So now you’re ready to play, maybe. If you just want to recruit and sim games, that is fine. If you have the CPU recruiting for you and you want to sim the games, that works for me too. If you want to do it all, keep reading.
Basics of Recruiting ——————–
Go to your recruiting board and get ready to go after some players. This is your weekly routine, so learn it well. First, let’s look at the basics.
INT – This means how the prospects looks upon your school, not how many interceptions he will throw/get. If this value has a 1st, then the guy is probably committing to your program. Keep in mind that when he commits depends on this next value.
Stage – Top 10, Top 8, Top 5, Top 3, and then over. I would be the first to admit I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure this means what schools they are deciding between. If it’s top 3 and their INT is still 4th or N/A, then I’m pretty sure you have no chance at getting them. I know this because you never get a guy that has you any lower than 1st in INT. So really, the stage doesn’t matter so much as INT, and if the guy isn’t warming up to you, check his stage and consider dropping him off your board.
CH – Change is either a dash or a arrrow point up or down. A dash means he has not improved his feelings toward you, and the arrows mean how you are dropping in his interest. If it’s staying the same, but he still has interest in you, you can still change it. If you’re falling late, perhaps it’s time to give up on him.
Visit – This is either N/A or Ready. If he’s ready you can call him and schedule a visit to your campus. You need to pay attention to this for all the players on your board (even guys not on your board can be ready), and get a visit planned ASAP. Don’t put everyone in a visit on one game, but please get them to come early or else they may lose a ton in interest in your program.
Offers – Yes, No, soft, hard, tot, and none are the values here. If a guy has no offers late, offer him a scholarship and he’s likely to commit. If he’s got ten early, good luck getting him. Soft means the kid is leaning toward that school, and hard means he has committed to you or someone else.
And that’s it. Aside from his caliber and position, these are the values you need to keep in mind. As the season rolls on and you add/drop players from your board, you will need to consider rankings and their caliber. But assuming you have the players’ interest in your program first, you are off on the right foot.
Week 1 Recruiting —————–
*NOTE: If you are into cheating, there is a section in this guide for it to help you in recruiting.*
Here is the main portion of this game, maybe even above or on par with the football stuff. Think of it as a board game within a real game. You need to win this game more so than the games on your schedule, especially if you plan on having a true dynasty; the games will handle themselves, or maybe you can have a hand in that too.
Stay on your recruiting board and go down your list. Select your top prospect and select the Quick Call option. Select either 30 or 20 minutes, depending on how many of your 10 hours you want to spend on him, and also offer him a scholarship. You may want to spend 45 minutes (which is 30 and then 15 for offering) on top players that aren’t very interested in you, and then 20 mintues (with the offer included), on the guys already into your school. It’s a good idea to get the top 15-20 guys offers as soon as possible.
You may notice after each call you get a “Results” window that has “Pitch Results” and then a list of items. We will discuss these later in detail, but for now just know that the mores pitches you unlock early, which means spending more time with guys, the easier it will be to reel them in. If you spend 20 minutes on guys, then you only unlock one pitch since you only had 5 extra minutes to talk, but sometimes this is your best option, especially early.
Now big schools can go hard after top guys and then lightly entertain the rest. Smaller schools need to spend 20 minutes max on each guy and offer them spots because your board will probably fill up with players that commit elsewhere. You could maybe just go hard after a few guys, but that is a big risk if you can never get them to warm up to you. You better just go for quantity, not quality.
So you’ve spent all ten hours making these offers. There is no more you can do but edit your rankings, but no reason to do that now. You are done with recruiting for this week.
As is the case for every week, after recruiting you should save, look up the headlines and news, maybe eyeball the Heisman watch and other things of interest. And when ready, go play/sim your week so you can get to the next week of recruiting. Remember not to pass over a week because you need all the time you can get.
Unlocking Pitches —————–
The key to successful recruiting is to find out as many of these as you can. You do this by either quickcalling or calling directly. Quickcalling is the way to go as you don’t have to do all the work yourself and you may learn more about a prospect.
When calling directly, which you only do when you set up a visit or are hard selling your pitches, you shouldn’t try to do too much during these calls or the player will get mad. You’ll notice the football head that displays emotions up top. That guy isn’t crucial, but a happy player is more likely to warm up to your school. Talk to them too much and they will lose interest, so only unlock a few pitches and then hang up.
But the majority of the time you will use the quickcall to get as many of these pitches unlocked as soon as possible. These pitches affect the interest of the player and will be crucial in them having a good visit.
