Former Winona State football captain and assistant coach David Braun was named interim coach last week at Northwestern, taking over following the firing of Pat Fitzgerald due to multiple allegations of hazing.
The Wildcats lauded Braun's promotion from defensive coordinator in a media release that mentioned he obtained "a master's degree in sports management and educational leadership" while at Winona State. Braun never received a master's degree from Winona State, the school confirmed to the Star Tribune on Friday.
Braun played for the Warriors, and his second assistant coaching stint took place there as well. His biography at Winona State — error and all — wasn't properly vetted as Braun went on to stints at the University of California-Davis, Northern Iowa and North Dakota State.
The Northwestern athletics department updated its online news story on Braun's hiring on Friday to reflect the inaccuracy, without noting the change.
Northwestern responded to the Star Tribune's inquiries on Friday with this statement: "In drafting the recent press release announcing David Braun's appointment as Interim Head Coach, the University's communications staff sourced information from a publicly available biography of Coach Braun that contained factual inaccuracies. Coach Braun did not misrepresent his educational experience to the University at any point, including on his resume or application materials. We apologize to Coach Braun and the public for the error."
Winona State also corrected the error in the still-accessible online bio of Braun from his time with the Warriors, removing the mention of the master's degree.
How this error followed Braun from school to school during his 15-year coaching career is unclear. The level of vetting conducted by Northwestern is also unclear. The school did not make Braun available for an interview Friday.
Eric Schoh, Winona State's athletic director, told the Star Tribune on Friday: "I have no concerns about Coach Braun's integrity. He is truly one of the good ones in our profession. I would say this was an honest mistake on the administrative side things."
Braun was hired by Northwestern six months ago to be defensive coordinator, a role he previously held at North Dakota State. In four seasons, he helped lead the Bison to two FCS titles, in 2019 and 2021.
Northwestern is facing three lawsuits regarding the alleged hazing practices. The school fired Fitzgerald last week after a university investigation found allegations of hazing by 11 current or former players, including "forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature," school President Michael Schill wrote in a letter to school faculty and staff.
