The Northwestern Wildcats are officially headed to Detroit, Michigan, to take on the Central Michigan Chippewas in the GameAbove Sports Bowl. NU's second bowl appearance in three seasons will be held on Friday, December 26, at 1:00 p.m. ET/12:00 p.m. CT.

Shortly after the Sunday afternoon announcement that the 'Cats and Chippewas had accepted their invitations to the Motor City, Northwestern head coach David Braun spoke to the media about his team's preparation for the bowl game, the future of his football program and more.

Here's what Braun had to say:

David Braun Transcript — Dec. 7, 2025

David Braun's Opening Statement:

"Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for being here. Thrilled with the opportunity ahead. Huge thanks to the GameAbove Sports Bowl for the invite. This is an exciting time for our football team. We had practice last week, Thursday and Friday. Both practices were spirited, competitive. Friday, I would argue, was one of our most competitive, physical practices we've had all year. It's been a great opportunity to continue to challenge this football team and finish off the season the right way, finish what we started, and also just an incredible opportunity to continue to develop a lot of guys on this football team that have played limited football. Whether that be opportunities to get back into our offense and our defense, or continued growth in special teams, excited about the way last week went."

"Excited about what's ahead of us. Central Michigan, CMU, Coach Drinkall, the job that he's done in his first year at CMU is really impressive. [We] know that we have a great opponent in front of us, an opponent that will be highly motivated, well-coached, and still just getting started in terms of truly understanding who they are and what their strengths are. But [it's] something that this staff is hard at work at and excited to get back to work this week and prep for a really good CMU team, go to Detroit and do everything in our power to make sure that we finish what we started. And that's with a bowl victory."

On using the bowl game to develop younger players for the future:

"Priority number one, and we've talked about the goals of this program, but one of the goals is to dominate in the postseason. Obviously, we aspire to have our postseason opportunities moving forward be in the College Football Playoff, but also, the postseason involves bowl opportunities. Ultimately, what our seniors deserve, what our leadership deserves, is for us to be at our absolute best in our last game with an opportunity to win a bowl championship."

"With that being said, us not being in school after this week, after finals complete, there is an incredible opportunity to be mindful about the way that we're practicing and getting into our routine, for one week that will be here in Evanston, then one week that'll be on the bowl site there in Detroit, while also making sure that we're getting our young guys a ton of reps. And we've already started that. What it really looks like is a mindful approach at the beginning of practice with individual fundamentals, technique, plenty of reps in terms of preparing for our opponents, and good-on-good. But then, we reserve time at the end of practice with 7-on-7 that involves a lot of our young players. Preston Stone is going to get plenty of reps. Ryan Boe is going to get plenty of reps. So is Marcus Romain. It's an incredible opportunity, especially for a guy like Marcus, or a guy like Josh Veldman, or a guy like Alijah Jones, or Jon Jon Stevens, the list goes on and on, Jonah Hayes. Guys to get a ton of reps of playing our defense, our offense, essentially a mini spring ball of sorts, which is something we're really excited about."

On what he learned from the Las Vegas Bowl and preparation that he's using this time:

"I think sometimes you look at the Las Vegas Bowl victory against an opponent like Utah, and you could easily say, 'Whatever that was, it must have worked. Let's copy and paste that.' The reality is that was a different time. December wasn't dead for recruiting. The calendar's changed. We really went through and evaluated. What we wanted to do is make sure that we stayed sharp last week, not even knowing who our opponent was, acknowledge that our guys have finals this week and give them some time to take a deep breath and focus on finals. We'll start practice back up on Wednesday. We'll have a really good Wednesday, a really good Thursday practice, and then on Sunday, we'll get into our rhythm of a Monday practice, a Tuesday practice, get into that routine. I think it's striking the balance between preparing our football team to go win a football game [and] prioritizing some development of our entire roster, while also understanding that our guys got a lot of stuff going on right now. If we can find some balance of giving them an opportunity to close out this fall quarter the right way and position them to be fresh, sharp and healthy as we prepare for this last opportunity, that's something that we've been mindful of as we've mapped out these next few weeks."

