Hey Fans... Recruiting Info Please

[Collegefbfan]

Okay, so I have been playing this series for a long time now. I feel I have never really done things to full potential until coming here. Building up programs in dynasty, messing with sliders, trying new defensive strategies. Now, recruiting. Do you all just recruit to fill the needs of the team? Do you recruit a lot more players just cause they are interested? Like during the season. About how many players you all recruit each season? Thanks.

[roninho]

* I can recruit whoever i want, but can only sign a class of 14+1.

Which means 14 during recruiting season and 1 during signing day which i do so that signing day actually is fun for me (i typically sign the 14 long before end of recruiting season).
The 14 number comes from the roster limit of 70, so 5 years of eligibility (4 years plus redshirt) = 5x14=70 players.

* I cannot scout players because scouting guys results in certain topclasses in terms of talent. Simply scout a bunch of 3 stars, find some gems and have a bunch of 3-star 75-78 over players coming in. So it becomes way to easy. I don't scout them during recruiting, i only scout them after they have signed with me. Since the game autoscouts the top 15-20 guys you have on your board during pre-season i make sure i scout 20 1 star players so that i have no points left, and then delete them from my board and make my board like i want it to be


* I cannot cut players i have recruited. Since i can sign 15 recruits chances are in the beginning of your dynasty you have more players then 70 on your roster. For example i took over a Michigan roster that had 12 seniors and 11 juniors, but 70 total guys, which means having to cut after recruiting 15 players. I have the rule that i cannot cut my own recruits meaning that a bust is truly a bust i have to keep for 4 years.

* I don't simply recruit for need, i try to combine need and bpa. And i am taking both a short term as well as a long term outlook.
I play a 3-4 defense and lets say my NT starter will graduate, and i only have two 70 ovr backups, meaning after offseason progression they are preferably not starting for me (my starters should be in the 80s preferably)
In that case i i obviously try to land a top recruit at his position, meaning for my team at least a 4 star player. So in that case i go for need.

However, if after a few weeks of recruiting it becomes clear i cannot land a 4* DT recruit i rather prefer to not recruit a 3* but go for position where i can land a 4* recruit even though he will be backup, let's say a 4 star LB. My thinking behind this is that likely i will be able to land a 4* NT the next offseason who will be better then the 3* i recruited. Basically a 4* sophomore linebacker and 4* freshman DT will beat a 3* DT and a 4* linebacker.


I don't follow this tactic for all positions, i currently have 5 qb's and will have 6 next season as well since i am still looking for 2 long term guys. I have a 85 Sr, a 79 jr, a 70 jr, a 70 so and a 69 fr.
Essentially i feel my programm needs a 80+ sophomore and a 77+ freshman. I signed 2 4* guys but unfortunately one was a bust (68 ovr) and 1 is ok (74 ovr). So yeah, next offseason i will again recruit a QB.

* A house rule i have implemented involves JUCO players. You will likely not get any transfer requests (because you will quickly fill up your roster and requests only seem to come when you have big holes in your roster) and feel that is a miss in this game. Especially since we see a lot of (graduate) transfers in real life i wanted to add that to the game, i mean michigan had Rudock, O'Korn and Patterson all start at QB after transfers.

So how i implement that is that i can recruit JUCO players but have to redshirt them as if they transfered. So my 79 jr QB i currently have is now redshirting after a 'transfer'.

* Other house rules i don't use now but have seen or done before include:

- Not recruiting players that have no interest (only with green dot next to their names)
- Not recruiting athletes (you have a much bigger chance landing them)
- Not recruiting toptalent that go unrecruited (every season a couple of 4 star players will have <20% interest at the end of the season, meaning you can easily sign them)

Hope this helps.

[Collegefbfan]

Thanks for that info. Man, that certainly is technical. I might have to use some of these. Do you only recruit the three star guys because the game is easy to you?

[roninho]

If you scout and have no limits on how many recruits you sign the game is way to easy. You will end up with much better recruiting classes compared to what would be realistic for your prestige.

