Quote Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes View Post
Yeah, you can, but in my experience so far, it only slows the bleeding.

To test, I created a level 30 coach last night, and completely maxed out his recruiting skills. Despite throwing the maximum 700 points at players, despite having a couple hundred more points in bonuses, despite the players being from a pipeline state, I was still eventually constantly being overtaken and losing ground to teams like Rice, Old Dominion, San Jose State, etc.

Two players that I was able to drag things out long enough to make it to the off-season, I had to pump 5,000 points in each of them, out of my 15,000 point off-season recruiting pool, just to ensure I'd sign them. That left me 5,000 points to distribute between the remaining 7 players on my board.

My first season as a level 30 coach at Texas State, with maxed out recruiting, I signed a grand total of 11 players. All but two rated between 57 and 65 overall.

To me, it feels like they took the difficulty of recruiting and cranked it all the way up to Heisman x HeismanHeisman​ and then multiplied that result by Heisman.

I think I have a new strategy. You need to make sure the player your trying to recruit likes the majority of your school's pitches. (If your a small school) Make sure your competition is weak. It's hard to get guys who are 4 or 5 stars as a small school so look for 3 star gems. If your a larger school try to find a 4 or 5 star recruit who has interest in your school, likes your schools pitches, and who doesn't have a ton of big schools on his back. Athletes are the best guys to go after.

Recruiting requires a lot more thinking than it used to. I'm having to redo my recruiting board to make sure I have guys on my board that not only fit my playing style (which I always do) but fits my school (my school has all of the pitches he wants). If your school has all of the pitches your school wants than you get a pretty bonus. Plus your points allocated and lower competition from schools (at least try to recruit against schools you have a chance against e.g if your Idaho and going after a RB that Alabama is going after then you don't have a fighting chance. But if you were Georgia going after the same RB as Alabama then you do have a chance.) so once you add your bonus, allocated points, and the recruit already having interest in your school then your in good shape to get this recruit. Not to say you can't recruit a guy who isn't automatically interested in you, but in that case you need to make sure their isn't any big schools interested in him. If your a small school then you need to hunt down 3 star gems and the occasional 4 or 5 star who is interested in your school because of a deal breaker. If your a larger school or a small school make sure the recruit likes your schools pitches or it will take mercy to get him. Athletes and 3 star gems are the easiest route to take.

Geez, this years recruiting gives me a headache.... But I love the new realistic strategy required. And don't forget about scheduling complimentary visits LATE in the year.