Just a centralized area to share recruiting tactics.
UPDATE:Code:SQT-S = Squat for skill players SQT-L = Squat for Lineman and Linebackers =========================================== spd str btk/tck rb/tck 40 BNCH SQT-S SQT-L RAT GRD =========================================== 4.24 xxx 445 795 99 A+ 4.26 xxx 440 785 98 A+ 4.28 xxx 435 775 97 A+ =========================================== 4.30 xxx 430 765 96 A 4.32 xxx 425 755 95 A 4.34 515 420 745 94 A =========================================== 4.36 509 415 735 93 A- 4.38 503 410 725 92 A- =========================================== 4.40 497 405 715 91 B+ 4.42 491 400 705 90 B+ 4.44 485 395 695 89 B+ 4.46 480 390 690 88 B+ =========================================== 4.48 474 385 680 87 B 4.50 468 380 670 86 B 4.52 462 375 665 85 B 4.54 456 370 655 84 B =========================================== 4.56 450 365 645 83 B- 4.58 444 360 640 82 B- 4.60 438 355 630 81 B- 4.62 432 350 620 80 B- =========================================== 4.64 426 345 610 79 C+ 4.66 420 340 605 78 C+ 4.68 414 335 595 77 C+ 4.70 408 330 585 76 C+ =========================================== 4.72 402 325 580 75 C 4.74 396 320 570 74 C 4.76 390 315 560 73 C 4.78 384 310 555 72 C =========================================== 4.80 378 305 545 71 C- 4.82 372 300 535 70 C- 4.84 366 295 525 69 C- =========================================== 4.86 360 290 520 68 D+ 4.88 354 285 510 67 D+ 4.90 348 280 500 66 D+ =========================================== 4.92 342 275 495 65 D 4.94 336 270 485 64 D 4.96 330 265 475 63 D 4.98 325 260 470 62 D 5.00 319 255 460 61 D 5.02 313 250 450 60 D ===========================================
Also to clarify what each is for.....
40: is the speed rating
BNCH: is the str rating
SQT-S: is tackle for defense and break tackle for offense, this is skill players.
SQT-L: is tackle for defense and run block for offense, this is lineman and linebackers.
Curtsey of someone from the other place
Setting up your preseason board
Spoiler: showI have heard of many different strategies when it comes to setting up your recruiting board. Some people say only put ten on, some say no more than 15, while others say fill that sucka up. One thing I heard recently is that if you skip the preseason recruiting, the first week you are guranteed to get a "pink gem" recruit that isor above. I will get into this later.
First be sure to turn off all computer assistance. The cpu will make random moves that will leave you scrambling to find your studs in the searches again. I try to separate my prospects into four groups. The "reach", "starters", "depth", and my favorite "pipelines".
REACH
My first group, "reach" is pretty easy to grasp. These are the stud impact players that you want to land this season. It will make your dream. Get that 5 star scrambling qb, or that Urlacher MLB. This group consists of 4 players that are probably out of your reach. Remember I am a cupcake so this meansor 4
STARTERS
These are going to become the core starters or soon to be starters for your team. After you have selected your four reach positions, go to the database and search for prospects that have you as top school. Go through and add anyor above players that you want. After you have added these guys, search the database for guys who have you in the top 5. Add any of these guys who are
DEPTH
These are guys that you are going to recruit just for the sheer sake of recruiting some depth. There is nothing worse than when your starters go down and you got nothing to back it up. These guys will only get 10 minutes of your time each week, so it is important that they have you as their top school already. Search all recruits by top school, and find any two stars or one stars that pop up. If there were some three stars that had you as top that you passed by before, why not give them a second look and add them to the depth group? After you do this step you should have a pretty nice grouping of guys that fit your board. Don't worry if your board isn't full yet, you still got the pipes to look at.
