Generally speaking, what is the success rate of newly hired coaches? Obviously, the definition of "success" varies in who you ask, but for the sake of arguments sake, let's say a stepped improvement over the previous regime. The success rate has to be sub-50%, doesn't it? Maybe 40%, with "blue bloods" probably having slightly higher success rates, based purely on their ability to shell out money for the "best" candidates. I'm just throwing completely baseless numbers out, but the point being that while many hires look like winners on paper, they ultimately don't pan out.
Fickell is certainly a different approach from what WI has done for the past 30-ish years. It has the possibility of being a Brewster-like hire, where the style doesn't match the available personnel or conference playing styles. It also has the possibility to be "different" and make teams in the B1G struggle to play against a different style. Purdue and Jeff Brohm are really the outliers in the conference as far as style/scheme goes, and they've certainly had more downs than ups during his tenure.
That's a very long-winded way of saying that I think the ceiling may be higher than hiring Jim, but the floor is very likely lower as well. As a Gopher fan, here's hoping it doesn't pan out.