On the veterans who played in the 2023 Las Vegas Bowl using their experience to mentor the younger players:

"I think that it's how they showed up to meetings on Thursday, and the way that they practiced. It just set a tone for what we're all about. At the end of the day, the reality around college football right now is there's so many other things going on, it can be really easy to become distracted. This senior group, this veteran group, this leadership group won't allow that to happen. This is an opportunity that we're excited about. We honor by the way that we prep. And ultimately, we're prioritizing making sure we're at our absolute best, to make sure that we're prepared for a really good CMU team, and finish this season off the right way with a win."

"It was shown in terms of just the way that those guys modeled themselves this past week in practice. We didn't even know who our opponent was. We didn't know where we were going. But this is something that this program takes seriously, our players take seriously. All you have to do is look at Mac Uihlein or Caleb Tiernan. We're trying to rein a few of these guys in that have played a ton of Big Ten football and reps, and Caleb Tiernan in Friday's practice was like, "Listen, I didn't show up just to do [anything] today. I showed up to get better at football. Get me in there. Let's go." What else could you ask for from a senior captain than that type of mentality? The young guys in the program see that, they feed off of that, they understand what the expectation is."

On whether quarterback is a position of need in the transfer portal:

"Ryan Boe is someone that this program really believes in, and believes that Ryan Boe is a starting caliber winner in the Big Ten. Can't be more excited about Ryan Boe being with us next year. Also with an understanding that, in the Big Ten, you don't have to look far to recognize that you better have two, if not three, quarterbacks in your program that you believe can step into the Big Ten arena on the road and help you go win a football game."

"As we evaluate that, we're really excited about the addition of Johnny O'Brien. We're really excited about Marcus Romain. But ultimately, those guys have not played any Big Ten football, and for us to serve our program and serve our roster best, if we have to evaluate and look at bringing in a so-called more experienced quarterback, that's something that we have to evaluate for the best of our program, our quarterback room. Ultimately, Ryan Boe wants that too. He wants to have a competitive room where he feels like, at the end of the day, if he got a little dinged up and couldn't finish out a game in the third and fourth quarter, and we've got someone that can go win us a football game... I'm not saying that's not Johnny, I'm not saying that's not Marcus, but as we evaluate the entire roster, there's not a ton of experience returning on our team in that quarterback room. I say that by saying there's no doubt in our mind that Ryan Boe is someone that can help us win a Big Ten Championship."

On whether Indiana's ascension from conference afterthought to Big Ten Champions is a blueprint for Northwestern to do the same:

"I think there's things to learn from what we've seen at Indiana, and acknowledge their success and the great job that that staff and those players have done. One thing that I would learn from that is the transfers that they brought in. It wasn't necessarily a bunch of big, flashy names that were bounce-backs from Miami and Alabama and USC, and maybe some of these marquee programs. It's a lot of guys that were playing Group of Five football. Just being really thorough in terms of not just the caliber of football player you're bringing in, but the drive and motivation and character of a young man."

"And also an acknowledgement of the way that Indiana has done it. It's going to have to look different at Northwestern, and that's okay. We embrace that. Don't let me twist words around here. The ultimate goal is to position this program to be competing for Big Ten Championships and be playing in the College Football Playoff. What a credit to Indiana to be able to turn that around in such a short amount of time. Look where they stand right now. Excited for Indiana. It's good for the Big Ten. You better show up every single week in this league. What a great challenge ahead for us, our staff and everyone involved."

On Griffin Wilde coming from FCS South Dakota State and becoming an All-Big Ten wide receiver:

"I know those [All-Big Ten] teams are important. I try not to put too much intention into them, because honestly, I think we all have a big enough chip on our shoulder around here. In some ways, I think there's plenty of guys on that list that deserve better recognition than they received. I think Griffin is one of those guys, and then you can acknowledge, I firmly believe he is one of the best wide receivers in the Big Ten and one of the best in the country. It's a credit to his skill set, for sure, but it's also a credit to who he is."

