Agreed it should. What making improvements in all these areas would mean is that NU would be getting close to 100% productivity out of their talent. That said, even with 100% (as opposed to the , say 50% the past coaching staff got from their talent) NU's talent lags behind Texas and Oklahoma by a wide margin and is likely a little behind Missouri, and is comparable to Kansas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M.I dont think there'd be any question that improvement in those areas would dramtically affect the W/L record.:yeahRealistic expectations would be:
better conditioned athletes, leaner on both lines
stronger athletes
more physical play
tremendously more intense, focused play
gang tackling
improved fundamentals getting off blocks, better leverage with lineman, etc.
smarter decision making from coaches
coaches who play speed players
better use of redshirts
no excuses made by coaches or players
no blame being attributed to anyone but those responsble
a never quit attitude from coaches and players
no talking smack from players
good graduation rates
excellent character from the players and coaches off the field
better connection with team history, ex-players
and whatever that translates to record-wise on the field. Everything listed above is in the control of the players and coaches. Expect them to do all of that and hope it translates to more W's than L's --- maybe appreciably more W's than L's. But remember that the B12 now is pretty good --- even with all the improvement listed above, 9 wins may not happen.
I think that the NU fans overestimate the talent pool wearing red. Also, I think many underestimate the impact that being the laughing stack of college football has had on the psyche of the returning players. Kids do not instantly recover from such devastating a blow to the confidence. I would suspect that a reasonable subset of these guys will not recover confidence at all. So, even with near 100% productivity out of what NU has, middle conference (or perhaps upper middle conference) is about all anyone should expect for a while.