This year Northwestern won because they had a schedule that was a bakery store. Luck carried them past Nebraska, and playing in the second division of BIG helped. It would be a huge mistake for the Packers to hire Fitzgerald, who has a golden horseshoe in the college ranks. Culture? I guess you could call it that.
I am not a NU guy by any stretch, but you have to give them credit. They did beat 4 ranked teams (2 on the road). Not many schools can claim that. Their "bakery store" schedule as you call it is anywhere between the 9th and 16th most difficult in the nation depending on the source.