"The guy that you get on a Monday night practice and the guy that you get on Saturday in prime time, they're the same guy. They're competitive, they're detail-oriented. He plays for his teammates. My thing for Griffin going into this bowl prep and going into next season... He leads in such a powerful way already, but it's going to be a great challenge for him to really become the primary voice on that offensive side of the ball. What a great challenge for him moving forward, but really proud of what he's done and so excited about what's to come with him."

On retaining players from the roster to stay at Northwestern instead of entering the transfer portal:

"Our position coaches had one-on-one meetings with our guys at the end of last week, and then I'll dive into a bunch of one-on-one meetings with our guys here over the course of the next couple weeks... Of the young men that played significant football for us in the Big Ten this year, we anticipate almost 100% of those guys to return to Northwestern through the conversations we've had, not any in the last couple days, over the course of the last couple weeks. We've said retention is going to be our priority, and we've certainly acted in that manner."

"We anticipate a couple guys potentially looking to transfer. A lot of times, that comes from situations of simply a young man that wants a bigger role. "Coach, I got my degree from Northwestern, and I have a year left of eligibility. If it doesn't look like I'm going to have an opportunity to play a ton on offense or defense, I want to explore an opportunity to go do that." We'll always navigate those conversations with honesty and transparency and support guys in those desires. But we anticipate, once again, having a retention rate that we're all really proud of."

On injury updates ahead of the bowl game:

"The good news is we got a lot of time. I can tell you, I'm really confident about Caleb [Komolafe] and Aidan [Hubbard] being back. Joe's [Himon] more up in the air. Long term for Joe is not a concern, but in terms of the next couple of weeks with his injury, definitely more, I don't want to say pessimistic, but very confident in Caleb and Aidan being back. We'll know more about Joe here later this week."

On reflecting between last year's 4-8 season and reaching a bowl game this year:

"It's really rewarding. We get essentially a month-long extension with this team and with this group, and an opportunity to improve and develop and send our seniors out in the fashion that we're all really proud of. Also, there was an acknowledgement a few days ago, in our first team meeting back after the Illinois game, that we have a football team that ultimately feels like we should have a couple more wins in the win column this season. What a great opportunity to take a deep breath, reflect, ultimately acknowledge that, but then put it aside and say, "Hey, we have an opportunity to go finish this off the right way with a bowl victory." And that's what we've got to focus on."

"What I will tell you is this senior group should be really proud of the legacy that they're leaving behind. Truly a certain level of recommitment and reestablishment of the standard of what that looks like at Northwestern football. Ultimately, it's the first Northwestern football team that has become bowl eligible in the new landscape of the Big Ten, and that's not taking anything away from any previous Northwestern football team. There's a lot of reverence and things to be proud of in terms of what this program has accomplished. But this Big Ten is dramatically different than the Big Ten of old. For this senior group to recognize what they started in January, what they've done, what we've been able to accomplish in terms of becoming bowl eligible, the critical piece in that legacy that we have left is making sure that we position ourselves to be at our best for Central Michigan and put a product on the field that's that's ultimately a winning product."

On looking back at the season-opener against Tulane after the Green Wave were selected to compete in the College Football Playoff:

"We knew we were dealing with a really, really good football team. This is a two-part. There's an 'and' here. Tulane is a really good football team. They beat us fair and square. They got after us. Credit to them, and we didn't play our best in Week 1. In self-evaluation, when we get into January, February, March, I better be willing to evaluate myself in terms of the way that we prepared our football team and positioned ourselves to be at our best in Week 1, because we certainly weren't against Tulane. Credit to Jon [Sumrall], credit to those players. They had plenty of excuses or explanations or potential distractions, and ultimately, they found a way to position themselves to be playing in the postseason. Darn good football team and I'm happy for those guys."