The best amount of time in a quickcall is 30 minutes, especially if you have 20 or so players you really need/want. Smaller schools probably need to spread out the time more and spend 20 minutes a player.
I hav en’t really explained pitches, just how to get them. But that is because you don’t use them just yet. Here are the ratings the player has for all of the things you can pitch:
Most Very High High Above Average Average Low Very Low Least
There are two “verys” and one least and one most. The others can vary, but you usually can’t do much with those anyway.
Individual School Ratings ————————-
Top schools need not worry, all of your ratings for these are great or higher. Lower schools need to pay attention to the things they have to sell their prospects. Since you can’t talk to a player forever, you really just need to find his two “Very Highs” and his “Most.” Compare those to the ratings of your school in that area. If you have “Elite” or “Excellent” congrats on the committed prospect, usually. But if the players interest and your school’s rating have a considerable distance between them, than there is a problem.
Before we go too far, here are the areas of your school:
Academic Prestige Campus Lifestyle Coach Experience Coach Prestige Conference Prestige Championship Contender Athletics Facilities Fan Base Pro Factory Program Stability Program Tradition Television Exposure
And here are possible ratings:
Elite Excellent* Great Very Good Good Fair Sub Par Poor
*Not sure if this order is right or if these are all of them. I have seen at least once where an Excellent along with a very high went sour.
The key is to match your ratings with the player’s best interests, especially on his visit. If you don’t sell him his Most interest, then if another school can do better, wave bye bye to the prospect. If you sell and sell him things he isn’t interested the most in and you never see his interest change over time, best to cut your losses and drop him from your board.
Week 2-4 Recruiting ——————-
Most of your top recruits and lower ones will display “Ready” on their visit value, and that means you need to call them directly and plan a visit on a week as soon as you can. They may need a lot longer for a visit, or they may never visit, but it’s usually around this time that you will get a visit for them.
During these direct calls you should also spend some time unlocking more pitches and interests of the player. Just ask about 2 or 3 of the unknown interest in a pitch and then move on. Keep him mind you always want to leave the player as happy as can be.
*NOTE: If you schedule a visit in the current week, you may want to talk with them about two pitches or so and then schedule so you can get a better idea of what they are interested in when you schedule activities.*
You should also move around prospects on your board. I like putting the guys that want visits on the top. I know you would think guys interested in the program don’t need to be paid so much more attention, but at least for now it helps you know what players are most interested in playing for you.
Smaller schools should look for 3-star guys showing any interest and move them way up the board as 3-stars will improve any lowly school. Again, bad schools need to offer as many scholarships as possible, spending 20 minutes a quickcall to get players interested. And remember, when deciding where to spend the last couple of hours of your time, consider the remaining players’ caliber. For my lists I
Also keep in mind the players you haven’t talked to. Perhaps just spend 20 minutes with them and offer them scholarships if you have the time and if you want them. If a player has six offers and his interest never changes, it could be precious time wasted if you call him.
Here is how I like to order my board according to priority:
Top desired players – 5 star players out of my league, just one or two. Level of interest – Players with “1st” are at the top of my board, and if they drop them they stay there in case it goes back up and to know the guys on the edge. Basically they can only go up, not fall. Need – Someone I need at a position, and thing I overlook a lot because there is so little time. Just know your team has needs, but getting good in other areas is not bad either, and you can usually pick up any body to fill a position at your own risk. Least number of offers – If I’m the only one to offer the kid a scholarship, then maybe he’ll gain some interest over time Players not interested – These are the ones that you take the “wait and see” approach; if they never change, drop them after a few weeks
If the computer is helping you, you may notice some recruits will be missing or added to your board, and if you have no help some guys may just go off of it. So keep an eye in the upper corner for how many recruits out of 35 you have, and then maybe go fill the gap with a new prospect.
One last thing, don’t forget that if it doesn’t seem like you can find a good player to fit that position, look for the athletes, which always pop up when you perform a search. Small ATH’s will tend to be corners, receivers, and maybe runners. 200 pounders will fit into FB, TE, LB spots, maybe. And then the 250+ pounders can go on the lines, maybe. There isn’t really a “size matters” idea for players at a position, but you can always compare a guy to that position and see where he fits in in the off season.
Remember, just quickcall at this point. Big schools can focus on their top 20 players and go hard after them, spending 30 minutes or so on them. Smaller schools may need to spend 20 minutes with everyone just so you can get your hands on as many players as possible.
