afar."
Now in his 19th season as Utah's head coach, Whittingham has become a model of consistency for what he's done to build Utah into a regular contender in the college football landscape. None of that is lost on Braun, either.
"It'll be a tremendous challenge," Braun said. "I don't think coach Whittingham knows this, but I commonly will use the Utah program as a model that I really admire, in terms of the way that they've built that program, the way that they play complimentary football and team football."
After a tumultuous offseason that included Northwestern firing alumnus head coach Pat Fitzgerald for not stopping alleged hazing and bullying within his program, Braun was named the interim coach to lead the Wildcats in a season where not much was expected from Northwestern's football program.
Northwestern was picked to finish the 2023 season last in the Big Ten West (the Wildcats actually received the least votes in both divisions) and would be operating with an interim coach before the games even kicked off. The optics weren't great for the program or its chances to compete in the Big Ten.
The season was anything but perfect for the Wildcats, but Braun helped lead his team to a 7-5 season and a second-place finish in the Big Ten West. As a result, Northwestern removed the interim tag from Braun on Nov. 15 and made him the university's 30th head coach in program history.
He was also named the consensus Big Ten Coach of the Year for his efforts.
Viva Las Vegas: Utah to play Northwestern in Las Vegas Bowl
Utah football is headed back to Las Vegas.The road ahead for Braun remains difficult as he navigates being a head coach for the first time in his career — at a Power Five program no less — but an opportunity to learn from Whittingham and his defensive staff years ago set a standard for how he hopes to run his program moving forward.
"I had a chance a couple of years ago to go out to Utah and do some professional development around their defensive staff," Braun said. "Even just being around the facility and the way that they operate, it's something to strive for. Certainly a tremendous amount of respect for the way that coach Whittingham has built that program.
"They've built a foundation and a model of consistency," he added. "There's a certain understanding of what Utah football looks like. It evolves, but it's rooted in fundamentals and physicality — again, a lot of things that Northwestern football has been rooted in and wants to continue to be rooted in and improve upon. But just a tremendous amount of admiration and respect for the way that coach has done that, not just in short terms, small window; I mean, it's been a sustainable foundation that has had a tremendous amount of success."
Though Braun has the utmost respect for Whittingham and his place in college football, his attention now turns to getting his team ready to compete against the coach he models some of his coaching style after.
It's a nice footnote to the lead-up to the game, but for Braun it's more about building on the early success he's already had at Northwestern to ensure his tenure as the program's newest head coach starts out the right way.
And though a win isn't the only way to track success, it's a nice way to gain some momentum — especially against a coach that Braun has modeled his coaching after.
"We certainly understand the challenge that's in front of us and excited to embark on that challenge," Braun said.
