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cdj
07-13-2010, 02:53 PM
As we progress through Dynasties, tips and strategies for success in recruiting will emerge. Use this thread to share thoughts, tips, and ideas.


To kick it off, here is a basic walkthrough from EA on recruiting.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUPfFUEQl6w

Roy38
07-13-2010, 03:28 PM
You beat me to it cdj! I started my recruiting project last night. Hope to add some good information to the board soon.

cdj
07-13-2010, 04:26 PM
You beat me to it cdj! I started my recruiting project last night. Hope to add some good information to the board soon.

Looking forward to it! I think we'll be busy formulating strategies all year with the changes made.

SirHellraiser
07-16-2010, 11:07 AM
I started a offline Dynasty with Texas with the default settings i am on week 5 no recruits yet had 1 promise from week 1

baseballplyrmvp
07-19-2010, 08:37 PM
i just got done with my first season, and there were a couple of instances where i found myself only 1 point behind another team for a certain recruit. however, for like 3-4 weeks, no matter what i did, i would always stay 1 point behind the other school. if you get to this stage with a recruit (being only 1 point behind another school), is it pretty much guaranteed that he'll be holding out until the off-season to make his decision?

steelerfan
07-19-2010, 09:49 PM
i just got done with my first season, and there were a couple of instances where i found myself only 1 point behind another team for a certain recruit. however, for like 3-4 weeks, no matter what i did, i would always stay 1 point behind the other school. if you get to this stage with a recruit (being only 1 point behind another school), is it pretty much guaranteed that he'll be holding out until the off-season to make his decision?

In my experience, this usually occurs when a player has made a Soft Commit. In 3 years of AA recruiting, I was able to steal 1 player away from a team to which he had given a Soft Commit. IMHO, the effort (and loss of recruiting time) is not worth the reward. Generally, I will remove a player from my board who has Soft Committed.

cdj - sorry, I didn't see this thread till now and I started a similar one in the Sliders Forum.

SirHellraiser
07-20-2010, 10:34 AM
I have had 2 soft commits to come to Texas one was a 5 start tackle that i needed

Roy38
07-20-2010, 03:43 PM
Hopefully I'll be starting my dynasty this evening. I plan on taking a 1* program (either Team Builder or an available school) and using Varsity recruiting sliders. I'll update my initial post on this page with recruiting information as I come across it. My goals will be (in order):

Fulfill team needs. This will be determined by player graduation, covering possible transfers, covering possible players moving to the next level, and the offensive and defensive scheme I put into place.
Build depth. After I fulfill my team's needs, I'll attempt to build depth at needed positions up to the allotted maximum roster limit (70).
Get talent. I will try to obtain better prospects (3* and higher), but only after I have completed the first two steps.

SirHellraiser
07-21-2010, 09:43 AM
Welll i may have found something When recruiting online I was recruitng a prospect that had me at 1 on his school list and when i clicked on find interest i was getting negative points

razorback44
07-21-2010, 04:44 PM
I just started my first OD this week and one thing I have noticed immediately is that insta commits seem to be a lot more common this year. We are doing a big 10 dynasty using AA recruiting with 8 of the 11 teams taken. Two weeks in to the year and every single team has had a minimum of 1 insta commit. Some teams as many as 4. I just feel like that is a little high but maybe it is just me.

Of course, I have Michigan State and only have one so maybe I am just jealous. :D

Roy38
07-23-2010, 07:31 PM
I pulled this from operationsports.com. It's a great read and packs more information about recruiting than I could hope to put together myself. All credit goes to scadh who composed this original article.

*Updated*

Two seasons into NCAAF 11 (and years of earlier iterations behind me), here follow some thoughts and experiences I have culled into a mini-Recruiting Strategy Guide. My experience is with a good, but not great, 4* program (Missouri), using All-American recruiting difficulty setting (note that’s a separate setting from gameplay difficulty, for those who don’t already know). Obviously, your mileage may vary if you are playing as Alabama on Varsity.


PUTTING YOUR BOARD TOGETHER

- Know yourself. Start with a healthy dose of reality by paying a quick visit to Rivals.com Football Recruiting site (http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/). Take a look at the prospects your team has signed in real life the past five years. Unless your team is a national powerhouse, there aren’t many 5* recruits on the list, are there? For most teams (even in power conferences), a 4* recruit is a big win. Don’t expect the list of recruits you sign in NCAAF11 to be much different, especially in your first few seasons.

- So your first order of business is to stop considering recruits that you have no shot of getting. Unless you’re playing as an A-prestige program, ignore players whose star caliber exceeds that of your program if you are not in their top 10. If the list of teams you’re trailing looks like last season’s final BCS ranking, make that top 5.

- Even if you ARE in their top 10, be reasonable in determining the likelihood of landing any top-tier recruit. See which schools are ahead of you. You can probably make up a deficit of a couple hundred points against schools of lower prestige or maybe a few equal or greater – but you’re probably not going to pass a BUNCH of teams with greater prestige. If you’re Washington State or Indiana, it’s going to be near impossible to sign a 4*or 5* recruit from the deep south if Alabama, Florida, LSU, Auburn and Tennessee are all ahead of you. Even if some of those schools don’t recruit the player, some of them will -- and most will have more to offer the recruit than you.

- Ten hours a week is not enough time to get all the players you want if you’re in hard-fought recruiting battles for all of them. You can’t invest a lot of time in a lot of players. You MUST get some easy commits that don’t cost you very much over the course of the season (20-30 minutes every few weeks). Target the #76 3* LT who has you second on his list -30 instead of the #44 3* LT who has you sixth at -220. You could probably get the better #44 player, but it might cost you three or four times as many minutes to do so because you’re further behind and have multiple teams to pass. The difference between the two players isn’t worth it. Instead, spend those extra minutes to get the 4* ML you’re after, or maybe add an entirely new 3* ATH that you can turn into something.

- Lock down your borders! Start by looking only at recruits in your home state and pipeline states, especially those whose caliber equals or exceeds your program prestige. Even a player a star below your school level is a good candidate, as these will often be among the easiest recruits to sign (meaning, with the least investment in minutes). Just like in real life, a decent 3* player will often have a fondness for the local school if they're pretty good (4* or better) and are the major State University (like most universities in the Big 10 and Big 12). For many schools, the pipeline bonus and A+ proximity score might be the only significant advantages you have over competing schools. When you’re investing 40 minutes or more per week, the pipeline bonus can easily be the equivalent of a an extra pitch for free. In-state and pipeline recruiting is your best bet for getting players “out of your league”.

- Next, sort the list of all players (all positions, all states) by interest. Taarget any player of a star caliber one level below your program or better and that has your school in the Top 5. At positions of need, try to target at least twice the number of prospects that the advisor shows you "need", just to ensure you have options if your top choice signs elsewhere. If you can't find that many at your need positions, then target players two levels below your program if the need is great. A 2* beats a walk-on. You don't have to simply choose the "best" or most highly-rated players if there are many similar prospects. The difference between the #11 3* FB and the #19 3* is going to be next to nothing, so pick the one that appears will be easiest and fastest to commit. Not all of your targets will be starters right away, so look to add depth at positions where you might have plenty of players but they're all weak.

- Continue adding players until your target list is full. You will get recruiting points for all recruits on your board, even if you don't call them. This will allow you to "soft" recruit some mid-level prospects without spending any minutes on them in a week. Some prospects as high as 3* will not be on any school's board. If you're near the top of such a prospect's list (-100 or less) but NO schools ahead of you have him on their board, you can actually move up his list. If enough weeks pass and no schools ahead of you have him on their recruiting board, you may find yourself at #1. This is perfect for players who are your second or third choice at a position, but who you don't want to offer until you see how things play out with your top choice. You're not going to have enough minutes to spend any of them in the beginning on players way down your priority list, so this is a way to still move up that player's board for free. That way if your top choice does fall through, you might already be at #1 on your first alternative. Even if you sign your top choice, it's never a bad thing to be #1. In later weeks, you'll be looking to sign players for depth anyway, and you'll sign more players if you're near the top of many lists.

- When selecting targets, balance your desire to improve your overall team talent with the need to improve the talent that sees the field. A 4* HB who is going to back up a 5* player for the next three seasons is probably less valuable than a 3* FS who will start as a sophomore. Remember that the 4* player who gets little playing time might even end up transferring because of it. Talent on the field wins games.

GENERAL RECRUITING

- Strike early! It is imperative to get near the top of prospect’s list EARLY. Just because a school is ahead of yours on a prospects list early in the season does NOT mean that school is also interested in the recruit – especially if the recruit is 3* or lower. As a result, there’s a chance that some or even all of the schools ahead of you won’t be targeting the prospect early in the season. That means the first few weeks are your best opportunity to make up ground, even without investing 50 or 60 minutes into a recruit. If you’re #4 on a 3* recruit’s list and are only -130 back, invest 20 or 30 minutes in week 1 to try to quickly jump some schools that might still be reaching for a higher-profile 4* or 5* recruit at that position. If you get lucky, you might quickly find yourself in the top spot in week 2, and can then offer a scholarship to try to get the Instant Commit.

- Conversely, if you’re #1 on a highly-rated prospect’s list and your school is not a powerhouse, you want to build a lead and hopefully lock him up as soon as you can. When Oklahoma loses out on a 5* QB who commits to Texas in week 3, you’d better believe they have resources to close the gap on you for the 4* QB you’re chasing. Use the Recruiting Reports option as described below to keep tabs on any powerhouse schools that can make up ground quickly.

- Spend your minutes on your needs and highest priority prospects first. It's better to get a few of the players you really need than to get a bunch of players who are going to ride the pine and never improve your talent level. If your talent level doesn't rise, you're not going to win more games. If you don't win more games, your program is not going to become more prestigous. And if your program doesn't become more prestigous, you're going to be recruiting these same middle-of-the-road players next season. If you want to recruit better players next year, sign some good ones this year and go win some games!