You will never be able to talk with everyone for the amount of time you wish, but it’s a long season and the best thing is to focus on the guys you need, then talk with the guys you want.
*NOTE: To sim to bye weeks, just sim through the week you are on, because choosing the bye week only gives you the option to go through it, and you don’t want to miss a whole week of calling.*
Selling, Swaying, and Finding —————————–
You have three options when calling a player over the phone directly. But first you should know that there are two other factors in play. One is time, and if you keep in sight the counter at the top of the screen, it will go down when doing an action. Sometimes it just goes a few minutes, and at other times it just keeps going. The goal is for the “Pitch Complete” message to pop up in the upper corner, which means you’ve learned the player’s interest in that area.
Once you find his level of interest, if there is a lock by his interest of that area then you can only sell that pitch to him. If it is open that generally means you can perhaps sway his mind on the subject. Swaying is the same as pitching, where it can take a varying amount of time, but the result is either success or failure. A good sway means he’ll have more interest in that area, and a failed sway means you just wasted your time. I would say only sway if your school offers good quality at that spot, otherwise don’t waste your time. I’ve even seen good sways DROP the rating, so be careful.
*NOTE: For long finds/sways, it may be best to cut it off when the player is most happy, as it usually just goes down with the more time it takes, but the result is you still don’t know his position on the area. I wouldn’t go so far as to say write down the incompleted pitches because you just want the player happy.*
The goal of finding his interests is so that you can sell them to him, and also plan activities, and maybe even make a promise. You are looking for his two “Very Highs” and the “Most” out of him; otherwise you need to keep finding his interests. Conversely, once you find these three you can usually stop, but only if your school meets those needs, otherwise you’ll need to find his “above average” and “high” concerns so you’ll have something to show him.
Hard selling is to make that football face smile big (with teeth showing), and that means the kid is buying into your program. If hard selling isn’t working, you’ll need to sell something else or find other pitches to sell. Trust me, it’s easy if you’re a big school.
One important observation I’ve made is that the difference among his level of concern and your school’s rating in an area is that it takes longer and usually ends badly. For instance, if you are selling him a pitch that is most important to him, but your school is “fair” or “average”, then it usually takes 30 minutes to hard sell and the end result is he is unhappy. I don’t have a clear grasp of whether it’s the difference or just his highest concerns, but no matter what you want the “Pitch Complete” sign for a good pitch to raise his interest.
*NOTE: Sometimes you can learn a little bit on the player’s position when trying to sell or sway in the phrase he offers at the top. If he says “I could go either way” on a subject, it doesn’t mean a sway will work, just that the option to try is there. I’ve never seen a bad sway work the next time, but maybe it’s possible.*
Keep in mind, even an extremely happy player could never sign with you if you are not the top school on his list. It’s never a good idea to sell him his top concerns if you are not very good in that area.
Visits ——
You schedule visits as soon as the player is ready, and you want to set it on a week when there is a home game, best if it’s one you can win but any home game is fine.
*NOTE: You can find out one of their likes when you pick a week. At the top will be a phrase that reflects what they are interested in. Something like “could we talk over dinner?” is a sign they have Coach Prestige way up on their list of concerns.*
During the week of the visit you will be reminded of players coming in. You do not need to call them directly, just select the player and then set up three activities for him to do. These will reflect the pitches you’ve unlocked as you want them to do things they are most interested in. If you scheduled a week not when you set up the call, then you can quickcall them for 20 minutes or so to unlock more pitches, then set the activities.
You could even guess as to what the player may be interested in. Perhaps you don’t know a pitch, but your school/team/coach is elite in that area, so it may work to set that up. Even better if you’ve unlocked the things he’s least into as the rest can do no harm, or at least you have a high chance of hitting a good one.
If the visit is a success, and top schools usually have good visits by default, then it helps the kid decide. The game played, whether home or away, doesn’t seem to have a big impact on your letter grade, which is displayed next to the visit column in the next week. A visit isn’t required, but it surely helps, and then it’s better to have a high rated visit then a bad one. If you want a great visit, simply match his top concerns with your best offerings. And if you can’t, then expect lower grades and him to commit elsewhere if another school can do better.
*NOTE: Bad visits don’t mean the player is lost, just that it will be easier for him to commit elsewhere.*
Wee 5-8 Recruiting ——————
Most of your prime recruits and the ones most interested in you will have already had a visit, but of course you need to keep an eye on visits until the season is over.