PIPELINES
Probably the most strategic group of recruits you can get. Basically if you use the pipes early, you will have an easier time getting starters next year. These guys are the dirt of the class. You don't care if they are worse than a walk-ons. These guys are purely for developing pipelines. Most of these guys you don't even have to throw a scholarship at to sign! Go to the database and search for recruits from a state that you would like to see as a pipeline state. Then sort by interest bar. Try to find 5 or 6 guys from that state who either have you in top 10, or are 1 star recruits. If your recruiting board has some extra space, go for a second state! In the end of the season you want to sign 4 guys from both of these states in order to get a pipeline. These recruits you can spend your extra time on when you get it, or give them the "free promises" (winning record against rivals, no redshirt first year ). This will add a lot of points to these scrubs and usually get you in the top quickly. The only bad thing about the pipes is that they have to be on your roster for the first year to get the state, so you can't cut these guys in the offseason. You can cut them after you have recruited new players from your new pipeline state though. If you didn't promise red shirt slap it on em. If you did, you can RS their SO year.
Big Board VS Small Board Debate
Many users seem to want to keep a small recruiting board. They find that it helps them to keep track of the time they are spending on each recruit. By having a small board you are less tempted to spread your hours to players you really don't care for. When you get a x2 adviser bonus it is more likely to impact a player that you really need.
My arguments for the big board are these:
Nothing says you have to call every recruit on your board. Players know when they are on your board and they will move you up in interest a small amount automatically. For example, if you choose a player from my pipelines group and never call them, you may see later that you move up in interest for apparently no reason at all! People who claim that they keep a small board because of the x2 bonus; I say so what. I bet with 3 players getting that the week at least one of them will be in the top 10. So now on average 2 calls with the x2 factor are "wasted" for the week. How many weeks do you tend to get the x2 bonus? 3? 4 times a season? 4*2=8 missed x2 factor calls. I will trade 8 calls for automatic small progressions on 25+ recruits wouldn't you? Players know where you have them on the board. The recruits are happier when they are placed towards the top of the board then if they are towards the bottom. Well, my reach players are 31 spots from the bottom of my board. On small boards they are only 6 from the bottom. Pretty big difference.Recruiting Goals / Schemes
Spoiler: show
Your primary goal for the first four weeks is to ask pitch interest. Find out about your recruits use the change topic if you already have a pitch unlocked. Some people say just hard sell and write down what points you get. Screw that. I am too dang lazy to write all that down, or even make up an excel sheet to refer to every time I recruit. Overall you probably give up 100 points on each recruit by simply unlocking all the pitches instead of blind hard selling. Later you will be glad you got these unlocked because you will need to sway pitches anyway which requires them unlocked.
Schedule visits as soon as a recruit will let you, and schedule them early. You can beat out some competition before it even gets started compared to possibly jumping someone later with a rivalry game win or possibly losing the recruit because they signed early in the year instead of waiting for their visit with you.
Every week after the first week your routine will be basically the same:
- Offer scholarships to people who you are top school for REACHES, STARTERS, and maybe a few DEPTH. Try not to give out more than 20 offers, because then recruits start to take a negative attitude.
- Schedule all visits ASAP
- Cut loss causes except for missed commits (explain later).
- Reorder board within groupings.
- Call remaining REACHES 1hr.
- Call starters between 20-40mins depending on lead.
- Remaining time 10min calls to Depth and Pipes.
- After Week 4 extras
1. Offering scholarships to recruits you are top school for. Except for reaches, this is a time when you can call any recruit for 10 minutes. The offer gets you a nice net of points and this will help you spread your time. It is important to get scholarship offers out quickly because of the instant sign bonus that comes around every so often. (explained in extras).
2. Already explained. Get them in early. If you have a 250+ lead and no competition on a recruit go ahead and schedule him for the next opportunity even if it isn't a rival or ranked opp. Heck you can get As in bye weeks too!