- Allocating minutes per player is tough to generalize because there are so many fators that come in to play. Base it on the specific player and your program need. If your highest priority recruits are being recruited by other schools (especially prestigous schools), you'll usually need to invest 50 or 60 minutes each week on them to keep pace with his other suitors, regardless of whether you're in the lead or not. Your goal is spend just enough minutes to get to the #1 spot on his list so you can offer a scholarship. Once you're in the lead, spend enough time on a prospect to maintain a comfortable lead. For a 4* or 5*, that might sill mean 50 or 60 minutes. Lesser recruits sometimes require a lesser investment. Early in the season, prospects 3* or below will often be only lightly recruited or will be recruited by less prestigous programs that you advantages over. If you can stay close or maintain a lead with only 10 or 20 minutes, do it. Spend those points in a tougher recruiting battle.

- Take advantage of the random x2 Advisor Bonus by making pitches or discovering interest every time. The x2 bonus is the best opportunity you have to make up ground on schools ahead of you. NEVER waste a promise or scholarship offer during a week when you have the x2 bonus. You’re leaving points on the table by doing so. The scholarship, promise and comparison points will all be available to you later, but the x2 bonus is random and comes around only rarely. Even a low-value pitch will net good points with the x2 bonus.

- If you’re investing 40 or more minutes in a prospect, try not to use your available Change Pitch options early in the call if you still have a discover interest option available. Use Change Pitch later in the call to avoid guaranteed low-value pitches.

- Pitch any topic with Average/B or better ratings every time. A bird in-hand is worth two in the bush, and Changing Topics only to end up with an Unknown/C+ has done you no favors. The exception might be very late in the season where you're afraid you might lose a prospect if you don't get a huge number. In such a case it might be worth it to gamle, if you know you have high-scoring topics left.

- Program comparisons are great provided you’re at least a full grade better. Your A versus your opponents C+ is a no-brainer, so take it every chance you get if you’re in a recruiting battle, regardless of prospect’s interest in the topic. Comparisons of grades with only one degree of separation (B vs. C+ for instance) are hit and miss; sometimes you get a few points more, other times it ends up costing you a few points versus just pitching the topic. If you’re already far and away #1 on a prospect's list, don’t bother with program comparisons regardless of the rating difference. When you have a big lead your goal is get the recruit to commit right away to you can spend those points on other prospects in future weeks. Better to bump your point total more rather than decrease the total of the #2 when they're already way behind.

- Use the Recruiting Reports options to see what your opponents are doing! It's invaluable. If they're spending 50 or 60 minutes and are within a few hundreds points of your, you need to keep pumping minutes into the recruit. If you've managed to build a lead of some significance, it's possible some of the schools behind you (even powerhouses, sometimes), will give up on a player. You'll see that they are spending zero minutes on him or have taken him off of their board completely. If you’re 150 points in the lead and you can see that none of the other schools in the recruit’s top 5 are investing any time on him, invest only a few minutes or even none at all that week. Instead, spend those points where they have a chance to move you up another recruit’s board – especially if they can get you to #1 where you have the shot at an Instant Commit. Be careful, though – if this a really important recruit for you, don’t run the risk of being caught from behind by a more prestigious school.

- As the season progresses, more and more schools are going to be targeting second-tier prospects as they see their higher-priority recruits commit elsewhere. If you’re not in a recruit’s top 5 by week 4 or 5, it’s going to be extremely difficult to catch up because the schools ahead of you are likely going to be investing 50 or 60 minutes recruiting the player. Unless you have major advantages in several key pitch topics, there’s little opportunity to make up significant ground. You can’t close the gap if the best you can do is match schools ahead of you pitch for pitch. You need to pass those schools up early in the season while there’s still a chance that they’re not yet targets.

- Finally, know when to give up on a recruit, and do so a week too early rather than a week too late. Even if you’re #3 or #4 on a prospect’s list, use all the tools at your disposal to estimate your chances of closing the gap. Remember, it doesn’t matter how many minutes you throw at a prospect in a given week if you can’t make up any ground on the schools ahead of you. If a prospect has High or better rating for Championship Contender, Pro Potential and Program Prestige, you have very little chance at making up ground if the schools ahead of you are Ohio State, USC and Penn State. If big-time schools ahead of you are dumping 50 or 60 minutes into a prospect that matches their program strengths, you’re almost definitely out of the running unless you're within 200 points. This is true even if your program is also rated highly in those areas. High / A for you generates no more points than High / A for them, you’re just spinning your wheels with no chance of jumping those programs. Your only shot at the player in such cases is to pitch them 6 topics and hope to get lucky with the x2 Advisor Bonus. That's big gamble, though, and one that has a high liklihood of failing and wasting your valuable minutes.

- A few top-shelf players will appear at the beginning of off-season recruiting. Presumably these represent players who had breakout senior years in high school and weren’t on anyone’s radar previously. Always go into the All Prospects list again at the start of the off-season to see if any of these new recruits is interested in your school.

SCHOLARSHIPS & PROMISES

- Strike early! Go out of your way to get Instant Commits – they are true game-changers. Strategize to get them. Look at the prospects that have you #1 on their list. If their star caliber exceeds your program and can substantially upgrade your talent at their position, offer them a scholarship the first chance you get for the shot at the Instant Commit. If you can snag a 4* recruit in week 1, you could potentially save 500 minutes or more of time over the course of the season. That extra time could be the difference between landing a couple other recruits or coming in second.

- On the flip side, DON’T offer scholarships to recruits too early on if you are not #1 on their list. While it might get you the one-time big point payoff or even get you into the lead, you have eliminated the possibility of an Instant Commit, which is MUCH more valuable long term. Instead, look for recruits that you are within a couple hundred points of being #1 and pitch them enough topics to generate sufficient points to take the lead – particularly early in the season when there’s a chance you’re the only one recruiting them. Obviously, if the schools ahead of you also recruit the player that week, you probably won’t move up to #1 and will have to keep grinding. However, if the schools ahead of you don’t recruit the player, you might find yourself at #1 in week 2, when you then have an opportunity to offer the scholarship and get the Instant Commit.

- Avoid offering scholarships too early even if you are #1 on a prospect’s list if they are not your top priority at their position. For instance, if you have a 4* or 5* WR as your top priority, don’t offer a scholarship to the “fallback” 3* WR you’re recruiting too early. You don’t want to end up signing a lesser quality player only to have your higher priority player back off a bit because there are now more players on your roster at his position.

- If by week 4 or 5 you haven’t worked your way up to #1 on a high priority prospect and you need the big point boost to make up some ground, go ahead and offer the scholarship if the schools ahead of you have also offered. If the prospect has no offers, you’re not at risk of losing him yet, so it’s okay to wait a bit longer to try to make it up to #1 before offering the scholarship.

- Each promise is one and done, so don’t waste them. Early on, it’s better to find out a prospect’s interest on the various pitches, as this information will be more valuable later on for Coach’s Choice pitches, campus visits and in-home visits. Hang on to promises for as long as possible, preferably for a time when you’re out of other options and are stuck with low-value pitch (Low / C+ or worse) . The exception might be making a promise early in the season to try to get to #1 for a prospect to go for the Instant Commit.

- Don’t overpromise. Don’t promise solid playing time to a guy who will be buried on the depth chart. And obviously, don’t promise to win a National Championship with your 3* program. Broken promises will come back to haunt you in future seasons, as promises to recruits will become less effective. Recruits won’t believe you because of your track record of broken promises.

- Fulfill your promises. It’s easy to make sure a recruit isn’t red-shirted. Simply don’t redshirt him before the season, then sub him into a game for a few plays late in a blowout win or loss. Your track record of keeping your promises will unlock many of the promises that are unavailable to you early on.

Roy38
07-26-2010, 11:43 AM
I like to get everyones opinion on a few things.

In my 3* Online Dynasty, I decided to represent Southern Miss (3* school). I picked them because 1) they had a couple of weapons on offense I could use, 2) they weren't in a premiere conference (C-USA), and 3) they were going to be a little more difficult to recruit for because they have no pitches above C+ (except for the highly variable ones like Early Playing Time and Proximity to Home). As expected, recruiting is tough. I'm following some of the recruiting methods outlined above and it is helping. I filled my board with 35 players initially to show players I'm interested in them. Out of those 35, I'm only actively recruiting 10-15 players per week, but I'm still gaining or holding ground on the prospects I'm not recruiting. I'm in great standing with the 10-15 players I'm recruiting - anywhere from 1st to 4th, but I'm concerned about a few things. The biggest thing I'm trying to do now is to align my pitches better since I'm not great in any of the pitch areas (i.e., if I'm C+ in a category and a prospect's interest is "Low", I'm trying to bring that up to match my school. This brings a questions:


Do pitches ever lock at the appropriate range?
If pitches do lock at the appropriate range, is there an indication?
Can someone remind me of the ranges and corresponding letter grades when swaying? Off the top of my head I'm thinking B+=Very High, B=High, C+=Above Average, C=Average, D+=Low, D=Very Low. I feel I'm spot on with a few pitches, but I'm still given the opportunity to sway so I'm curious.

ebin
07-26-2010, 11:54 PM
Here (http://www.osatwork.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2041351749&postcount=9) are (http://www.osatwork.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2041336549&postcount=55) three (http://faqs.ign.com/articles/110/1107539p1.html) more recruiting guides, if anyone is interested.

JeffHCross
07-26-2010, 11:58 PM
That first guide pretty much details my recruiting strategy for NCAA 09, 10 and 11.

ebin
07-27-2010, 01:09 AM
That first guide pretty much details my recruiting strategy for NCAA 09, 10 and 11.

Yup, mine too.