Before and after the visits, or just constantly if a visit never happens, you need to be quick calling and getting info on these kids. It’s about week eight or so that you should start calling them up directly and hard selling their biggest interests until they have your school on top. If unsure, a key move would be to continue to quick call until they move into Top 3 in their stage, as it can get a bit stupid when calling them directly – losing time for no reason and such.
Now, it is wise to hard sell a pitch when your school has poor quality in that area? No, it isn’t, so you need to hard sell the best of what you got compared to his top most concerns. Let’s say he most wants early playing time, but there is little chance of that. But if he has a “very high” interest in the campus life and your school is okay at that spot, then hard sell that.
Keep in mind the emotion football at the top. It’s best to hard sell just two items a call, keeping in mind how long it takes for a pitch to complete, as you don’t want to waste his and your time. But I hope you realize not to start talking directly until you have unlocked a lot of pitches, and even if you call a player you know little about, feel free to find a few pitches and be sure to keep him happy. Long talks are never good.
*NOTE: If you spoil a call and he’s mad, hopefully you can quickly hard sell a top concern to leave him happy.*
More importantly, this is almost your last chance to add players to your board that have the best chance of joining. If you notice those players with no interest in you no matter how much you call, remove them from your list and go find some other guys that aren’t at the top 5 or 3 schools for their decision.
When going to pick up more players to add to your board, keep in mind someone may have gained interest in you (green dots), and if you add them and look at them on the board, perhaps they have no offers. Spend 20 minutes and offer them a spot, it’s sure to go over well.
*NOTE: I sure hope by now you know how to filter out players by position in the database, that you don’t have to comb through the whole list at once. If you use the search function, be warry of those ATH (athletes) because a 191 lb kid would not make a good lineman.*
It’s not “panic and go get 1 or 2 star guys” just yet, but that time is close. You don’t even need to re-evaluate your needs at this point (assuming your board was set up right), you are just still trying to get the guys you’ve selected.
*NOTE: A good piece of advice when searching for new prospects is to see their top three schools. It may take an advanced knowledge of college football, or just some American geography lessons, but if the recruit is from Texas and his top schools are Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech, that’s the red flag that “proximity to home” is high on this momma’s-boy’s list.*
Also, some guys will start committing, maybe not to you but they could now or even before. They could also not make up their mind until after the season, so don’t panic on any one guy.
*NOTE: Keep in the back of your head that there are players you can commit that you do not need, such as extra HB’s, QB’s, WR’s, and the such. Remember, extra guys can flush out your special teams at the least.*
Late Season Recruiting ———————-
So powerhouse schools have a handful of commits by now, while you low schools are still putting in hard work to get those 3-star guys. Some guys will commit, some won’t, so all you can do is stick with guys that are still thinking about you – how sweet.
*NOTE: It’s still a good move to just quick call guys still at Top 5 in their stages. Remember, when it says “Soft” on their offer tab, it’s your last chance to change their mind.*
Now you really need to weed out the guys that have no interest in your school. Guys with N/A interest that have been given scholarships and have been called a few times can be dropped from your board, and there should be anywhere from 5-10. Also keep an eye on players’ offers from schools and caliber, all relative to your school. If they have 4 offers, no interest in you, and they are a 4-5 star kid – connect the dots and realize they do not want to play for you.
Now you need to set your sights lower, or just change them to other kids of the same caliber. Go to the database when you have spots on your board and still base your picks on kids with the highest, no matter how slight, interest in your school. Do not look at how the player ranks against other players at the same position. That doesn’t mean go to the bottom of the board and get 1-2 star guys, just have your sights set down a wee bit. And I hope you remember you have needs, which should still be atop your boards no matter what.
When you have new guys on the board, you should have a good number of them with no offers. Usually just giving them a spot will make them commit, but it’s best to play it safe in case some other school offers to him too. You can choose to go hard or soft after these guys as they likely won’t get many, if any offers.
Just maintain the recruiting routine and keep in mind it’s on hold during the bowl season, probably because each school would have different starts to the post season. But you’re not done with recruiting just yet. If by the end of the season you got the guys you want and need, then the rest is just a few extra dolla’ bills in your wallet.
Don’t forget to go get players at other positions. Like if your school only needs linemen and defensive guys, now would be a good chance to get some sexy offensive players, or even kickers and punters.
*NOTE: This game constantly offers few players at the fullback and both kicking positions. Something to keep in mind if you don’t need any of those.*
*NOTE: Before the season ends, consider seeking out a few guys on the Russell Top 100 that have yet to sign. Don’t go hard after them, but maybe they and you are meant to be. Think about it.*
