Recruiting is a joke!

[JDAMND]

I just started with my 4th season at Tennessee and have been ranked every year at the end of the season. My previous season I went 10-3 and started the season with a lot of interest from some highly ranked players. I fill my board up with 26 players and all but 1 have either hard committed elsewhere or soft committed elsewhere while I am ranked #3 in the country. It seems like every week I am losing a recruit to a no named school or to a team I just hammered on the field. I am playing on heisman andmoved the recruiting level down to varsity. I am offering most players pretty early on. I tried setting up visits early and late in multiple seasons and nothing seems to work. Anyone else having these issues?

[jeremym480]

You may want to rethink your recruiting strategy. I never go after more than 15-16 guys at a time. Because for one, you probably won't be able to call all of those guys and even if you do you don't talk to them long enough. And two, if you don't get to call everyone them your leaving bonuses on the board.

I know last year there was a nice thread on here with some recruiting tips. There's probably another one this year if you search for it.

[mavfan21]

I never have more than 10-12 prospects on my board at a time. Hit the top guys you want HARD and then as you get commits find recruits that are interested and aren't getting close to signing elsewhere to add to your board.

Works great.

[JDAMND]

Thanks for the tips Guys, I will give it a try.

[Romowens]

Start the season with 25 recruits. Offer the bottom 12 a scholarship. You're left with 8 hours. Spend 50 mins each on the top 6 recruits. You're left with 3 hours. Split that between the remaining 7 players.
2nd week. look at their interests. If any are over 300, get rid of them. You want to narrow down to 15 players by the latest, the beginning of week 4.
From there spend a hour each on the top 5. 40 mins each for the mid 5. And 20 mins each on bottom 5.

After I get ahead on my top guys (400-500+) I'll move them down a little and move some up. Offline dynasties I'm usually ranking all players from lowest to highest in terms of interests by week 8.

I did this in the first season with Iowa State and had the #14 class. Of course, you will have to modify some of the times and stuff based on your own targets. But best thing is to create a plan and stick to the plan.

[steelersfan77]

I don't know what the heck I did but with recruiting on heisman and my first time at recruiting I pulled in the 7th best class with West Virginia with 22 total players.

On a side not TCU was 3rd overall. You never see that in real college football.

[jbrew2411]

Quote: Originally Posted by mavfan21

I never have more than 10-12 prospects on my board at a time. Hit the top guys you want HARD and then as you get commits find recruits that are interested and aren't getting close to signing elsewhere to add to your board. Works great.

I do this as well. I keep my board at 10. I add the 10 best players that fill need first and go hard after them. Once a player signs I then go looking for a player to add. I offer week 1. I only recruit guys that have me in the top 3 and less then 200 points back. I never over recruit. I feel like I can land top 10 classes by using this method.

[lbh24]

Quote: Originally Posted by mavfan21

I never have more than 10-12 prospects on my board at a time. Hit the top guys you want HARD and then as you get commits find recruits that are interested and aren't getting close to signing elsewhere to add to your board. Works great.

This. This. This. This. This.

With 35 slots and 25 scholarships, it can become very easy to try to fill the 25 schollies rather than 3 or 4 needs. I like to go 2x my needs (i.e. if I need one DE, I recruit 2) with the exception of halfback where I'll go 3x because I love to keep a deep stable, then recruit 3 or 4 talented and interested guys at any position.

When you focus on a small core, you will end up getting the majority of them, and hopefully in a quick fashion. The rest of your recruiting time is spent playing with house money, either making key positions deeper or reaching for some talent that might be a bit above your head.