Rudy
07-27-2010, 05:36 AM
Maybe we could merge the two threads since we have had some good discussions in Steelerfan's for a bit: http://www.thegamingtailgate.com/forums/showthread.php?588-Sliders-Recruiting-Difficulty

gschwendt
07-27-2010, 11:03 AM
A tip... do not recruit for an Online Dynasty during an electric storm or possible power outtage. I was recruiting last night during a storm and my power went out. When I got back on today, it had used all of my proper time, however none of the changes to my list were saved (ie adding, removing, and reorganizing my list). As well, two players that I had set to come in on a visit are no longer set for a visit, instead they're still listed as Ready. My assumption is that none of my call results were actually saved... instead it logged that I used that time but didn't log my results.

Roy38
07-27-2010, 11:08 AM
I like to get everyones opinion on a few things.

In my 3* Online Dynasty, I decided to represent Southern Miss (3* school). I picked them because 1) they had a couple of weapons on offense I could use, 2) they weren't in a premiere conference (C-USA), and 3) they were going to be a little more difficult to recruit for because they have no pitches above C+ (except for the highly variable ones like Early Playing Time and Proximity to Home). As expected, recruiting is tough. I'm following some of the recruiting methods outlined above and it is helping. I filled my board with 35 players initially to show players I'm interested in them. Out of those 35, I'm only actively recruiting 10-15 players per week, but I'm still gaining or holding ground on the prospects I'm not recruiting. I'm in great standing with the 10-15 players I'm recruiting - anywhere from 1st to 4th, but I'm concerned about a few things. The biggest thing I'm trying to do now is to align my pitches better since I'm not great in any of the pitch areas (i.e., if I'm C+ in a category and a prospect's interest is "Low", I'm trying to bring that up to match my school. This brings a questions:


Do pitches ever lock at the appropriate range?
If pitches do lock at the appropriate range, is there an indication?
Can someone remind me of the ranges and corresponding letter grades when swaying? Off the top of my head I'm thinking B+=Very High, B=High, C+=Above Average, C=Average, D+=Low, D=Very Low. I feel I'm spot on with a few pitches, but I'm still given the opportunity to sway so I'm curious.


Alright, I answered a few of my own questions last night. I think pitches do lock at the appropriate range, although there isn't a visual notification that it happens. I was attempting to sway a recruits pitch (since that was an option I had available) and the recruit responded something along the lines of, "I'm not going to discuss this any further". The next week, the same pitch came up and I was no longer able to sway that pitch. I was only able to pitch, compare, promise, or offer scholarship.

I still can't for the life of me remember the ranges and letter grades for swaying. Can someone hook me up?

AustinWolv
07-27-2010, 11:12 AM
A tip... do not recruit for an Online Dynasty during an electric storm or possible power outtage. I was recruiting last night during a storm and my power went out. When I got back on today, it had used all of my proper time, however none of the changes to my list were saved (ie adding, removing, and reorganizing my list). As well, two players that I had set to come in on a visit are no longer set for a visit, instead they're still listed as Ready. My assumption is that none of my call results were actually saved... instead it logged that I used that time but didn't log my results.

Pretty much the same result of when doing it via the web interface and a site error pops up...........lose all the call time.

gschwendt
07-27-2010, 12:09 PM
Pretty much the same result of when doing it via the web interface and a site error pops up...........lose all the call time.
Well, but in this case, I lost all calls, not just the one call I was in the middle of. :(

JeffHCross
07-27-2010, 12:18 PM
I still can't for the life of me remember the ranges and letter grades for swaying. Can someone hook me up?A+ was Elite last year, which would have corresponded with Most.
A = Excellent = Very High
B+ = High
B = Above Average
C+ = Average
C = Low
D+ = Very Low
D = Least

You can't go any lower than D, right? I believe that's the lowest.

Roy38
07-27-2010, 01:16 PM
A+ was Elite last year, which would have corresponded with Most.
A = Excellent = Very High
B+ = High
B = Above Average
C+ = Average
C = Low
D+ = Very Low
D = Least

You can't go any lower than D, right? I believe that's the lowest.

Thanks, JeffHCross. I was under the impression that B+ = "Very High" as it equated to a "Green" pitch for NCAA '10. I was almost positive it was:

A+, A = Most
B+ = Very High
B = High
C+ = Above Average
C = Average
D+ = Low
D = Very Low


You can't sway a pitch that is "High" to "Very High" on a B+? I am almost sure of it...Damn me to Hell! I need my console, STAT!

JeffHCross
07-27-2010, 01:46 PM
Roy, I think there is some overlap, but I don't know what the backend logic is for swaying. Green isn't just a 1:1 match, it's just a 'close' match. I've seen A+ get Green on Most, Very High, and High. I think my list is right for the direct correspondence, but there is some overlap for swaying.

Roy38
07-27-2010, 02:54 PM
I know you're right, Jeff. I'm just used to old system. I didn't have time to run a few test dynasties to see how everything works, so I'm learning as I'm playing my online dynasty. Each recruiting week I'm learning a little more about when and how to do things. It's just frustrating because I need a solid recruiting class as I'm learning!

Cipher 8
07-27-2010, 05:49 PM
I swayed a pitch from High (I think or Very High) to a Most. Still lose the recruit but for awhile I had 2 Most's.

Roy38
07-27-2010, 09:38 PM
I swayed a pitch from High (I think or Very High) to a Most. Still lose the recruit but for awhile I had 2 Most's.

Oh great. Something else I need to think about.

JeffHCross
07-27-2010, 11:22 PM
Oh great. Something else I need to think about.Yep, I saw a recruit with two Mosts as well. The sways have completely changed this year. I would swear I've had pitches sway and jump two steps (i.e. Above Average to Very High). It's kind of awesome.

Honestly, Roy, don't overly complicate it. The system is designed to be fairly simple. The intricacies aren't really worth it, at least not this early.

Based on what I've seen so far, if you play "smart", you'll do well. Go after targets you have a hope of getting. Make liberal use of comparing yourself to an opponent when there's a gap between your ratings. Know what the prospect think about pitches before you try to sell him on something. After all, if it's his Least important, why bother trying to pitch or doing a compare?

Being smart and logical about the calls seems to work very well.

steelerfan
07-28-2010, 12:10 AM
I had a recruit with 3 "Mosts". That's not new in 11 though.

AustinWolv
07-28-2010, 10:48 AM
The sways have completely changed this year.
I think that is a good change, since I never bothered with sway in the past.

Roy38
07-28-2010, 05:41 PM
Yep, I saw a recruit with two Mosts as well. The sways have completely changed this year. I would swear I've had pitches sway and jump two steps (i.e. Above Average to Very High). It's kind of awesome.

Honestly, Roy, don't overly complicate it. The system is designed to be fairly simple. The intricacies aren't really worth it, at least not this early.

Based on what I've seen so far, if you play "smart", you'll do well. Go after targets you have a hope of getting. Make liberal use of comparing yourself to an opponent when there's a gap between your ratings. Know what the prospect think about pitches before you try to sell him on something. After all, if it's his Least important, why bother trying to pitch or doing a compare?

Being smart and logical about the calls seems to work very well.

Yeah, I'm just stressing a little about recruiting. When did you ever think you'd hear that? I wish I had the time in the beginning to get a better feel for it. Actually, I feel I'm doing pretty well with recruiting. I haven't landed a recruit yet (season #1, week #6), but I'm in the top 1-5 on everyone on my board and either leading or within 200 points of all of them. I'm seriously recruiting about 10-15 recruits per week, but I keep my board full with prospects who are my backup plans to hold their interest. Needless to say, recruiting with a school whose best pitch is C+ (except for the highly variable ones) is tough. Makes you really think about what you need to do to be successful.

JeffHCross
07-31-2010, 02:01 PM
I can say with certainty that having a player on your board, even if you don't give him a call, still gives you some points. It's not much, and it will make very little in the long run, but it's definitely something. I've had a guy on my board without a phone call for at least the last two weeks, and my lead over the #2 team has extended 40 points each week. I don't think anybody besides me is recruiting him, so I'm confident in saying you get 40 points for having a guy on your board.

morsdraconis
07-31-2010, 08:15 PM
I can say with certainty that having a player on your board, even if you don't give him a call, still gives you some points. It's not much, and it will make very little in the long run, but it's definitely something. I've had a guy on my board without a phone call for at least the last two weeks, and my lead over the #2 team has extended 40 points each week. I don't think anybody besides me is recruiting him, so I'm confident in saying you get 40 points for having a guy on your board.

You could check and make sure by switching on the helper things and using the Recruiting Report to see if anyone else is targeting him.

I'm absolutely positive that that is the case as well, but I never looked to see how much the points were.

JeffHCross
07-31-2010, 08:21 PM
You could check and make sure by switching on the helper things and using the Recruiting Report to see if anyone else is targeting him.Yeah, I have no interest in paying for those ...

Either way, you get at least 40 points per week.

cdj
08-13-2010, 10:09 AM
Discuss six topics, have the Recruit Advisor (X2) and Pipeline Bonus, and this is what can happen:

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab14/thegamingtailgate/NCAA%20Football%2011/th_DSCN0971.jpg (http://s845.photobucket.com/albums/ab14/thegamingtailgate/NCAA%20Football%2011/?action=view&current=DSCN0971.jpg)

AustinWolv
08-13-2010, 11:30 AM
Ha, that is awesome. That is the highest point total I've seen thus far.

morsdraconis
08-13-2010, 11:57 AM
Ha, that is awesome. That is the highest point total I've seen thus far.

Same here, though I've come pretty close myself (had like 1085 or something).

AustinWolv
08-13-2010, 12:16 PM
Nice......I think only the highest I've gotten into was the 800 range....

