He's the one who got Yoeli back. Under any other circumstance, Yoeli was gone, so no, he was not inherited. He earned Yoeli through hard work.
Nixon was coming off of a horrible season and Seljaas wasn't much better.
He brought Toolson in.
He brought Barcello in.

So yeah, he inherited one really good senior. His recruiting and development did the rest. Let's not say he was "gifted" anything. He was gifted a project that needed a lot of work.