3. If you had a guy that had you as top school and now you notice you keep dropping look at who else is going after him. If there are bigger schools that kick your butt in areas cut your losses now. This recruiting method is based on the fact that you are capable of throwing out the trash or lost causes. If somebody however randomly commits to another school, I like to leave that player on my board. It seems that if you let the CPU keep track of your losses you seem to get easier wins in the off season. Maybe its just a placebo effect of mine, if anyone else wants to lab it feel free and let me know. I seem to get easier recruiting on the new talent when I have 3+ failed recruits that I actually went after. I consider a lost cause if I am 200 points behind and I have already had my visit; or 350 points behind; or my ranking is greater than his commit status (if he is in top 5 schools, i better be in the top 5); or recruit that I have pumped time into last week that I have gone down on and I have already used my promises on and this same player I am not rated 2 or 3. As you play more you will be able to tweak these schemes to what you feel you can overcome. These are just some key indicators of lost causes.
4. Reorder within groupings. Reorder your REACHES so whomever you have the best chance of getting is in the top. Any little bit of extra progression helps. In STARTERS, anyone that is in tight competition move towards the top of the STARTERS. Guys you have a stronghold, move them down a little bit. This way when you do misspend time you still are putting your time on guys who really need it.
5. Your reaches get 1 hour every week! Remember you only had 4 to begin with. By the start of week 3 you probably cut one because his interest did not align, and when week four comes by you will most likely be down to 1 if you are lucky 2 of them. I was going to explain this later but heck I'll do it now. Week 1+2 you are trying to find out as many interest levels as you can. At the start of week 3 you should have 9-12 interest levels unlocked. Use common sense if the guy most interested levels are your weak points cut them now, don't waste week 3 hours on them. Week 3 you try hard selling and make a promise or two. At the start of week 4 if you are not in the top 10 tell them not to let the door hit them on the way out. Reaches who make it past week 4 get 1 hour every week no matter what! Try to sway their interest levels in your direction. Don't forget you can sway interest down! That is key to hitting your reaches if you are a low school. Aim for 300 points and 2-3 sways per call. If the player is not from your pipeline state compare whenever you can against the top couple of schools. Don't do it if he is a pipeline state kid. You need every little bonus you can get. Those CPUs and other users are going to compare against you and get you negative points every opportunity they get. If you are down to 1 reach and you think you got a real shot to get him, remove other players of the same position off your board. The recruits are happier when they are the only prospect you are targeting for their position. If you are lucky you might get an early lead and hit with an instant commit, or he will commit during your visit, or he doesn't commit to anyone until the offseason.
6. Look at your STARTERS group. If you are the only guy recruiting a prospect, you can slow play him. Only give him 10 minutes. Heck you can even quick call these guys for 10. If you have a decent lead but not quite sure throw 20 minutes at the guy. If you are in a race give him 40 minutes if you really need/like him or stick to the 30.
7. Use remaining time to quick call DEPTH group and every third week instead of hitting DEPTH group butter up your PIPES.
8. After week 4, go back into the recruit database. Search for commit status 10 schools remaining. Sort by interest and then look at the players. Look for guys who don't have any green bars. These guys are not being recruiting, you can add these guys to your STARTERS group or DEPTH group and get a head jump on these guys before the CPU goes for these guys.4 Week Example
Spoiler: show
My recruiting concept, is that if its broke throw it away...
WEEK 1
- REACHES - 60 minutes each. unlock pitches + offer, see if they align with your school's best.
- STARTERS - with you as top school - 20 minutes each. Unlock a pitch and offer scholarships. If you are top on their board, offer a scholarship.
- Other STARTERS - 30 minutes each. Unlock some pitches.
- DEPTH - 10 minutes each. Unlock a pitch
- PIPELINES - Doubt any time but 10 minutes if you got em.
WEEK 2
Look at your REACHES. Cut ones that do not align with your interest. If they have low on your highest pitch you ain't got a chance.
Anyone that has you as a top ten you can battle for unless you see Alabama, Texas, or Ohio state recruiting. A basic rule for everyone else, is if you drop from top 10 then poof they gone.
- REACHES - 60 minutes each. You should at most have 3 guys left in this group. These are your go big go home. boys, unlock pitches and sell sell sell.
- Anyone that has you as a new top school that you haven't offered scholarship offer now except PIPES.
- STARTERS - get 20 minutes this week.
- DEPTH - 10 minutes
- Leftovers for your PIPELINES.