AustinWolv
08-13-2010, 02:44 PM
A reference point:
In my Heisman solo OD, I'm using AA recruiting. In Year3, I'm just short of 1/2-way through the season and have hard commits from two 5star and five 4star. Funnily enough, 3 of those 7 recruits are running backs. WR, SS, and 2 Gs are the others.

Only lost 1 game in Year1, undefeated but BCS-locked out of the championship game in Year2, and undefeated so far in Year3.

Rudy
08-13-2010, 03:54 PM
I thought it was pretty cool that one JUCO I got was actually from Windsor (where I work).

ebin
08-13-2010, 04:13 PM
Discuss six topics, have the Recruit Advisor (X2) and Pipeline Bonus, and this is what can happen:

For some reason, I find it hilarious that you got that kind of point total on a punter. :)

cdj
08-13-2010, 04:56 PM
For some reason, I find it hilarious that you got that kind of point total on a punter. :)

I know! The week before I had +1034....and I still didn't sign him. I finished in a 7-team tie (game said 8th) -1 pts behind. The big weeks did vault me into his Top 10, though.

Rudy
08-13-2010, 09:53 PM
Through 7 or 8 games I have the #2 class in the country and I've got four 5* kids, four 4* kids and three 3* kids. I focused on quality over quantity. After this season I think I'm going to increase the recruiting difficulty to Heisman and see how I do for fun.

JeffHCross
08-14-2010, 09:29 AM
Discuss six topics, have the Recruit Advisor (X2) and Pipeline Bonus, and this is what can happen:Pfft. I've done that several times.

steelerfan
08-14-2010, 03:46 PM
Pfft. I've done that several times.




:)):)):))

baseballplyrmvp
08-22-2010, 05:17 PM
does anyone think there could be a connection between the amount of points you get from a promise and what the recruit thinks about the promise? ie: if your school had an A+ in championship contender, the recruit's most important pitch was the championship contender pitch, and you offered him the "guarantee national championship during his first year" promise.....would you receive a higher point total from that combination, versus your school being an A+ in c.c., the recruit only had low-average interest in the c.c. pitch, and then you offered him the "guarantee national championship....." pitch?

it should be this way in theory, but i was just wondering if anyone has come across this.....(whether by just playing around or by actually testing it).

Rudy
08-22-2010, 06:06 PM
I never promise those things so I don't know but it would seem to make sense. I only promise "no redshirt" first year and winning record against rivalries since I can almost guarantee that with Michigan if I have Minnesota on the schedule.

JeffHCross
08-22-2010, 06:27 PM
I haven't noticed any correlation between promises and pitches, but I haven't gotten to the second tier of promises yet.

One thing I did notice, was in a recent offseason I promised No Redshirt, then Winning Record against rivals, then Conference Championship. The bonus for the latter two was significantly higher than No Redshirt.

morsdraconis
08-22-2010, 09:17 PM
I haven't noticed any correlation between promises and pitches, but I haven't gotten to the second tier of promises yet.

One thing I did notice, was in a recent offseason I promised No Redshirt, then Winning Record against rivals, then Conference Championship. The bonus for the latter two was significantly higher than No Redshirt.

Conference Championship is ALWAYS like 150 points or so (and a REALLY good one to promise if you can back up the claim).

Later down the road, promising Top 10 for 1-2 years is also a good one if you can back it up as well.

I do think there is some correlation with Redshirt and Playing Time though. I've promised them to guys that have playing time really high (very high or most) and it gets more than 50-70 points like normal.

JeffHCross
08-22-2010, 09:55 PM
Okay, that's what I was wondering ... if it was the actual promise of the fact that it was my second/third promise.

Roy38
08-24-2010, 10:42 PM
I've been putting together some recruiting information over the last several weeks, but this little tidbit I found couldn't wait for the full write-up.

First, the particulars:
Game Difficulty: All-American w/ Slider adjustments
Recruiting Difficulty: Varsity

I'm looking to add a mobile QB prospect for my online dynasty. I'm not really liking any of the prospects that are interested in my program, but I throw one on my board as a fall back option. By week #3, I decide to take a look at what's available. Low and behold, a monster 5* QB from California (which isn't a Pipeline state for me) is dangling out there. I'm talking B+ Speed, A+ Acceleration, C+ Agility, B+ Throw Power, B- Throw Accuracy. I go into the Recruiting Reports to see how much time each team on his top 10 list is using to recruit him and...not one single team had him listed on their recruiting board. I immediately put him on my recruiting board and over the next three weeks, I spent 60 minutes of recruiting time each week in an effort to land him. With each passing week, I continued to lose ground (based on the number of points his 10th place team was behind each week). -380 points week #3, -400 points week #4, -420 week #5 and still, not one single team on his top 10 list had him listed on their recruiting board. Then, it happened, week #6 came around and I found myself down -520 points. His top team, USC, finally offered him a scholarship. I went back into the Recruiting Report and found that USC and Oregon had both added him to their respective recruiting boards, but neither team had spent any recruiting time that week. Therefore, the CPU can offer scholarships without spending any recruiting time.

oweb26
08-24-2010, 11:41 PM
Is this a new one for you? CPU has always been able to sign players without talking to them , or even offering them that has been in the game for as long as I can remember on this gen anyway.

JeffHCross
08-25-2010, 12:10 AM
That aspect/item/tidbit of the recruiting report has been reported before. However, I proposed that it was possible that the CPU teams recruited him for 10 minutes and only offered a scholarship ... and that may not show up as such on the recruiting report. Without knowing how the recruiting report is coded, it's possible that only time using pitches is counted.

Thought, on that subject ... I added a 2* HB to my board today in the offseason ... and I was still his #1 team, was deep into the green on interest ... and I'd never added him to the board or spoken to him all season. So maybe the top teams on a player's list get automatic points without even adding a player to the board. I saw something that suggested that over the weekend, but I can't recall what.

Roy38
08-25-2010, 01:08 AM
There's no question all teams get some level of "soft" recruiting (i.e., recruits gaining interest even though no recruiting time is spent). How much that is, is a bit of a mystery. For example, I'm recruiting a 3* CB prospect. I added him to my recruiting board week #3 because he was a decent player and I was 6th on his top 10 list and -120 points behind his leader. Here's a breakdown from the last four weeks of recruiting:

Week #3 | Week #4 | Week #5 | Week #6
-120 | -80 | -40 | +20
So by Week #6, I had moved into first place by 20 points without spending any recruiting time (and neither did Mississippi State). I'm sure there are several variables involved in this process such as recruiting time spent, scholarship offer, promises, school prestige level, pipeline state, W/L record, etc.

The point I was making was how valuable a prospect this kid was, yet no one within his top 10 list had him on their recruiting board. Even though I was recruiting him hard, 60 minutes per week, I was losing points every week to schools that had zero interest in him. I was getting anywhere from 200-400 points per week from my phone calls. One could make the assumption that you get "soft" recruiting points whether or not the prospect is on your recruiting board or not, but enough to offset my recruiting time spent? Granted, the kid could have zero interest in my program and would rather fall out of a truck than go to my school - but if only one school in the country (figuratively speaking) wants you, and you want to play football with the goal of playing professionally (which this kid had the skill set), wouldn't you be listening pretty seriously?

Roy38
08-25-2010, 01:16 AM
Is this a new one for you? CPU has always been able to sign players without talking to them , or even offering them that has been in the game for as long as I can remember on this gen anyway.

:rolleyes: I've been around the block since the Bill Walsh days, so you could say I have some experience with the game and the series. Good talk, bro.

Rudy
08-25-2010, 05:29 AM
I think you simply get a set of points each week for having a guy on your board and that it's tied to the ranking system on your recruiting board. That's why it's crucial to list those 5* players at the top of the board or it hurts you. The higher the ranking the more points you will get each week in addition to the actual recruiting time spent.

steelerfan
08-25-2010, 09:17 AM
I think you simply get a set of points each week for having a guy on your board and that it's tied to the ranking system on your recruiting board. That's why it's crucial to list those 5* players at the top of the board or it hurts you. The higher the ranking the more points you will get each week in addition to the actual recruiting time spent.

^^^ Every bit of this is absolutely true.

As for what Jeff saw, I'm not sure. Jeff, were you in the green before you added him or immediately after? Was he from a pipeline state?

Maybe he 'knew' where he wanted to go and no one else paid him any attention all season?

hillbill
08-25-2010, 12:23 PM
I think you simply get a set of points each week for having a guy on your board and that it's tied to the ranking system on your recruiting board. That's why it's crucial to list those 5* players at the top of the board or it hurts you. The higher the ranking the more points you will get each week in addition to the actual recruiting time spent.

So is that where those points come from? The ones that say, like 50-65 points for this pitch? You are saying this is based on how high on your board a guy is? Hmmm...I wondered where in the heck they came up with those.

morsdraconis
08-25-2010, 12:40 PM
So is that where those points come from? The ones that say, like 50-65 points for this pitch? You are saying this is based on how high on your board a guy is? Hmmm...I wondered where in the heck they came up with those.

No, those are set based on the pitch rating for your school and how much the recruit likes that pitch.

He's talkin' about not spending any points on the recruit and still getting points. Apparently, that is based on what position you have them on your board.

steelerfan
08-25-2010, 01:21 PM
Apparently, that is based on what position you have them on your board.

Yep, you get points every week just for having guys on your board. That's why your board should always be full during the season. The bottom 10 - 15 guys on my board are usually 3* guys (or 2* if warranted) from pipeline states that have me in their top 3 schools. I keep them around in case I need to fall back on them later. EA has confirmed this multiple times since the advent of "next gen" recruiting. They've also said recruits 'know' where they rank on your board (hence more free points if they're ranked highly). It's been said that having too many players of a particular position type is 'viewed' by recruits as a negative as well.

