Reese's Recruiting Tips

[ReeseChiarlo]

I wrote this post in response to someones request asking for help in recruiting. Its quite long, but I think it has some great suggestions for everyone. Feel free to add any suggestions that work for you. This is just what has worked for me in building my dynasties.

My tips for good recruiting.

1. when you are adding recruits at the beginning of the year, these are 4 steps I go through to add recruits.

a. Go through Russel top 100, add anyone that has you on the radar (ie has a green dot next to their name)
b. Go to search prospects, search Any then Top School. Add players that have you number 1 overall that you think also fit what you need that you are looking for. (disregard players that are not needed)
c. Go to search prospects, search Any then Top 10. This will bring up any caliber player that has you in the top 10, again add the players that seem to fit what you are looking for.
d. Then I usually add a 4-7 recruit wish list. These are guys that do not have on the radar at all, but are positions that you really need. You can find your wish list 2 ways, go back through the Russel top 100, or Search Prospects, Pipeline, Any, then search through your pipeline states for wish list players.

2. First week of recruiting:

-Call anyone that has you rated number 1 over all. I just use quick call till about midseason. spend at least 35 minute and offer a scholarship. You should get at least 1 of these guys to commit right out of the gate, sometimes more

-At this point re-order your recruits in the manner you wish. I re-order to Caliber, some prefer needs. At this point I start at the top of my list and call everyone for about 35min. offering a scholarship. I dont get through the entire list till week 2, sometimes 3, if I have a bunch of people ready week 2.

3. After week 1.

-Finish offering all the scholarships you wish to offer
-Schedule anyone that is ready

****tips on scheduling****
1. Schedule week 9 and later for higher rated players. Most recruits on seem to commit till later in the season, you want to get them to visit right around when they are ready to commit.
2. Keep an eye on when they are visiting other schools. If they have another school rated number 1, you want to schedule your recruit to visit you before they go to that school, because most likely unless you jump in and sway them they will commit.
3. If you havent unlocked all the recruits interests, you can always reschedule them to a different time.

4. Recruit maintenance:
-Always keep up with the guys you want the most, I touch base with them every week, even if its just to hard sell an interest that is good for my school (remember do not hard sell interests that are only good or worse)
-You can sway pitches. If your school is Excellent or Elite in any category you can sway any unlocked interests in a recruit. You can raise High to Very High, and in some cases Very High to Most. or Above Average to High.
-About week 9-13. If you have some recruits on your board that sill have you N/A interest level depending on your needs, you may drop them. If I am looking for a small recruiting class then I leave them just in case they make it to the off season where it is much easier to gain interest from a recruit.

5. Visits:

- Make sure you have at least 2 good rated interests from your recruit. 3 is great, but if you are just building a new dynasty I realize 3 can sometimes be a struggle.
-Do not schedule anything for the recruit to do that is not good or better. (preferably great or better, but again depends on the caliber of your school)
- If you only have one good rated interest from a recruit, then only schedule that activity. Showing off your D rated workout facility to a guy who has that as one of his high rated interest, will not impress him, actually it will hurt your chances.

**undetermined note**
-I find that I have better results when players are visiting when I actually play the game, if there is a game scheduled that week. and not sim it. It may be in my head, but always seems to be the case for me

6.After visit
-even if you didnt win the recruit over to commit or move you up to the number 1 spot, do not lose heart. You may still have a chance.
-follow up their visits with phonecalls, hard sell your interests to the recruit, recruit against the other schools that are higher rated then you, you can still sway them over. If nothing else hope that they dont commit anywhere, and you can snag them in the offseason.

OFF Season Recruiting:

**this is the easiest part of recruiting**

week 1. Call as many recruits as you can, Make every promise that you can and know you can back up. Make promises to players that may not even have you rated highly. Schedule highly rated recruits to come right away, schedule players that you are not sure you really want to come later say week 4 or 5.

-remember to watch how many spots you have left. Nothing is worse then tracking down that 4 star Center through weeks 1-3, finally getting him interested to visit week 4 or 5, only to have your last few scholarship spots taken by some 1 or 2 star recruit that you added just to fill your recruiting spots. I have had 5 star recruits recruit as late as week 4, so dont give up on them. As your available scholarships dwindle call less players, and spend mor time on the ones you really want.


Hope that helps you. Let me know if you have any more questions.

[jrod27]

Thanks a lot. Are the pitch interests still average, above average, etc. on xbox or something? I noticed you were still refering to them that way. The ones on PS3 have changed to letter grades.

[WolverinesFinest]

good post here are some things that can help a lot though:

The 4 steps you posted are good but after each step it helps to go through and take off players that don't fit your system, do this after each step and you will have less recruits to go for.

