Do you fill up your recruiting board?

[southernbelle]

or leave it to say, 15 focused players?

[MrMayface]

Re: Do you fill up your recruiting board?

My first season I did. Even when I took some guys off, the cpu assistance would fill it back up for me. I started my new season last night and only added 22 players. I also turned off all the recruiting assistance stuff, so they wouldnt add the rest of the players to my board.

[Roggie]

Re: Do you fill up your recruiting board?

I always fill it. But I only call between 15-20 people a week. Works extremely well for me.

[tommy4uf]

Re: Do you fill up your recruiting board?

Im playing my first Dynasty and am in my 6th year. I play as the Gators for my first Dynasty every year so i get good recruits and its not that hard. But at first i was recruiting all wrong. I tried to fill up my boards and only got the crappy players b/c i didnt use enough time on them. So now i load my board with 12 player that have me 1 or 2 at the beginning of the season. As i get them i add new players to my board till close to the end of the season and i try to use 60min on all the players i have left. usually like 6-7 r left. then in the offseason i only go for 10 guys that way i can use 60min on them evry week, and i usually get about 4-5 of them. so try only 12 guys. i get as many guys as i need every year. when i have a big class leave i get a big class in. the game just kinda works itself out like that for some reason

[jello1717]

Re: Do you fill up your recruiting board?

There's a very good reason to fill it and a very good reason not to fill it.

Why to fill it:
Recruits will increase interest just by being on your board, even if you don't talk to them. (Still you should never call too many people as you'll spread your time too thinly)

Why to not fill it:
For the instant signing and X2 bonuses (as well as the unlocked pitches, but who cares about that) it could be anyone on your board (1 guy for instant commit and 3 guys for X2). If you're only calling half the guys on your board, then there's a 50% chance that when you get an instant commit opportunity, it'll be wasted because it's for a guy that you didn't talk to. Likewise for the X2 bonus, it could be wasted on guys that you don't call.

I don't fill my board. I have the guys that I'm calling ever week (obviously) and then some "2nd option" guys. If I'm losing too much ground on my 2nd choice guys, then I'll remove them from my board so I don't have a wasted X2 bonus on them. If I'm still in the running, I'll keep them on the board so I can still gain a few points, and I'll just eat a wasted X2 if it comes up.

[jkra0512]

Re: Do you fill up your recruiting board?

At the start of each season I add 20-22 players who have me 5th of higher on their list. I weed them out from there on in. I've signed about five 4-star and six 3-star recruits with ND. Texas and Ohio St. are hogging all the 5-star recruits...

[Frank the Tank]

Re: Do you fill up your recruiting board?

There's a very good reason to fill it and a very good reason not to fill it.

Why to fill it:
Recruits will increase interest just by being on your board, even if you don't talk to them. (Still you should never call too many people as you'll spread your time too thinly)

Why to not fill it:
For the instant signing and X2 bonuses (as well as the unlocked pitches, but who cares about that) it could be anyone on your board (1 guy for instant commit and 3 guys for X2). If you're only calling half the guys on your board, then there's a 50% chance that when you get an instant commit opportunity, it'll be wasted because it's for a guy that you didn't talk to. Likewise for the X2 bonus, it could be wasted on guys that you don't call.

I don't fill my board. I have the guys that I'm calling ever week (obviously) and then some "2nd option" guys. If I'm losing too much ground on my 2nd choice guys, then I'll remove them from my board so I don't have a wasted X2 bonus on them. If I'm still in the running, I'll keep them on the board so I can still gain a few points, and I'll just eat a wasted X2 if it comes up.

Thank you for this info, I was not aware of this due to not playing with great intensity the last couple years with this recruiting system. Guess I should have come here sooner. But from what you say, it sounds like a wise strategy to drop players from the board once you realize other teams are really recruiting them heavily and you probably won't get them.

It also seems a good idea to target mostly the 15-20 guys you really want/need, with maybe a couple other guys noted so you can add them if needed. Knowing this will surely improve my recruiting efforts.

[Frank the Tank]

Re: Do you fill up your recruiting board?