The scouting is imo the worst one. I've just finished my 2nd recruiting class (in total 29 recruits) and 24 were 4 stars. 20% of them were busts, as in lower ovr then 70.
By using the scout i would not have recruited them. And i would have used the scoilut to only recruit gems and bona fida 4 stars. Ergo i would have signed 25 75-80 ovr players.

That is great at first but quickly you will not lose a game anymore

[sherrane]

I have different rules than roninho.


Scouting:


I can completely scout recruits in my pipeline states and up to 50% in other states.


Signing:


The number of recruits I can offer / sign during the season are determined by the number of seniors on my roster (available scholarships). I cannot over sign. If I do, I delete my twice the number of my best players from the roster as penalty. In other words, if I had 15 spots and sign 17, I must remove my best 4 players (based on overall rating). If I am using the editor, I'll either make them transfer or enter the NFL draft instead of deleting them.


This game gets too easy if you over sign and remove former walk ons or underachievers.



Walk ons:


The only walk ons I cut are ones that are added over the 70 player roster limit. If I had 17 slots and signed 13, I must accept the 4 walk ons. Once a player is on my roster, I can only delete them as mentioned in the previous section. In other words, the goal is to never cut any player.


I won a national championship in an Illinois dynasty where my #3, #4, and #6 WRs were former walk ons. Each walk on has some ability and it is up to the coach (me) to get the most out of them.



Preseason recruiting / board setup:


I can recruit 4 more players than the number of available scholarships at any point during the season. I can only add players who show interest in my program in the preseason.


Season recruiting:


As players lose interest in my program, I can remove them from my board. I can only replace them with either players who show interest or players from pipeline states. This means you can only add the disinterested, under-recruited 4 or 5 star player if he's in one of your pipeline states. I do not scout these players.



The pipeline state exception is because you have developed relationships with high school coaches in the state. When a high school coach has an under-recruited FBS caliber player, he'll reach out to college coaches he has a relationship with in order to try to get him a scholarship.



JUCO:


I cannot redshirt JUCO players. This means this recruit should either be an immediate starter or compete for a starting role with the player he will backup.


In real life, a JUCO is not going to sign with a team he will not play for in his first season. In today's game, he'd enter the Transfer Portal during the season or in the next offseason.



Talking out of entering the draft:


Must be a redshirt sophomore or true junior who is projected to get drafted in the 5th round or later. I can only use one argument to sway him to stay.


Maybe a player will become a second rounder if he was to return, but the game isn't deep enough to know his family situation. He might need to start earning a paycheck to help his family.


Talking out of transfer:


I do not do this.

[bryan_nelson88]

I think it's important to keep in mind that it's YOUR dynasty and you can do whatever you want with it. Do what makes it fun for you. I do some of what has already been stated above, but I can't do a lot of the technical stuff because it just kills the fun of it all.

I think the main thing that you should know is that only recruiting the amount of players that you have leaving will keep your team from becoming WAY too good too fast. We all love a good rebuild, but I think it kills some of the fun if you become way too good right away.

[Von Dozier]

I use JoshC's recruiting strategy. Dependant on your school's star rating at the end of season.

1 Star: (Home State: Top 3) (Pipeline: Top 3) (Any: 1st)
2 Star: (Home State: Top 5) (Pipeline: Top 3) (Any: 1st)
3 Star: (Home State: Top 10) (Pipeline: Top 5) (Any: Top 3)
4 Star: (Home State: Any) (Pipeline: Top 10) (Any: Top 5)
5 Star: (Home State: Any) (Pipeline: Any) (Any: Top 10)
6 Star: Any player you want to pursue

[MATTYMATT726]

I don't do any of the funny stuff above, because it's a GAME and i lile to have fun. I recruit whatever i want including up to 8 5 star and 14 4 stars in 1 year. Doesn't lose any fun gor me by actually building a good team. 2 years or 12 its all the same goal. If i win to easy or fast, I'll change schemes and fit my team as best i can to the new style or I'll cut my depth behind starters and start the build again till i move to another challenge.