Rudy
08-25-2010, 10:03 PM
How many have recruited a lot on Heisman? I've got the #1 class before the offseason although TCU is right behind me. I may boost it up to Heisman for my next year.

morsdraconis
08-25-2010, 11:13 PM
How many have recruited a lot on Heisman? I've got the #1 class before the offseason although TCU is right behind me. I may boost it up to Heisman for my next year.

I've never tried, but I've read where other people have tried and it's REALLY hard. You're INCREDIBLY lucky to get around what ranking your team should probably get in real life.

JeffHCross
08-27-2010, 09:41 PM
The guys saying that you get points for having a player on your board are absolutely right. I had a player around #15 on my board, didn't spend a minute on him for several weeks, and every week my lead would extend 40 points.

As for what Jeff saw, I'm not sure. Jeff, were you in the green before you added him or immediately after? Was he from a pipeline state?

Maybe he 'knew' where he wanted to go and no one else paid him any attention all season?I think this is the case. He was an Ohio boy, and he really wanted to come to Ohio State (or Cincinnati, his #2). It just gave me more evidence that a player's Top 10 list is in some flux even if no one is going after a player.

How many have recruited a lot on Heisman? I've got the #1 class before the offseason although TCU is right behind me. I may boost it up to Heisman for my next year.Based on what I've seen on other forums, you can "figure out" Heisman just like you can "figure out" AA. But it's definitely harder with less room for error. If you've got a highly rated team with solid pipelines, you should have decent success. But there's certainly less room for error.

Rudy
08-28-2010, 06:10 AM
I had the #1 recruiting class in the country (and got a trophy for it). Five 5*, nine 4* and six 3* kids. The 5* kids were awesome. Two guards came in at 85 and I converted one to C where he became an 87. An athlete and a WR ended up being both WRs and both 85. I was really thin at DE until I grabbed four of them - all four are an 84! Couldn't believe it as two or three of them were highly rated 4* kids. I got two great MLBs and they are an 84 and 80. I even grabbed a 3* guard that ended up a 78. Unbelievable class on All American. I was thinking of bumping it up to Heisman but I think I'll leave recruiting at AA for now as I'm drunk on success. I had the #3 class my first year and now the #1 class this year. That's probably too easy even as Michigan so I may bump it up. Someone offer their take on this. I think something was very different though from this class and my last class. My first class was under the pre-patch ratings. I had a 4* guard come in at 64 for crying out loud. He's going to be lucky to keep his roster spot (he's a 70 now and converted to backup C) in the future.

I don't think there is any real secret to recruiting. The same things you did in the past will let you be successful in NCAA 11. You just have to be a lot smarter in targeting guys you think you can get. You have to take chances on guys you want but not be stupid and go after too many 5* kids. I probably went after less than ten of them all year and got five. Cut bait when you don't think you can do it but still persist if you think you have a shot and a need. I won a battle for a 5* DE that I thought Oklahoma was going to win for sure. I was always #2 and just behind. He even soft committed to OU but he didn't make up his mind until the first offseason week and a great visit at the Big House sealed the deal!

I need some young guys in my secondary still, my OLBs are still weak but I may convert one of my DEs to OLB next year. Tackle could be weak as well if I don't grab at least one 4 or 5* tackle but I may shift some guys around on the OL to cover it up. I don't have a big thumper at RB right now but I do have a couple quick guys and a couple young ones. The one that is pretty good has a low ball security rating and that's going to hurt his playing time. Both are redshirt frosh.

Rudy
08-28-2010, 08:30 AM
Well I switched to Heisman for recruiting. We'll see how this year goes. I haven't played a game yet but have recruited two weeks due to a bye. Haven't seen the results after the second week yet but I've never seen so many red arrows in interest after the first week before. I think Heisman may be pretty good. I pretty much ignored three star recruits last year but I think they will become much more important on Heisman recruiting to fill out the depth chart. I don't think you will have to worry about over recruiting at all on this level due to natural attrition. I had a 5* RB from Michigan hard commit and I've gotten a couple hard commits from 3* guys but it's a battle for the top guys. I lost 100 points to a 5* tackle from Michigan with LSU holding top spot. You need to go after the great ones really hard early on. That means at least 50 and probably the full 60 minutes all the time.

JeffHCross
08-28-2010, 12:34 PM
The nice thing for you, Rudy, is with the patch the 3*s are actually viable now. We just rolled into our first offseason in the Powerhouse OD, and I have 3 stars coming in the 60s. Post patch they're much more realistic.

FYI, for anyone recruiting kickers ... progression is awesome for kickers. I don't know if it was a fluke or what (I don't think it was), but I just had 2 Ks go +8/+8 and +6/+6 in KPW/KAC, and my P went +9/+10.

steelerfan
08-28-2010, 06:00 PM
Good news on the progression, Jeff.

Rudy
08-28-2010, 06:59 PM
In the past I would concentrate only on the 4* and 5* guys after awhile since recruiting was so easy. You got greedy and wanted to pencil these kids in as 3-4 year starters (if they didn't jump to the NFL early). The recruiting slider is a fantastic option they provided this year. In any NCAA game prior to NCAA 11 you would probably get 10 5* kids every year without working too hard so I would never take a team like Michigan because dynasty would be too easy and get boring quick. On AA recruiting this year I had to work to get the top recruits and on Heisman it will be much harder. Now you have to go after lower recruits like everyone does in real life and deal with a team that has holes in certain areas. You also have to redshirt the lower recruits and build them up to where you get 1-2 seasons out of some these kids and not just the top recruit that starts from year 1 or 2. Those lower recruits are now valuable depth and not just guys you cut every year due to over recruiting.

JeffHCross
08-28-2010, 11:08 PM
Rudy, since I started with the 1995 Ohio State Buckeyes, I've been trying to follow the 96, 97, etc recruiting classes. It's amazing looking back and seeing who was highly touted and never played, and who was under the radar and was a four-year letterman.

Of course, I'm also finding it utterly impossible to meet the level of those classes. I'm glad EA went away from the superstar 5* recruits, but at the same time ... where's my Andy Katzenmoyer?

Rudy
08-29-2010, 05:46 AM
I had read one guy on OS say Heisman recruiting wasn't much different than AA. I had read Mors hear say Heisman is crazy tough. I think Mors is right.

I set up my recruiting board similar to how I did on AA. I think that is going to have to change big time. I got five 5* recruits last year and nine 4* recruits. No way will I touch those numbers on Heisman. I'm competing for some highly rated recruits in Texas. I used to have a pipeline to California and Texas but lost them going in to year 3. That is a huge problem now. If you try to get a recruit in a non pipeline state that another equal or greater program wants you will probably fail. If Texas wants a Texas kid badly, Michigan ain't going to get him. It's still early to make any definitive statements but this is looking really hard. I am spending more time finding pitches than getting the max production for pitches like Texas might be doing but I'm spending 60 minutes a week on some of these kids and I'm just falling farther and farther behind. I used to be able to max out 60 minutes a week and I'd probably have a 75% chance at getting someone since I was Michigan. I bet those odds fall to less than 10% in a non pipeline state now.

According to one recruiting source, the Big 10 only had one 5* recruit last year and that was Gholston of MSU. I think I need to accept this new harsh reality and start ditching some of these high recruits on my board and go hard after the smaller ones. Even a couple 3* recruits I had rated in the low teens are dropping me down their list because I'm not spending much time on them. I'm going to keep plugging away but this is a shock to the system for sure. My recent recruiting class was probably the best class I have ever recruited on any NCAA game. This one may be the worst.

Rudy
08-29-2010, 10:33 AM
I think on Heisman I might be dropping a whole lot of potential recruits. This is tough. Being down by 300+ with tough teams in front is looking hard to win. I have one recruit out of Michigan where LSU is #1 and I'm #2. I'm down 220 points (5* tackle) and I have to think LSU does not have Michigan as a pipeline. Who knows? I know Miles has a Michigan background. Anyway, I earned 600 points in my 60 minutes with him and also gave LSU -40 points through a couple comparisons. 640 point swing and I only gained 80 points on LSU after the week. That was a bit hard to swallow.

I have the #1 CB, 5*, as my #1 player and my lead stayed the same although Iowa made up more ground after a 448 point visit. The #2 player, an OLB from Texas, I got 504 points (plus -21 for OU) but only gained 40 points on Oklahoma. I went from 400 down to 360 down. I'm going to give it one more week as he's scheduled for a visit but I'll drop him after that. In fact, I have almost all my top recruits coming in for Week 4 against Pitt in the hopes I can gain ground really quick. If not I'm going to be making some hard decisions.

The #1 FS out of Texas is still 320 points away - probably not going to happen.
Another OLB out of Texas is over 400 points away. I will keep him one more week but this one ain't happening. I'm going to try and pick up some scrubs from Texas to re-establish a pipeline.

One bright spot - a 4* SS had me at #1 and my lead grew from 140 to 320.

morsdraconis
08-29-2010, 11:36 AM
LastXit Recruiting Strategy:

This may get a bit lenghthy, but here it goes...

I've had considerable success utilizing this strategy with a 3 star program and finishing with a top 10 recruiting class each year on Heisman difficulty for recruiting (I'm not playing games, only recruiting)

Put only 15 guys on your board. The first five should be highly regarded recruits (5 or 4 star, it helps that they have some interest in you at season's beginning). The second five should focues on positions you need to fill. The final five should be recruits interested and in pipeline states that you could use.

Once you begin making phone calls, follow this progression (first 5 calls - 60 min., second 5 calls - 40 min., final 5 calls - 20 min.)
Make the calls in this order:
1. Call anyone visiting your school that week (60 min. - offer scholly if you haven't already)
2. Call anyone who list your first without scholly offer (60. min - offer scholly @ end of call)
3. Call anyone with a "down" arrow without a scholly offer (60 or 40 min. - offer scholly @ end of call)
4. Call anyone "ready" for a visit (60 or 40 min.)
5. Call anyone soft committed elsewhere (60 or 40 min. - offer scholly if you haven't already)
6. Call in board order, top to bottwom (60, 40, or 20 min.)

