I recently posted this in the NCAA forum but thought a blog would be helpful too. If I think of more things I do, I will add them in.

Here are my top recruiting tips for NCAA 13 so far.

One Note: This is really intended for 3* programs and below. Honestly recruiting to 4* and above programs is pretty easy but this is a guide that you can apply to most all programs.

Edit Note: As I just found out by messing around. Go to "team management" and then "Recruiting Plan" Set your defense style, Position balance and position preference. I believe this should help your play style and playing time grades, not tested though.

Also, turn off all assistance. It'll just mess your board up.

--Preseason Recruiting--

1. Find 20 guys that you're interested in no more, no less

-- 1a. Go to the All Prospects Screen, then press X twice(or box on PS3). This should give you all the guys immediately interested in you.


-- 1b. Select the guys Who fill a need or are an easy get. In my first go around I prefer to try and get mostly 3* guys. Then some 2* guys who I think maybe gems or fill a need.

-- 1c. Then go through your pipeline states and in-state guys. Even if there isn't the green highlight of interest a bunch of these guys you have a chance with (speaking of the 3* guys). Then after I get my initial needs, I always round out with a couple of "dream" guys. Low 4* or High 3* guys or local studs who I may have a chance with.

-- 1d. Always look through the prospect list thoroughly. Pay attention to 40 times for RB, WR, CB, S. Look at the bench and Squat for OL/DL. Pay attention to both for FB, TE and LB. Press Y (or Triangle PS3) and look at the QB's letter grades for Arm Strength and Accuracy. When bring up the skills screen for ATH, by looking at the letter grades you should get an idea for what positions they play. By paying attention to these is where you find gems (and not in the scouting portion, gems of lower level guys who have some raw skill and will develop)

-- 1e. Look for guys that you may be able to change their position and then turn out to be a good prospect. My example here is a couple years ago I recruited a 2* OLB who ended up being like 57 overall. But he had 78 speed and like 72 strength as a FR. I moved him to RE and he was a 65 overall and was my starter. I ended up setting the sack record (his JR year) with him and as a senior he ended up being 87 overall.

2. Scout all 20 players on your board.

-- 2a. Now Choose 5 to either remove from your board (RB on 360, R1 PS3) or to leave there and monitor.

--2b. There are going to be some scouting busts. But look at their core skills. If you have an OLB that is an 84 speed and 88 acceleration but is only a 60 overall (and came down from a 65), still recruit him! Speed kills in NCAA, it always has. And a speedy LB can be a force. And remember 1d, you may be able to change his position and he may turn out to be a better DL.

That's my main pre season recruiting. I usually spend an hour looking for guys, if not longer. You can really turn around your team with these guys.

--In Season Recruiting--

I have 1 main rule. Never call more than 15 guys at a time. Preferably 10 guys, but when you're bad team you need to infuse talent. best way to do this is give everyone at least 40 minute calls every week. Simple math for you 15 guys = 40 min calls, 12 guys = 50 min call and 10 guys = 60 min calls.

1. Prioritize the guys you want.
-- 1a. You're going to have to make decisions on who you want to fully scout. I tend to give no more than 20 minutes of scouting any player in the first couple of weeks. You want to get these guys scouted quickly. So I will prioritize giving the ATH 20 min and then LB's, CB's, S, WR, RB are next inline to get the 20. The other positions 10 min shall do until you get the skill guys scouted. Most of your guys should be 50% or more scouted, ATH will usually be around 35%.

2. To Offer or Not to Offer?
-- 2a. Now being a low tier team you need every advantage you can get. For the 3* guys and higher I say offer them week 1. Most of the time the schools you are recruiting against have a ton of high letter pitches. While you'll be lucky to have 2 or 3 and you need to get off to an early lead or catch up them. 2* guys it really depends on if they are highly recruited by other schools most of the time I wait to offer them.

