I haven't been able to find anything that would make me uncomfortable with Nichols prior experience. Sounds like she was a good president at UWyoming who turned around enrollment, was liked by the faculty and students, and then was let go by the board without cause. It does seem the board may have been upset with her for sticking up for the University when the board reallocated a LOT of money from academic departments.
Tikalsky was a finalist for the last U of Idaho opening as well. He's discussed a bit in this thread on the Vandal's board. They were disappointed when he withdrew his application. https://247sports.com/college/idaho/board/103901/Contents/presidential-search-5-finalists-129544464/?page=1