Remember: this is the order to call your recruits in, your first five calls are 60 min. and so on...


Actual phone call strategy:

A combination of 9 results can happen for each topic

Interest Legend: (Green: Most,Very High, High) (Yellow: AAvg,Avg) (Red: Low, Very Low, Least)
Team Rating Legend: (Green:A+,A,B+) (Yellow:B,B-,C+) (Red:C,C-,D)

Combo 1: Green Interest: Green Team Rating
Combo 2: Green Interest: Yellow Team Rating
Combo 3: Green Interest: Red Team Rating
Combo 4: Yellow Interest: Green Team Rating
Combo 5: Yellow Interest: Yellow Team Rating
Combo 6: Yellow Interest: Red Team Rating
Combo 7: Red Interest: Green Team Rating
Combo 8: Red Interest: Yellow Team Rating
Combo 9: Red Interest: Red Team Rating

The following should be your decision tree for each combo:
(Note, when comparing teams, I only focus on teams in top 3 and ensure I'm a full letter grade better, i.e. My B+ to their C+. If you are not that much better, skip comparing)

Combo 1: Unlock, Pitch
Combo 2: Unlock, Compare, Pitch
Combo 3: New topic, Compare, Unlock, pitch
Combo 4: Unlock, Sway, Compare, Pitch
Combo 5: Unlock, Sway, Compare, Pitch
Combo 6: New Topic, Compare, Unlock, Pitch
Combo 7: Unlock, Compare, Pitch
Combo 8: Unlock, Compare, Pitch
Combo 9: New Topic, Compare, Unlock, Pitch

This may be extremely confusing, but I suppose it makes sense to me. Try it out and let me know if you have similar results or maybe changes on how you approach recruiting...

A strategy for Heisman recruiting that apparently works pretty damn well. I'm in the process of testing it out on Varsity (the level I recruit at in my singleplayer offline teambuilder dynasty) so I'm not sure how well it works for me yet but several people over at Utopia have said it works REALLY well so I'd definitely give it a try.

Rudy
08-29-2010, 01:39 PM
I have a recruit that has a "Most" interest in 3 categories! I've never seen that before.

Roy38
08-29-2010, 02:04 PM
I had a recruit with "Most" in 5 categories. Unsure why this happens, since when I recruit them I only see one "Most" for a given topic. It's only when I'm bringing a prospect in for a visit do I see these multiple "Most".

morsdraconis
08-29-2010, 02:35 PM
I had a recruit with "Most" in 5 categories. Unsure why this happens, since when I recruit them I only see one "Most" for a given topic. It's only when I'm bringing a prospect in for a visit do I see these multiple "Most".

It's the bug that's happening in offline dynasty recruiting when you sway a topic it causes either random or pretty much all of your topics to increase to Very High or Most (maybe just increases all of the categories by a set amount, not entirely sure).

It definitely makes recruiting against the CPU a bit easier.

JeffHCross
08-29-2010, 03:27 PM
Multiple "Most"s can happen naturally (well, naturally with Sway Pitch) even without the bug ... but with the bug it's definitely a lot more common. Insanely common.

Roy38
08-30-2010, 03:30 PM
It's the bug that's happening in offline dynasty recruiting when you sway a topic it causes either random or pretty much all of your topics to increase to Very High or Most (maybe just increases all of the categories by a set amount, not entirely sure).

It definitely makes recruiting against the CPU a bit easier.

This is in an online dynasty.

Rudy
08-31-2010, 05:44 AM
I saw this in my offline dynasty. Never knew that bug existed. I don't try swaying too often.

JeffHCross
09-02-2010, 12:16 AM
This is in an online dynasty.Interesting. To be honest, I tried to cause it in my Online Dynasty last year, but it definitely didn't happen. I expected it was an offline only bug.

By any chance are you the commish?

Roy38
09-02-2010, 10:40 AM
I am. Like I said earlier, I'm only seeing this when I bring a prospect in for a visit. During normal recruiting, I'm seeing the same data everyone else is - one "Most", two "Very Highs" (unless I've swayed a "High"), etc.

JeffHCross
09-02-2010, 11:20 PM
I am.This might be the factor.

If you look at some of the menus around the Online Dynasty this year, it's almost as if Online Dynasty is treated as a single-team Dynasty. In statistics this is particularly noticeable, since only the Commish's team is up at the top of the list. In year's past, you'd see all of the user teams at the top of the list. This year it's just the Commish's team.

If I have some free time over the holiday weekend, I'll fire up an OD and give this a try. I know it happens on Offline Dynasty, and not just on user visits. I'm also confident it doesn't happen on Online Dynasty, but I'm not the commish.

Roy38
09-02-2010, 11:46 PM
I can reassure you, it's happening. I just had a 3* OLB recruit who had normal pitch information (i.e., 1-Most, 2-Very Highs, etc.) during a standard phone call. Then, I had set up a visit for week #14 (a bye week for me). When I went to set his activities for the upcoming visit, 4 categories moved up to "Most". I then went to look at the pitch information after everything was done and it was updated with the 4-"Most" categories as well.

JeffHCross
09-03-2010, 12:02 AM
Oh, I believe you that it's happening. What I would have to test is if I'm right that it can only happen to the Commish.

If so, that'd be something to make sure the commissioners (at least commissioners that you know wouldn't cheat) are aware of.

gschwendt
09-07-2010, 03:48 PM
Anyone ever had a 0-point scholarship offer? I just had one. I don't believe I had previously offered him (otherwise that would be a good thing), and add in the fact that he has me listed as #3 on his list.

Solidice
09-07-2010, 04:30 PM
Anyone ever had a 0-point scholarship offer? I just had one. I don't believe I had previously offered him (otherwise that would be a good thing), and add in the fact that he has me listed as #3 on his list.

he really must not want to go to your school. :D

I don't believe I've seen that before.

morsdraconis
09-07-2010, 05:54 PM
he really must not want to go to your school. :D

I don't believe I've seen that before.

I've seen it happen before. Might as well stop wasting your time with him. He's going to commit somewhere else.

steelerfan
09-07-2010, 05:56 PM
Anyone ever had a 0-point scholarship offer? I just had one. I don't believe I had previously offered him (otherwise that would be a good thing), and add in the fact that he has me listed as #3 on his list.

That happens when you offer a guy, remove him from your board (taking the offer away), add him to your board again, and offer again. It's to keep people from doing this over and over to gain points.

JeffHCross
09-07-2010, 09:10 PM
I believe it can also happen when you're outside a player's Top X. When I got a 0-point scholarship offer, I was #7 or so and he was in Top 3 or Top 5. Or something like that.

He said something along the lines of "Let's be honest coach, I'm going somewhere else".

Rudy
09-08-2010, 05:50 AM
I saw a 0 point offer once before and I was -1 behind and #2. It was a 4* OT from Arizona and wanted to go to Arizona St. For some stupid reason Arizona St. hadn't offered the kid yet but they were #1 the entire time. In fact, he was still on the board through the offseason only because Arizona St. hadn't offered. I kept going for him since I had points to spare. I had initially given up on him but re-added him in the offseason and when I offered him he just flat out said no. The 0 showed up in red I think.

Rudy
09-08-2010, 05:51 AM
One thing I would like to see added next year is the ability to choose your Sway option. It would be nice to try to sway a topic up OR down. If a kid loves staying close to home I would like to be able to sway that down and tell him it's good to leave home and come to Michigan!

Roy38
09-08-2010, 01:07 PM
I don't know why they removed it in the first place.

steelerfan
09-08-2010, 01:30 PM
Am I nuts, or do you have the option to sway a recruit when say Proximity is High and your school is a D+?

gschwendt
09-08-2010, 02:03 PM
Am I nuts, or do you have the option to sway a recruit when say Proximity is High and your school is a D+?
Yeah, but that's still only swaying it up. From my experience, the more interest the recruit has in that patch, the smaller the fluctuation in points. For example, if you are D+ and the recruit is Most, then you might have a 45-50 point window whereas if you are an A+ and the recruit is Low, you might have a 30-70 window (amounts/windows are guesstimates). So in that sense, you want the recruits as interested in a pitch as possible.

steelerfan
09-08-2010, 02:45 PM
Yeah, but that's still only swaying it up. From my experience, the more interest the recruit has in that patch, the smaller the fluctuation in points. For example, if you are D+ and the recruit is Most, then you might have a 45-50 point window whereas if you are an A+ and the recruit is Low, you might have a 30-70 window (amounts/windows are guesstimates). So in that sense, you want the recruits as interested in a pitch as possible.

I guess I've never seen value in wasting time on that. So, what you're saying is that if I am a D+ and I sway a High, he will become a Very High if I am successful?

gschwendt
09-08-2010, 03:04 PM
I guess I've never seen value in wasting time on that. So, what you're saying is that if I am a D+ and I sway a High, he will become a Very High if I am successful?
Correct.

steelerfan
09-08-2010, 03:07 PM
Correct.

Wow, that blows.

JeffHCross
09-11-2010, 07:22 PM
Yeah, that's foolish, and weird. In previous years, you could sway a pitch up or down, and it would do it automatically based on where your rating matched up with the prospect's. So a B+, which matches a High, would sway up if it was a Above Average (AA -> High), or down if it was a Very High that could be swayed. It makes no sense that a coach would say "Hey, I have a horrible rating in this pitch ... I think it should be more important to you".

Rudy
09-12-2010, 05:28 AM
I tried that once. I was far away from some kid and tried to sway a pitch where a recruit said location was important. It swayed it up! I never tried it again unless swaying up was good to me.

JeffHCross
09-12-2010, 03:21 PM
I had a feeling that was going to be the case this year, since it says "Sway the pitch (chance to raise the point score)" or something along those lines. And higher score = higher importance, so I've avoided that like the plague.

