Whether our coaching staff is able to wring results out of lesser talent is often a point of discussion on these boards. On that topic, this is a pretty fascinating article from FiveThirtyEight. In it, the author looks at the relative over- and under-performance of programs based on Rivals' recruiting rankings and a statistical model of program success.
The most interesting takeaway is that Northwestern is ranked #9 in "getting the most out of recruits" for the period covering 2005-2014. The conclusion may be skewed because that covers some of Walker's more successful years, but interesting nonetheless. Our single-season rating for 2014 was a slight under-performance, but the longer-term results are more interesting to me in any event.
Wisconsin is the top performer over the longer period and is the only B1G school rated higher than us. I also just can't help but directly quote this section:
"The worst of the underachievers are Colorado, Illinois and Indiana. And unsurprisingly, several years of coaching changes, off-field distractions and underwhelming on-field performance have left the football powerhouses of Michigan, Miami and Tennessee among the underachievers."
Behind Ohio State and Michigan State, the B1G is almost always about who is able to do more with less talent. Northwestern has been able to do more while other programs have done worse with more talent (at least insofar as recruiting rankings are to be believed).
The most interesting takeaway is that Northwestern is ranked #9 in "getting the most out of recruits" for the period covering 2005-2014. The conclusion may be skewed because that covers some of Walker's more successful years, but interesting nonetheless. Our single-season rating for 2014 was a slight under-performance, but the longer-term results are more interesting to me in any event.
Wisconsin is the top performer over the longer period and is the only B1G school rated higher than us. I also just can't help but directly quote this section:
"The worst of the underachievers are Colorado, Illinois and Indiana. And unsurprisingly, several years of coaching changes, off-field distractions and underwhelming on-field performance have left the football powerhouses of Michigan, Miami and Tennessee among the underachievers."
Behind Ohio State and Michigan State, the B1G is almost always about who is able to do more with less talent. Northwestern has been able to do more while other programs have done worse with more talent (at least insofar as recruiting rankings are to be believed).