David Braun reportedly making coordinator changes at Northwestern
After being named the interim head coach heading into the season, David Braun took over a daunting task of leading a Big Ten program coming off a 1-win season into uncharted territory as the program reeled from an alleged hazing scandal.
Braun's leadership through those adverse times led to him being appointed the new leader of the Wildcats, and the program put the finishing touched on an 8-win season recently with their bowl win over Utah.
With the reigns of the program moving forward, Braun has decided to make some staff changes, according to multiple reports.
Offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian, special teams coordinator / tight ends coach Jeff Genyk and director of sports performance for football Jay Hooten will not return, reports share.
Bajakian took over as offensive coordinator in December of 2019 after a season at Boston College in the same role. The veteran offensive mind has offensive coordinator experience at Central Michigan, Cincinnati and Tennessee as well, with a few seasons in the NFL with the Bucs as their quarterbacks coach.
Genyk had been part of the Wildcats staff since February of 2018 and had previous experience as a special teams coordinator at Cal, Wisconsin, and Vanderbilt. It was his third stop at Northwestern after starting there as a graduate assistant before working with the linebackers and then running backs from 1997-2003.
He also had a brief stop as the head coach at Eastern Michigan from 2005-08.
Hooten has been at Northwestern since 2009, rising to director of football performance in 2011. The longtime member of the staff previously worked at Ohio State.
The changes come as Braun begins to shape the staff with coordinators of his choosing that will resemble his style of play, entering his first full-season as an FBS head coach (sans the interim title).
His hires to fill these vacancies will go a long way in saying what Northwestern will look like under his leadership moving forward.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.