I suppose if a C+ is your highest pitch, you'd still want to make it more important, but ... yeah.

Rudy
09-12-2010, 06:25 PM
Through 7 or 8 weeks I'm #24 in the country on Heisman. I do think I will be better next year just knowing how hard it is and I'll allocate my resources better. I do have two 5* kids but only one 4* and 3-4 3* kids. The lack of total commits is hurting my rank as is the lack of 4*.

I just lost one recruit and it pissed me off. I took him for granted on one week and I lost him. He was a 4* SS (#8 in the country at SS) and I was leading by over 600 points a few weeks ago. So I only spent 40 minutes on him that week and WVU brought him in for a visit and bam ... They are only 20 or 40 points behind me. I worked him the full 60 minutes the rest of the way, always staying ahead of WVU who was now a -1 and then I lost him this past week. Freaking sucked! I like it when I do that to the cpu but not the other way around.

The points on Heisman don't make a lot of sense to me. If I back off a guy I don't fall that much further behind each week. But if I go hard after him I don't gain much either. It's almost like whatever points are earned are only 50% of the equation or less. Not sure but the results I'm seeing are not easy to explain.

JeffHCross
09-12-2010, 07:37 PM
Rudy, I don't have hard numbers, but I agree with you. I had a guy come in for a visit, got nearly 500 points in the call, and yet at the end of the week my lead had shrunk from around 100 to 1. I think the root cause there was the abstract high end limit to how many points a team can gain ... I had filled his bar, and should have signed him, but my opponents were apparently close enough to make him reconsider.

Rudy
09-22-2010, 05:37 AM
I just nabbed a bunch of 3* recruits and earned my first Switcheroo trophy for stealing a soft commit. I'm now ranked #3 or #4 on the recruiting list and I have 19 commits on Heisman. But 14 of those are 3* kids. I have two 5* and three 4*. Everyone else in the Top 10 has many more. Miami is #1 with zero 5* but 12 4* kids! Texas has 11 4/5* kids. I think I will be staying on Heisman. It will prevent me from becoming too dominant. I'm an A- team still and I don't know how much I will improve if I don't get the top kids. My last class on AA was unbelievable though so I expect they will really help through the leaner years.

Rudy
09-26-2010, 06:12 PM
I did very well in the offseason recruiting to rank #2 on Heisman after the year. That ranking was inflated by 16 3* recruits but I still got three 5* and six 4* kids. A pretty good class although a couple 4* players sucked (rated in the 60s). I actually got a trophy for stealing a soft commit during the year. Had never done that yet although I had lost a kid myself.

Rudy
10-01-2010, 05:02 AM
I lost my California and Texas pipelines last year but got them back. In fact, I now have pipelines into Michigan, Ohio, California, Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania and Lousiana as well. I know I'm going to lose some of them. Where can you see what state a kid came from for the kids on your roster? I know you can see it during recruiting but what about the sophomore and juniors on my team? I couldn't seem to find it.

Despite my new pipelines recruiting looks to be hard this year as I didn't get a single kid to "quick" commit. I'm going to have to work over everyone and lose some guys in the process because of it.

morsdraconis
10-01-2010, 06:22 AM
I lost my California and Texas pipelines last year but got them back. In fact, I now have pipelines into Michigan, Ohio, California, Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania and Lousiana as well. I know I'm going to lose some of them. Where can you see what state a kid came from for the kids on your roster? I know you can see it during recruiting but what about the sophomore and juniors on my team? I couldn't seem to find it.

You can't.

JeffHCross
10-01-2010, 07:32 AM
For an Online Dynasty, it's available through the Roster page. For offline, I think mors is right that it's still "missing".

Rudy
10-20-2010, 05:07 AM
The recruiting pitches are messed up for "Championship Contender". Does the game try to look at my future talent? Right now I'm an "A" team and probably the most talented team in the country or at least Top 5. And yet I'm just an "A" in the Championship Contender Pitch while Penn State is an "A+" despite being rated only a B+ overall. What gives? I'm fighting against them for recruits and I was hoping to use it against them. Freaking Alabama is an A+ in Academics as well - is this correct? I do really like the challenge of Heisman. I can still pull in Top 10 classes but they aren't absurd. I can't get a single OLB to come to my school this year though.

One other thing, sometimes I wonder if it's best to leave a recruit off your board to stash them for later. It's very apparent to me that some recruits are recruited hard by the cpu (even 3* guys by mid or lower programs) while some guys just linger around. But sometimes I think the cpu won't recruit guys hard unless you go after them. I was going after a 4* athlete from Indiana (non pipeline) and Purdue was beating me. I was working him hard but I wasn't going to win (500 or so points behind after a few weeks) so I just give up and drop the guy from my board because a 4* or 5* recruit on Heisman demands a lot of your time (probably max time each week if you aren't #1). Yet when I check how far I fell behind the next week it hadn't changed at all. It's as though Purdue knew I had stopped trying and so they stopped spending time on him as well.

cdj
12-15-2010, 03:51 PM
I don't run into it often, but here is a shot of the ever elusive Pink Diamond in recruiting:

http://www.thegamingtailgate.com/images/NCAA11/DSCN1603.JPG

Rudy
12-15-2010, 04:38 PM
What the heck is the pink diamond? I've never seen that.

CLW
12-15-2010, 04:45 PM
What the heck is the pink diamond? I've never seen that.

I think it is - you are not currently in the player's Top 10 however if you put him on your list/call him you will jump into the Top 10.

cdj
12-15-2010, 05:28 PM
What the heck is the pink diamond? I've never seen that.

It was introduced in NCAA 10 and I'm guessing the same description applies:

This icon indicates that a four or five star recruit has a hidden interest in your school. Once placed on your Recruiting Board, you will be listed between 7th and 10th on their list. They will need to be recruited normally from there on out in order to sign them.

AustinWolv
12-15-2010, 07:25 PM
Yep, paid off at times in '10, but with recruiting being harder in '11, it isn't quite the little gem that it was.

JeffHCross
12-15-2010, 08:55 PM
it isn't quite the little gem that it was.It can still pay off, but only if you get it early enough. I've gotten it far too often on a recruit that I'm some 700 points behind on.


I don't run into it oftenThat's 'cause every week you get one of four things:
1. x2 on 3 players on your board
2. Unlocked pitches on 2 or 3 players on your board
3. Pink Diamond on a 4* or greater recruit
4. One player that you're #1 on and have offered a scholarship to will commit

You can guarantee a pink diamond by not having anyone on your board, and you can practically guarantee it by having less than 3 on your board. Not that it would be necessarily worth it in that case.

If I've gone through enough players on my board (in a given week) that I'm reasonably sure I won't get x2 or Unlock, then I'll go to All Players ... sort on Status (that way I'll get the "blank" players first rather than the committed or interested players) ... then I go down to the last 4th star ... hit :ps3tri: to get "More Info", then hold up on the right stick to scroll through. Eventually I'll see a pink diamond flash by, and I'll look at the player.

oweb26
12-17-2010, 06:14 AM
You actually have the little gem more than you think. Your recruit advisor doesn't even tell you every time you have it on a recruit. The downside of that is you have to manually bump into it, so its not exactly time efficient. I have found players that I have the little pink diamond and my recruit advisor is talking about he unlocked some pitches.

Now if you dont have the recruit advisor then you will just have to bump into it.

Rudy
12-17-2010, 06:10 PM
I just scored a 1109 score for a recruit AND handed out -393 points to MSU. A total of just over 1500 points!

cdj
12-17-2010, 06:34 PM
That's 'cause every week you get one of four things:

My problem is that I am loyal (to a fault) when pursuing recruits as I will stick with them almost no matter what, so I don't go through the board enough to find the Pink Diamond.


I just scored a 1109 score for a recruit AND handed out -393 points to MSU. A total of just over 1500 points!

Wow - that's pretty impressive, Rudy! Where did you rank on his board at the time and where did you move up to afterwards?

JeffHCross
12-17-2010, 07:40 PM
My problem is that I am loyal (to a fault) when pursuing recruits as I will stick with them almost no matter what, so I don't go through the board enough to find the Pink Diamond.I find myself with extra hours on a regular basis.

Plus, if I don't have the x2 or unlocked pitches, then I know it's either an instant or Pink Diamond.

oweb, I've never seen a week with two of the "bonuses" ... you sure you actually got both and it wasn't just a bug?

Rudy
12-18-2010, 05:19 AM
Wow - that's pretty impressive, Rudy! Where did you rank on his board at the time and where did you move up to afterwards?

I was #2 on his board and I stayed #2 because he's now a soft commit to MSU. I picked him up very late on the recruiting trail and was 700 points behind to begin with. Because I had extra unused time I figured why not go for him. He's only a 3* athlete but he was from Michigan so I got pipeline, X2 and everything went right on that call. I did a comparison test on 5 of the calls.

Rudy
12-21-2010, 04:52 PM
Last year I didn't get a single quick commit and it hurt me all year. I got some great recruits in the offseason but the in-season recruiting was tough. This year I scored 5 quick commits in week 1! And these weren't lousy players either. I got the #1, 5* FS and #1 5* SS to sign with me. I also got another 4* and two 3* kids to commit right away. This will help tremendously as I lost a ton of talent in the offseason (it was the senior class of my last great AA recruiting class).

Seriously, 5 was the most I've ever gotten. Anybody ever get more than 5 quick commits (and these were all week 1 too)?

cdj
12-21-2010, 04:58 PM
I usually get 2-3 a year and it hurts me when I don't get that during the course of a season. Right now, in the PS3 OD I have just three verbals and no quick commits on the season and I think we are about 10 weeks in or so.

