Shortly after Northwestern fired head coach Pat Fitzgerald, it was reported that New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka was a potential candidate to replace him.
Bruce Feldman of The Athletic called Kafka a “dream candidate.”
The dream candidate for the school probably would be Kafka, a 35-year-old former Wildcat QB who grew up in Chicago and has risen fast up the NFL ranks. Northwestern has been terrible on offense for awhile; Kafka seems like he could fix that pretty quickly, but he’s not far from becoming an NFL head coach at this point. He interviewed for a bunch of jobs last winter, so why jump into the craziness of the college game at a place that just canned someone he learned under?
Kafka, who was a quarterback at Northwestern from 2005-09, had drawn significant head coaching interest this offseason so his potential hiring made sense. It also made Giants fans extremely nervous.
But Giants Nation can now rest easy.
Pete Thamel of ESPN reports that Northwestern will pass on Kafka and will name defensive coordinator David Braun as the team’s interim head coach for the 2023 season.
Northwestern defensive coordinator David Braun has been tabbed as the school’s interim head coach for the 2023 season, sources told ESPN.
Braun will serve as the interim coach in the aftermath of the firing of coach Pat Fitzgerald amid allegations of hazing in the Northwestern program.
Kafka will remain the Giants’ offensive coordinator this coming season but is once again expected to draw head coaching interest in 2024.
