Northwestern's Braun Clarifies Emotional Comments After Michigan Loss

Gavin Dorsey

Nov 17, 2025, 19:10

Gavin Dorsey

Nov 17, 2025, 19:10

Updated at: Nov 17, 2025, 19:10

Saturday's 24-22 last-second loss to Michigan was a gut punch to Northwestern, and the emotions following were on full display in David Braun's postgame press conference. In an emotional speech, NU's head coach expressed his frustration with the idea that the Wildcats taking the Wolverines to the wire should be celebrated as a moral victory.

Those frustrations included some pointed words at the way Northwestern's games are officiated and the way the team is viewed from both within and outside the program.

Slightly under 48 hours later, Braun clarified his fiery comments during his weekly Monday morning press conference. Here's what he said:

"From my position, I don't feel like there's any form of lack of respect. I think this is a program that, for years, has been respected. People acknowledge, 'Gosh, you guys play hard and you guys do it the right way.' Those are all things that we want to certainly continue. I also want to be clear that this program isn't here to just say, 'We're going to try our best and do it the right way and hope we can compete on Saturdays.' We're showing up every single week with an expectation to get a win. The work that our guys have put in all year, the work that we're putting in institutionally, athletic department-wise, football program, to really deliver on that..."

"I just want to be really clear that this isn't something like, 'New Big Ten, look at these 18 teams, and good-old Northwestern is going to give it their best try.' No, we're showing up with an expectation to win. Like I alluded to with Matt [Shelton] earlier, I wish there was a magic pill that we could take, snap our fingers and get there. But if we're not driven daily to chase after and meet that expectation as soon as possible..."

"Just setting the tone that, especially with an opportunity moving into the new Ryan Field going into 2026, it's going to take everybody. Everyone within these walls here at the facility, but also our fanbase and the excitement, we're building something special here. We already had something really special here, but in the new landscape of college football, new Big Ten, we better be driven and motivated daily. When we show up on gameday, there's no moral victories after the game. We can acknowledge objectively what happened and how we got there, but no moral victories. If the mission is to go beat whatever school we're playing, and we don't accomplish our mission, that's a failed mission. That's not okay."

You can read Braun's full comments from his postgame speech at the link below:

David Braun Affirms Northwestern's Big Ten Title Goal in Passionate Speech The Wildcats' head coach went off after the team's 24-22 loss to No. 18 Michigan at Wrigley Field.

Northwestern's Braun Clarifies Emotional Comments After Michigan Loss