BTW, is there any strategy to figuring out who is a good candidate for the instant commit? Logically you'd think it would be players who aren't getting very much attention from other teams, but probably there is more to it than just that?

[CrossTown]

Re: Do you fill up your recruiting board?

I stick with 10-12 recruits at a time. I haven't quite grasped recruiting yet, so it's easier for me to just put 50-60 minutes into a guy every week and when he commits, replace him with someone untargeted or still highly interested.

As I improve my recruiting (finding out when to do what, how much time to devote to each recruit, etc.) I'll expand me board to 15 or so.

[jbrew2411]

Re: Do you fill up your recruiting board?

I think this topic has been debated for years. You should always do what feels right to you. If you feel like adding the 35 player max then that is what you should do. For me I have done the same thing since 1999. I max my board out at 15-20 depending on my needs. I target needs first then if I have space left I go after wants. I also like to offer week 1 to every player added to my board. Since I target mostly need and I search out the players that fit my system why not get the offers out there.
I have had great success over the years doing this but others may find this method to not work for them. That is why I said it has to be what feels right for you.

[kmaxhokie]

Re: Do you fill up your recruiting board?

I usually just throw my favorite 20 or so recruits on the board and give them 30 minutes each. Then when I get a commitment or lose a recruit I replace them with someone who hasn't been recruited who I am on there top 10. I so far have gotten 7 recruits and have like 10 other who I am number 1 at and about 7 of them have no one else going after them. Seems to be working out well.

[MikeHokie]

Re: Do you fill up your recruiting board?

Couple things to keep in mind:

1. Don't fill your board with more than 20 guys, you won't be able give everyone ample time for swaying pitches and keeping pace with the bigger schools.
2. Try to stick to guys in your pipeline. This is more for smaller schools with prestige less than 3* because bigger schools have more attractive pitches that could lure that recruit away regardless. Plus pipeline guys give you an added bonus on each pitch.
3. Spend about 40 minutes to 30 minutes on each player depending on each week. Usually you have a first tier set of guys you want and then the second tier you can spend the 30 minutes on.
4. Spend the first week unlocking pitches and then try to sway the pitches that are at least a "B" or higher. I'm using a "B" or higher because I've had experience with smaller schools (ie. Utah State).
5. If you are 1st on their list offer them a schollie the first week. Do this for each recruit that moves your school into first. It's your call, but I have tried offering guys that have me 2nd and 3rd on their list and that has actually worked well. But if they're first definitely offer asap, you have the chance they could instant commit and you indicate interest to them.
6. If a guy is a 4* or 5* recruit and you are not in his top 10 and he has narrowed his schools to top 8 or lower DO NOT bother with him. He will not sign. Best you can do is get him to put you 5th or 6th on his list.

These are a couple of things I have gone by and its worked. First year I didn't have that great of a recruiting class because I mistakenly filled my board and offered too many guys. Second year I experimented with they system above. And the third year as a 2* school I got about 8 3* recruits and 10 or so 2* guys. That brought me to about 70th in the country in recruiting. Pretty good when you consider I was only a few spots of Louisville and other higher prestige schools in better conferences.

[hazey]

Re: Do you fill up your recruiting board?

I just finished recruiting where I had no more than 10 guys on my recruiting board so I could give them maximum time every week. I ended up with 11 in season recruits (I added 1 guy for every 1 guy that commited in season) and now going into the offseason. I only lost about 2-4 initial players that I added in week 1, and they had no interest level in my school.

[Solidice]

Re: Do you fill up your recruiting board?

I usually fill it with players I want to recruit, then players I want to keep an eye on(for back-up purposes if one of my 'main' recruits sign elsewhere). but I only call between 10-15 players a week. depends on how many seniors I have(I usually only sign as many as I have leaving)

[UATide]

Re: Do you fill up your recruiting board?

I usually fill it with players I want to recruit, then players I want to keep an eye on(for back-up purposes if one of my 'main' recruits sign elsewhere). but I only call between 10-15 players a week. depends on how many seniors I have(I usually only sign as many as I have leaving)

I'm the same, save the last part in parentheses. I focus on about 15 players.