Remember: Always schedule a visit the instant they will let you. You get a lot of points, and then you know who you should focus on unlocking some extra pitches on.
WEEK 3
- REACHES - check how you are aligning with your REACHES. Try hard selling and promising this week. This is the last week they are guaranteed to get 1 hour.
- Cut anyone that you are not in top 10. (usually none).
- Schedule visits with everyone that you can. 20 minute calls, why not unlock a pitch at same time.
- Offer scholarships to anyone new with you top team.
- Any guys that have you as top school that you haven't called yet that you have a big lead spend 10 minutes on a topic.
- Then 20-30 minutes for starters that you need to.
- Its week 3 so this time PIPELINES get 10 minutes before DEPTH. PIPELINES get my time every third week over DEPTH you gotta give them a little love. Later when your time opens up you can hit both DEPTHS and PIPELINES for 20 minutes, but you don't want to be making mad dashes for your PIPELINES.
Week 4 and Beyond
REACHES - Cut all that do not have you as a top ten school. Hopefully you might have that
If you find a recruit you are steadily going downhill on, check to see the schools competing with you. If there are a lot of schools with yellow interest cut this fool and replace him with someone else that you could use. Heck nothing says you can't start targeting another PIPELINE instead of wasting time on someone you don't have a chance of getting.
- Offer scholarships when you are top interest or before a visit.
- Make free promises like "no redshirt, winning rival record" to get out of sticky situations only after you have used all your topic changes.
- If you have a healthy lead on a recruit, a quick call of 10 minutes is enough.
- Top school but close battles, give them 30 or 40 minutes if you're big on him.
- Top 3-5 give them time.
- Don't ever be afraid to cut somebody if the competition is to high.
Remember to give a little love to those 1 star PIPELINE recruits that you are getting for pipelines!
I try to keep board full, as I remove players I will add recruits I think I can win to get pipeline states.battles are pretty easy to win since no one is really interested in them.
If you can pick up 2-3 pipeline states in 1 year, no matter how bad the rest of your recruiting went, next year is going to be awesome as you will have a lot more recruits interested in you from the get go.EXTRAS
Spoiler: show
Instant Commit Bonus
This comes around once in awhile. One week your recruits will have something around a 10% chance of instant signing with you if they have you as top school and you have already offered a scholarship. All you have to do is spend 10 minutes with a guy and you are done! If when you are recruiting one of your guys instant commits, you need to rethink your strategy for the week. Look at your remaining time. Make sure you have enough at least spend 10 minutes on everyone whom fits the criteria. If you have 20 offers out there and they hit around a 10% rate, you can sign 1-2 more recruits this week!
Some people think that if they offer a scholarship during an instant sign week they still get credit for the instant sign. WRONG! If that player does commit it is just a lucky occurrence. It did not happen because of instant commit. Instant commit is rolled when the phone call begins, not after you pitch or offer.
Pink gem
Contrary to popular belief this symbol does not mean the recruit will out perform his stats or that he will develop quicker. All this mean is that a recruit you have not had on your board has a man crush on your school. If you add this player to your board, your school will be placed somewhere between 5 and 10 on the recruit's interest board. When looking through the recruits database you need to click on the recruit for more info. From here just scroll down through the recruits looking at the upper left corner. If you see a gem this is the guy. The only recruits that this is available for are
x2
Everybody loves this one. It is so straightforward. Everything you do with the recruit in this phone call gets a x2 bonus. When you see one of these when you make a call, lick your chops cause you are going to get 2 more! This is one reason that many users will try to keep a small board, they count on these bonuses like a lifeline. Always either compare (if it's very favorable to you) or hard sell the topic when you have the x2 bonus. Try to get the most favorable topics that you can (A+ Most is worth something like 225 points by itself) but don't be afraid to hard sell a C+ or B- if you have to.
Lock Symbol
When you see this, looks more like a paperclip, it simply mean that two interest levels for pitches have been revealed to you for this recruit. This will happen on two more recruits that you have.
Change topic during phone call.
