Coach Prime coverage questioned as Northwestern’s David Braun is ignored
Mike Farrell of Mike Farrell Sports doesn’t understand why Coach Prime’s Colorado football program is getting praise — after Deion Sanders took a one-win Buffs team in 2022 and quadrupled their win total this season with an overhauled roster — instead of Northwestern’s David Braun; who made a one-win 2022 Wildcats squad bowl-eligible in 2023 after the controversial firing of Pat Fitzgerald in July.
“Northwestern went from 1-11 to 7-5 with an in-season coaching change and some dude in Colorado is getting all the praise for going from 1-11 to 4-8?” Farrell asked on November 26, the day after CU’s final loss to Utah, a 23-17 final in Salt Lake City and a 45-43 Northwestern win over Illinois.
Of course, the Fitzgerlad-to-Bryan change happened in the summer, with Braun getting promoted to full-time head coach from an interim basis, so the in-season coaching change narrative is flat-out false. But there’s another narrative Farrell is ignoring about Sanders’ coaching job compared to Braun’s.
Colorado football roster turnover not comparable to Northwestern’s
Colorado had the most historic roster overhaul college football has ever seen in the post-NIL world, and before it too, so Coach Prime getting these guys together quickly enough to go 3-0 and become a ranked team was a massive feat.
It’s not comparable with what Braun did, making Northwestern the No. 2 team in the Big Ten West after four wins in 2021 and 2022, but keep in mind that Braun had continuity: only two new starters on offense and a PK/punter.
While Sanders struggled, his competition in the Pac-12 was harder than what Braun faced. Oregon, Oregon State, Utah, and even USC were all ranked College Football Playoff contenders in 2023, while only Penn State and Iowa are in that ballpark on Northwestern’s schedule.
Perhaps it would’ve been better if Farrell never linked these two coaches at all, since there are not enough similarities in their situations to make the comparison relevant.