Another thing that I still don't understand is why people go after more than 25 recruits? that's the number of scholarships so going after 35 makes no sense to me. Ive found that if you limit your list to about 20 (lower if possible) you can get about 90% of the players and then pick up good athletes in the off season to round out your 25. Especially this year because ea added the new recruits in the off season thing so there will be definatly be some quality players to go after.

Last year waiting to give the scholarship help for some but actually giving it out when you are in there top 3 is best, ive heard lots of stories about people getting random commits when they are like 4th on a guys list.

And yeah playing the game does help, If you play and beat usc with lets say wisconsin your recruits will likely get a A or A+ but if you sim and win they will get a A- to B+ which still isnt bad I guess just not as good.

Now if only I knew what these different colored bars mean?? (calling for help by adam)

[ReeseChiarlo]

Quote: Originally Posted by jrod27

Thanks a lot. Are the pitch interests still average, above average, etc. on xbox or something? I noticed you were still refering to them that way. The ones on PS3 have changed to letter grades.

No they have changed them to letter scores but the same principals still apply.

[eyeamg0dly]

i do mine a little bit different. the beginning i do look at top 100 and grab anyone that has interest.

I dont use the search feature though, i just go through the database and filter through by the stats im looking for. lets say im looking for a WR, i will filter by speed then scroll through and look at height. even if they have no intiial interest doesnt mean i shouldnt try to recruit them. i add another challenge on myself but only recruiting out of my pipeline states, but that is just something to add challenge to my recruiting process.

i feel its no problem getting people who have interest so i should spend my initial time finding players that measure up over simply anyone who just has interest. after i fill my board with the players i want, i start the season and offer scholarships. the next week i start weeding them out, i might get 10-15 interested and i move them up my board based on their caliber or need of position. anyone else left who hasnt shown interest and has been offered by other schools gets dropped off my list, i just dont have the time to get their interest while another school moves up.

after a few weeks i have weeded out all non interested and re-evaluate my board to see if i have time to take on new prospects. now i use the search and search by top 10 committment, you will be surprised how many 4 and 5* prospects are sitting there with no offers. i offer them and go through the same process, alot of these guys wont be interested no matter what you do, but you can find some decent players here that can add depth to your roster.

late season, lets say around week 10 or 11. by now i should have some visits completed and my board is full of prospects with me as their #1 school. now i start my late season recruiting and use the search by top 10 interest. i do this late because over the course of the season my school has moved up on alot of recruits board without me having to do anything. if i am a bigger school i can easily steal away 3* and some 4* recruits from smaller schools. with a smaller school it is a little bit harder but by using promises you can lock up alot of recruits when it moves to the off season.

my theory is this. i want the best players available based on their measurements and not by their * caliber or interest. its alot easier to recruit based on interest but you may not get what you want. if they measure up and have interest then thats the most ideal situation. by using this method i always pulled a top 3 recruiting class in last years game.

[yanks26ngoin]

Those are good tips. I always recruit for my needs and for my system. I also will only schedule visits for rivalries or big games. Like, I have a week 2 game against one of my rivals, Notre Dame. If I have some pitches unlocked that are Very Highs and Most of the A or A+ rated pitch, I will hard sell them until the meter is full. Then, I use those pitches on the visit. With the added interest from the meter and if they have a good visit, I may get some commits from the top recruits, even if its early in the year. If I dont, I continue to hard sell the very high and most interest for the A or A+ pitch ratings until the meter is full each week. But, I did notice that no matter how much interest the recruit has in you, if the "Proximity to Home" pitch is of very high or most interest to him, if his home school is recruiting him hard, you will probably lose him. For example, I was Michigan and recruiting a CB from North Carolina. His proximity to home was of very high interest to him. Even though I was able to sway a high interest to a very high interest in one of my A+ rated pitches, I lost him to North Carolina. His interest in me barely moved after the increase I got from the visit. I was 5th on his list and the visit moved me up to 2nd. But, his interest level in me was medium and North Carolina was full and green. He didnt commit to NC though until he took his final visit.

[ReeseChiarlo]

Great posts guys! Some good advice in there.

In response to filling the whole board. It really depends on where your program is at, and how many people are leaving. If you are trying to build up a 1* program, then you need all the help you can get for your first few recruiting classes. Any commitment at that point is a plus.

But yes for larger schools or further down the road, it does make sense to put less recruits on your radar. If you are only trying to fill 7-15 roster spots. Yeah then only add 20 or so players.


**Question**
-Are you all finding the recruiting to be consistent with last year or has it really changed?

-I love the interest bar in the phone calls, very useful!