People don't use these to their fullest potential. Many people think that you can save a roll by not doing this twice in a row. WRONG! You only get 3 per call. Not using them gets you nothing! They are back the next time you call the recruit! Use them and use them plentifully! I have heard of people getting low interest, reroll, least interest and then make a promise thinking they will need to save the reroll for either topic 5 or 6. This is so stupid. Use another reroll, if in topic 6 you need another but don't have any THEN use a promise. Promises are your lifelines, only use them once you strike out on all three change topics.OFFSEASON
Spoiler: show
When offseason comes; search top 10 commitment, and add anyone that has you as green circle. These are the new guys whom you can sweep up to beef up your depth. Spend an hour on any recruits from steps the regular season except for PIPELINES. PIPELINES only need a visit to have their minds blown! PIPELINES will even sign without a scholarship after week 4 if you end up using all your scholarships. Rest of time goes to new talent, work fast. Schedule an early visit and nail that. Make any promises you can. It is time to seal the deal. Whenever room opens up on your board, add some recruits you can quickly seal the deal on to add to your pipelines. Remember 4 recruits from one state means a new pipeline!
By the end of the year, you should have a top class that has something that might look like this.
1-2
8-14
8-16players.
4-12
1-3 pipeline states!
You should get a good amount of
Year 2 you will notice that there are some
CYCLE PLAYER RECRUITING PLAN
Spoiler: show
Another thing I like to do is try to offset single start positions with each other.
I never like to have a freshman starting at any position, I like everyone to have at least 2 years of development before starting, plus when you don't have to worry about spending minutes on positions you don't need, you can try double recruiting on players you do need and keep the better of the two guys you get.
Example: When my youngest qb is a SO that year I will try to get a qb. This means every other year I get a qb. My team will always have at least a JR qb starting at this rate. The odd year out is when I target the other offensive stud hb. This way each year I switch which position I am trying to recruit, and always have a JR starting at each position! (two progressions at both positions.)
Year 1.
qb1=sr hb1=jr
qb2=so hb2=fr
This year I target QB
Year 2
qb2=jr hb1=sr
qb3=fr hb2=so
This year I target HB
Year3
qb2=sr hb2=jr
qb3=so hb3=fr
This year get QB nstead of hb.
See the pattern?
Doing things like this will help keep those single starter positions with JR+ starters. You can treat LE and RE as different positions the same way. Following this method, you only need to target 11 players each year! Because CB and WR you tend to need 3 for 3 wide sets and nickle defense I always try to get at least 1wr and cb per year. Look at the freedom your board has now!
1 year ex.
QB FB TE LT LE RE LOLB MLB SS WR CB
2 year cont.
HB LG C RG RT DT ROLB FS dt/olb(3-4 vs 43) WR CB
3 year cont.
1 year ex.
QB FB TE LT LE RE LOLB MLB SS WR CB
ect.
So now you can go for the top two recruits at each position you want = 22 players on board. That is easy to manage. You now have room for 13 recruits you like to recruit just for the heck of it! Don't forget a punter or Kicker every 4 years! (or take the walk ons like me lol) Don't forget to sign some easy grabs for pipeline states!
Have your FR back up your JR at their intended spots, they will get some playtime throughout the year and gain additional training. Same goes for setting SO to back up the SRs.
Because everyone on your team is now starting at JR and playing through SR, you will see some guys going to the Pros, which will in turn increase your school's pro potential pitch more! (only exception to the JR+ starting every year is when a JR declares pro early, then you have at least a SO starting.)
*note
When I do recruit a player in an off year, like lets say I got a hb year 1, I can redshirt him and next year he is the equivalent of an already recruited freshmen with +1 year development! *
Recruiting Icon Descriptions
Open Padlock: Each week, three players on your Recruiting Board will have two random pitches unlocked without needing to spend any time chatting with them.
Pink Diamond: 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.
X2 (Double Points): Three players on your Recruiting Board will receive double the recruiting points when targeting pitches. For example, if focusing on a Hard Sell would normally provide a +13 boost will now give +26. The x2 also applies within Competitive Recruiting.
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Originally Posted by morsdraconis
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