Seriously - what am I doing wrong in recruiting?

[wade moore]

So.

I figured early on I struggled because I was UVA and my record wasn't very good.

The last couple of years my record has been pretty good, but I'm still struggling BIG time.

I looked last night. We're in what.. week 12?

I have ZERO recruits.

Several human owners have around 10 with 5 or 6 5*'s and a chunk of 4*'s.

In the guys I have a chance at, I am struggling BIG time to get a 4*. I haven't sniffed the jock of a 5* yet.

Is there some secret that I'm missing out on?

[Kodos]

Maybe you're not a very charismatic recruiter.

[Logan]

Last season, I had one in-year recruit. The year before, coming off a national championship game appearance, I believe I had two. This year I have one and a soft commit. I think it's safe to say I've been the second most successful team in our league, behind cmp, and my classes have been about in the middle of the human owners. I fill up my class during the offseason when most of the top players have commited, so until I can get the in-season momentum going, I'll continue to not be very highly rated. I definitely don't know why either, I don't think guys like Ironhead and Detox are doing anything differently...it just seems like some teams can and some can't.

I think a lot of it has to do with who you are competing against locally. Not only do I get to fight with those guys for the premier local recruits, but both Oklahoma and Texas take a lot of kids from me. Ironhead deals with Texas also, and probably the Oklahoma kids too, maybe his higher initial prestige helps him with that...no clue. I can't think of anything I'm not doing or could do better, so I just think there's something random behind the scenes.

It's not a worry for me, as long as I can get 4s and 3s, I know I can be competitive.

[kcchief19]

Hard to say without giving away my own recruiting strategies, however much or little success I have with them.

My worst season of online recruiting came when I targeted way too many prospects that were out of my league. If you're going to get a 5-star recruit, they almost have to have you in their 10 top from the beginning to land them. If you put some time in them and don't budge them, you have to be willing to move on.

[DeToxRox]

When I recruit, I make it a point to search first for guys who have me top 3. I hit them hardest, then top 5 and then top 10, though lately I have 35 solid top 3 or top 5 guys so I don't have to go top 10 unless I see a 5* I want to run at.

Then I just quick call and offer a schollie for week 1 and 2 until all have been offered. Then it's a matter of going through and setting up visits. I like to have 2 big visit games, and that way I can recruit for a few weeks hard on the guys who might visit week 5, then another visit game is week 10, and I hit those guys then.

Usually it pays off.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

When I recruit, I make it a point to search first for guys who have me top 3. I hit them hardest, then top 5 and then top 10, though lately I have 35 solid top 3 or top 5 guys so I don't have to go top 10 unless I see a 5* I want to run at.

It may be as simple as this. I'm lucky to have 5 4*'s with me in their top 10 to start the season.

Then I just quick call and offer a schollie for week 1 and 2 until all have been offered. Then it's a matter of going through and setting up visits. I like to have 2 big visit games, and that way I can recruit for a few weeks hard on the guys who might visit week 5, then another visit game is week 10, and I hit those guys then.

Usually it pays off.

So you don't touch the week 10 guys at all until week 6?

[kcchief19]

DeTox and I have a similar approach.

Originally Posted by wade moore

It may be as simple as this. I'm lucky to have 5 4*'s with me in their top 10 to start the season.

That seems pretty low for a program like Virginia. I typically go through and identify every 4-star or better player that has me No. 1. Then I target my in-state guys and pipeline guys. Usually I'll have a few slots left and at that point I'll target positions of need. Any 5-star in-state gets boarded whether I'm in their top 10 or not. I'll also look at guys who have a high interest in me even if I'm not in their top 10. Everybody gets a schollie offer in week 1 or 2.

Originally Posted by wade moore

So you don't touch the week 10 guys at all until week 6?

I'm generally the same as DeTox. I'll schedule visits as soon as I can. Premier players get a visit asap versus an opponent I know I can beat. Everybody else gets schedule in usually 2 games, the two latest games again in cases where I think I can win. I won't ignore these guys necessarily but I might quick call them for 5 minutes each week just to get one of their preferences unmasked. Otherwise, all of my recruiting efforts go to my top 10-15 guys.

But at some point in the season, I'll cross off guys who don't seem interested and look at secondary targets -- 4-stars with no offers, especially no offers from other humans. It's a lot easier to recruit against the AI.

[wade moore]

I'm having to offer guys schollies that I'm not in their top-10 hoping I move into the top-10 after the offer.

That's how I have to roll.

[DeToxRox]

I make sure I gave Most, Very High, Very High for all recruits that come visit. If it's time for them to visit and I don't, I reschedule. For the second group of visitors, they're usually lower tier guys on my board, but not always. I quick call them for 10-15 minutes when I have time just to try making a little dent, then I set my focus on them with actual calling when it's time.

And like KC said, if it's been weeks and I am not in the top 5, I just drop them and go looking for players without offers who I can pounce on.

[cmp]

The main strategy I have is that I rarely ever chase a recruit that another human is ahead of me on. I usually start my board with players that are interested in me at the beginning of the year and don't add in players in which I'm outside their top 10 until later on, when by that time I can tell if another human or cpu is heavily recruiting them. I usually can tell after the first or second week how good the chances are that I will land a recruit are and drop him early if I think I don't have a chance. I don't waste any time on guys that aren't 75% likely to commit to me.

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by cmp

The main strategy I have is that I rarely ever chase a recruit. I usually can tell after the first or second week how good the chances are that I will land a recruit are and drop him early if I think I don't have a chance. I don't waste any time on guys that aren't 75% likely to commit to me.

I get caught every once in a while in a spot like that, especially with a guy who makes my list because maybe I'm his 11th favorite and he's a 5-star stud. I try not to let these guys linger -- especially if I put some time into them and I'm already trailing humans.