[Roy38]

Quote: Originally Posted by ReeseChiarlo

I wrote this post in response to someones request asking for help in recruiting. Its quite long, but I think it has some great suggestions for everyone. Feel free to add any suggestions that work for you. This is just what has worked for me in building my dynasties. My tips for good recruiting. 1. when you are adding recruits at the beginning of the year, these are 4 steps I go through to add recruits. a. Go through Russel top 100, add anyone that has you on the radar (ie has a green dot next to their name) b. Go to search prospects, search Any then Top School. Add players that have you number 1 overall that you think also fit what you need that you are looking for. (disregard players that are not needed) c. Go to search prospects, search Any then Top 10. This will bring up any caliber player that has you in the top 10, again add the players that seem to fit what you are looking for. d. Then I usually add a 4-7 recruit wish list. These are guys that do not have on the radar at all, but are positions that you really need. You can find your wish list 2 ways, go back through the Russel top 100, or Search Prospects, Pipeline, Any, then search through your pipeline states for wish list players. 2. First week of recruiting: -Call anyone that has you rated number 1 over all. I just use quick call till about midseason. spend at least 35 minute and offer a scholarship. You should get at least 1 of these guys to commit right out of the gate, sometimes more -At this point re-order your recruits in the manner you wish. I re-order to Caliber, some prefer needs. At this point I start at the top of my list and call everyone for about 35min. offering a scholarship. I dont get through the entire list till week 2, sometimes 3, if I have a bunch of people ready week 2. 3. After week 1. -Finish offering all the scholarships you wish to offer -Schedule anyone that is ready ****tips on scheduling**** 1. Schedule week 9 and later for higher rated players. Most recruits on seem to commit till later in the season, you want to get them to visit right around when they are ready to commit. 2. Keep an eye on when they are visiting other schools. If they have another school rated number 1, you want to schedule your recruit to visit you before they go to that school, because most likely unless you jump in and sway them they will commit. 3. If you havent unlocked all the recruits interests, you can always reschedule them to a different time. 4. Recruit maintenance: -Always keep up with the guys you want the most, I touch base with them every week, even if its just to hard sell an interest that is good for my school (remember do not hard sell interests that are only good or worse) -You can sway pitches. If your school is Excellent or Elite in any category you can sway any unlocked interests in a recruit. You can raise High to Very High, and in some cases Very High to Most. or Above Average to High. -About week 9-13. If you have some recruits on your board that sill have you N/A interest level depending on your needs, you may drop them. If I am looking for a small recruiting class then I leave them just in case they make it to the off season where it is much easier to gain interest from a recruit. 5. Visits: - Make sure you have at least 2 good rated interests from your recruit. 3 is great, but if you are just building a new dynasty I realize 3 can sometimes be a struggle. -Do not schedule anything for the recruit to do that is not good or better. (preferably great or better, but again depends on the caliber of your school) - If you only have one good rated interest from a recruit, then only schedule that activity. Showing off your D rated workout facility to a guy who has that as one of his high rated interest, will not impress him, actually it will hurt your chances. **undetermined note** -I find that I have better results when players are visiting when I actually play the game, if there is a game scheduled that week. and not sim it. It may be in my head, but always seems to be the case for me 6.After visit -even if you didnt win the recruit over to commit or move you up to the number 1 spot, do not lose heart. You may still have a chance. -follow up their visits with phonecalls, hard sell your interests to the recruit, recruit against the other schools that are higher rated then you, you can still sway them over. If nothing else hope that they dont commit anywhere, and you can snag them in the offseason. OFF Season Recruiting: **this is the easiest part of recruiting** week 1. Call as many recruits as you can, Make every promise that you can and know you can back up. Make promises to players that may not even have you rated highly. Schedule highly rated recruits to come right away, schedule players that you are not sure you really want to come later say week 4 or 5. -remember to watch how many spots you have left. Nothing is worse then tracking down that 4 star Center through weeks 1-3, finally getting him interested to visit week 4 or 5, only to have your last few scholarship spots taken by some 1 or 2 star recruit that you added just to fill your recruiting spots. I have had 5 star recruits recruit as late as week 4, so dont give up on them. As your available scholarships dwindle call less players, and spend mor time on the ones you really want. Hope that helps you. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Suggestion:

When trying to fill needs on your recruiting board, search for players that have your school on their radar (i.e., has the green dot next to their name) as stated above. If you are having difficulty finding a good player to fit your needs, search "Interest Level" next. It will show how interested a player is in your school. You may find several players who may be interested in your school, but have you outside of their top 10. However, their interest may be greater than some of the recruits that have you on their radar. By using this technique, I was able to recruit a 5* Athlete to my 1* created team with appreciable ratings.