--2b. Promises. Use these wisely. When I have an uphill battle I usually make a promise week 1. This year they unlocked all promises from the get go from what I can tell. I use two almost exclusively.
1. Winning record vs Rivals first year
2. Promise player game in home state.
Now if you recruit in state #2 is an easy point getter. #1 I like because I can usually beat my rival. or play it safe with the no redshirt, but be careful a lot of times your existing players progress better than you think and if they progress a ton you'll want to use a redshirt so you can use your recruits talent for longer.

3. Making the call
--3a. After the first couple of weeks you will start seeing guys that should be locks for you. When there are players like this I usually 40 min quick call them.
Two reasons why. One saves time and unlocks pitches easier, and two you want to focus on the guys you are battling for. Always remember to look at the OFR column to see how many offers each prospect has. If its 2 or more you're going to being fighting for that player. Most of the time when it's just your offer, you're the only team recruiting him. Quick call the 1 offer guys (unless you haven't offered).

Also press Y (or Triangle PS3) and look at how far ahead or behind you are with the recruit. If you have a big lead, quick call. If a team is catching up or you need to play catch up, make the call yourself.

--3b. Compare schools as much as you can. This year you can actually get negative points when the battle isn't close, so be careful. But when you're using a bad team this is the biggest help. Also always use prospects choice. You always get bonus points.

--3c. Scheduling visits is a tricky thing. A lot of people don't know that if you schedule a bunch of players together you usually get higher visit ratings. Also I like to schedule them between week 7 and week 9. Week 8 is my ideal. So when I set up my pre season schedule I try to make sure one of those 3 weeks are a home game, then that gives you enough time later in the year to get some late visits in, with new recruits you add. But Week 7-9 visits usually means conference games and you can't change those, if it's a non conference game schedule it for a game you are sure to win. A win over anyone is better than a loss to the best team in the conference. Though an upset win always helps too. NEVER schedule a visit for a BYE week, EVER.

4. Got some commits, now what?
-- 4a. This is my favorite part. Go to the search function. In caliber put 3* and Schools remaining put 10 remaining. This will give you all the 3* and above guys who aren't being recruit or are lightly being recruited. You can get these players. Use step 1d, as reference when looking for players. By now its week 8,9 or 10 and you've lost out on some guys. This is where you can find players to fill that need. One positive and negative. The positive is you can build pipelines this way. Pay attention to the state players are from and check your pipeline states to see how many you need to make it a pipeline, remember you need 4 players from a state to make it a pipeline. The negative is you don't get any bonus points in recruiting for the pipeline state, thus making it harder to recruit these players.

-- 4b. Recruit these players with the same rules as above, no less than 40 min, I tend to offer immediately to get the player interested in me. Use promises a little more rarely here, most likely you don't need them as much. Unless big school jumps in on the player. Remember you can always remove the player you offered off your board and it will rescind the scholarship offer.

--4c. Remember to try and keep most all promises. In the next couple of years your integrity will be a high pitch grade for you to use. And if you plan on staying at that school until at least your contract runs out, then your stability grade will rise.

-- Off Season Recruiting--
By now you have some left over recruiting you need to do to finish up. Take care of those players first. If you have a big lead, give them 30 minutes and schedule the visit, if applicable. If they are N/A on the visit quick call an hour.

1. Finding off season recruits.
-- 1a. Go to search, then just put in "10 schools remaining". This will bring up all the players that are new on the board. I swing for the fences here. This is where I go after the 4 and 5 star players. Why? Because I should have most of my class by now and if I don't I go after need guys. But more often than not I have 12-18 guys committed (or will be after week 1 visits) and I can go after program changing players. You have the next 5 weeks to get a stud into your program. Be aggressive.

--1b. Really the off season recruiting is a bore to me, mainly because I have my guys and two I'm looking forward to position changes, cut and the next pre season.

But there is it, my guide to recruiting. These are simple rules I use, I average 18 plus commits a year and I also end up being a power within 3-5 years while a 1 Star program.

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