JeffHCross
12-21-2010, 05:13 PM
Anybody ever get more than 5 quick commits (and these were all week 1 too)?I got 4 or so the other day in a test Texas dynasty. It was borderline ridiculous.

steelerfan
12-21-2010, 06:02 PM
In the current year of the TGT OD, I got 2 4* commits with the first 20 minutes I used for the season. That was a nice start. :nod:

cdj
02-10-2011, 03:24 PM
Here is the definition of negative recruiting. Aided by X2 Bonus....can't remember if I had Pipeline Bonus as well.

http://www.thegamingtailgate.com/images/NCAA11/NegativeRecruiting.JPG

+920
-509

Essentially a 1429 point swing :D

morsdraconis
02-10-2011, 05:26 PM
Wow, that's ridiculous. Those poor bastards.

AustinWolv
02-10-2011, 07:01 PM
What I don't get in some of the dynasty stuff is how some schools clean up on the 5star recruits consistently when my team has a better record consistently and doesn't seem to get the number of sniffs, much less the number of commitments, from those 5star guys.

The other thing I don't like is that you can basically run a lean roster since injuries aren't that severe across the board which helps have more recruits interested in your school since there is playing time available and spots available. That intentional lack of depth is silly to have in a game that is trying to mimic/sim real college football where quality depth is paramount for making it through a season as well as long-term development and program strength. Yet, you can basically cheat that out in order to attract top recruits in the game.

Rudy
02-10-2011, 10:20 PM
On Heisman recruiting I think it's very balanced in terms of user difficulty. Some programs do get too many 5* but I have no problem with the amount I'm able to get. My classes are realistic.

I know a lot of guys want 85 man rosters but it will just lead to talent hording. This is one area that doesn't bother me with only 70 schollies. 75 might be nice but I do just fine with 70.

hillbill
02-11-2011, 08:27 AM
I just can't say enough about how much I love the randomness of recruiting this year. It is truly awesome (and certainly lifelike) to have these high rated prospects turn out to be busts, while finding some of those hidden gems among the 1 Star, 2 Star, and 3 Star players.

steelerfan
02-12-2011, 01:14 PM
On Heisman recruiting I think it's very balanced in terms of user difficulty. Some programs do get too many 5* but I have no problem with the amount I'm able to get. My classes are realistic.

I know a lot of guys want 85 man rosters but it will just lead to talent hording. This is one area that doesn't bother me with only 70 schollies. 75 might be nice but I do just fine with 70.

I think the hording could be offset with proper player transfers and with more busts.

JeffHCross
02-12-2011, 04:40 PM
I think the hording could be offset with proper player transfers and with more busts.Agreed. I think we already have a hoarding problem, even with 70 man rosters, because top-tier players go to too many top-tier teams with no regard for playing time possibilities and basically no chance of transferring in the future.

psusnoop
02-14-2011, 07:56 AM
Agreed. I think we already have a hoarding problem, even with 70 man rosters, because top-tier players go to too many top-tier teams with no regard for playing time possibilities and basically no chance of transferring in the future.

Jeff I think we seen this in Powerhouse with my QB's. For those that don't know, I'll break it down.

This season that just ended I had the following:
95ovr RS SR
92ovr RS SR
94ovr RS JR
92ovr RS JR
and redshirt incoming Freshman #1 overall 79ovr, as well as #2 ATH that was a QB 77ovr.

That year all the top QB's wanted to come to PSU, I took the #1 QB and since we just finished with the offseason he is an 80ovr that I'm redshirting.

This is just crazy, and not once has any of these guys wanted to transfer.

JeffHCross
02-14-2011, 08:42 PM
Jeff I think we seen this in Powerhouse with my QB's.Uhm, yeah. You and Papa are Exhibit A and Exhibit B.

And Alabama. Sigh.

Oneback
02-15-2011, 01:53 PM
One would think there would be a way to assign a weight to number of players at the position, years of eligibility remaining, player’s potential, and players OVR in determining if a recruit will sign with a team, then use the same formula and add playing time to determine if a player will transfer.

Give players a school pride rating and when the outcome of the formula outweighs the players school pride he transfers, or in recruiting if the players school pride outweighs the outcome of the formula there would still be a possibility of him signing dependant on how well you are able to talk him into coming to your school.

I would make the players school pride rating a hidden rating so it’s not abused.

JeffHCross
02-15-2011, 08:55 PM
I would make the players school pride rating a hidden rating so it’s not abused.I have quite a few ideas about hidden ratings that they could consider. Maybe I'll take the time to write 'em up and hope they stumble upon them.

steelerfan
02-16-2011, 03:45 AM
I have quite a few ideas about hidden ratings that they could consider. Maybe I'll take the time to write 'em up and hope they stumble upon them.

That's a good idea. I like Oneback's idea about school pride too.

psusnoop
02-16-2011, 12:23 PM
One would think there would be a way to assign a weight to number of players at the position, years of eligibility remaining, player’s potential, and players OVR in determining if a recruit will sign with a team, then use the same formula and add playing time to determine if a player will transfer.

Give players a school pride rating and when the outcome of the formula outweighs the players school pride he transfers, or in recruiting if the players school pride outweighs the outcome of the formula there would still be a possibility of him signing dependant on how well you are able to talk him into coming to your school.

I would make the players school pride rating a hidden rating so it’s not abused.

I like this as well, well done.

Dr Death
05-01-2011, 09:46 AM
I just can't say enough about how much I love the randomness of recruiting this year. It is truly awesome (and certainly lifelike) to have these high rated prospects turn out to be busts, while finding some of those hidden gems among the 1 Star, 2 Star, and 3 Star players.

I understand what you're saying, but my complaint w/ recruiting is the randomness of the Interview process. You may already know a recruit has zero interest in your school's academic level, but every time you go to speak w/ him this will pop up. And you have to use one of your Ask Another Question choices.

I like the old way, where we found out what they considered Most - Very High - Very High - High - High and sometimes, you could pound on those High's enough to turn them into Very High's. The new, complete random, almost Wheel Of Fortune way of talking to recruit's is ridiculous because it just isn't real at all.

JeffHCross
05-01-2011, 04:37 PM
The new, complete random, almost Wheel Of Fortune way of talking to recruit's is ridiculous because it just isn't real at all.I agree that it should be more weighted so things like Low/D- never come up, because who's going to take the time to talk about that? But a lot of us have been interpreting it as the recruit having control of the call, not you. That doesn't always explain some of the decisions and topics, but at least it can partially explain the change in control.

Plus, you actually pointed out the central problem with the old system. You pounded on those Highs, etc, until you had the guy signed. There was very little strategy, and absolutely no risk/reward. You could use a 2.5+ hr phone call on one guy by using three topics. Hit one until he turns :(, then go to the next, then the next. That was crap.

I don't 100% like the system as it is, and there are a few modifications I would advocate, but I also know the old system wasn't real at all either. Nick Saban doesn't insist on talking about Conference Prestige for 90 minutes just because he can.

souljahbill
05-01-2011, 05:18 PM
Here is the definition of negative recruiting. Aided by X2 Bonus....can't remember if I had Pipeline Bonus as well.

http://www.thegamingtailgate.com/images/NCAA11/NegativeRecruiting.JPG

+920
-509

Essentially a 1429 point swing :D

LOL! How many recruits are trying to decide between VA Tech and Troy?

Solidice
05-01-2011, 05:36 PM
LOL! How many recruits are trying to decide between VA Tech and Troy?

in one of my ODs, Troy and Fresno State both became a pretty good recruiting schools landing top 15 classes almost every year.

jaymo76
05-01-2011, 05:44 PM
I really hope conference prestige changes this year. It really hurts recruiting IMO. The ebb and flow of conference strength needs to be better reflected in recruiting.

Dr Death
05-01-2011, 05:52 PM
But a lot of us have been interpreting it as the recruit having control of the call, not you.

And if that's the case then why would the recruit bring up topics he has zero interest in? You said the old way wasn't real either, but at least it was more real than this current system. You had the football face and if you tried to pound a subject and he grew tired of it you needed to bail quickly or risk him hanging up. The old system also didn't waste time on non-interest topics.

One more complaint w/ recruiting... since I run 5- wide I always have a slew of WR's on my team. Eight at the minimum... but let's say I am recruiting a 5-star WR who is just off the charts. Great speed, hands, acceleration, awareness... total package. Why does it say Playing Time - Poor??? Why can't I tell the kid, 'Look, you come to {Insert school} and not only will you start, you'll catch over 100 passes in my offense!'

Yeah, they have the promise of playing time, but that's broken too. One year I landed a stud WR, placed him as the # 5 WR on the depth chart, which in 5- wide, means he is always the far inside WR on the side where there are three WR's. The kid caught 144 passes and 18 TD's and at the end of the year it said I broke my promise of significant playing time to him. He also won several awards... and was an All-American First Team... yet I got nailed w/ a broken promise because he wasn't listed as one or two on the depth chart! :bang:

souljahbill
05-01-2011, 06:01 PM
I really hope conference prestige changes this year. It really hurts recruiting IMO. The ebb and flow of conference strength needs to be better reflected in recruiting.

Yeah, you can swap SEC and Sunbelt teams and the SEC will still be an A+ while the Sunbelt will still be a D+ or whatever it is. Each school should have some kind of hidden "value" rating and when you add up all the values in the conference and divide it by the number of teams, that mean avg. should equate to a conference prestige grade.

jaymo76
05-01-2011, 06:08 PM
Yeah, you can swap SEC and Sunbelt teams and the SEC will still be an A+ while the Sunbelt will still be a D+ or whatever it is. Each school should have some kind of hidden "value" rating and when you add up all the values in the conference and divide it by the number of teams, that mean avg. should equate to a conference prestige grade.

Exactly! Let's say:

1. strength of previous years schedule
2. bcs BOWL bids / victories
3. N.C. BIDS

... Add whatever you like but one would think there could be a pretty simple formula used???