Want to Start HD!!! Topic

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Posted by heinzkill on 2/21/2013 12:09:00 PM (view original):
I have finally caved in and won't be playing only HBD! Is there someone who is willing  to give me a few pointers getting started? Starting with which team I should choose. I don't feel like searching through the mentor list and would prefer a mentor come to me.
Welcome to HD. I mean no offense, and I hope you understand the logic behind my next statement: I believe the game will be easier for you to master if you are more willing to initiate action rather than wait for it to come to you. Personally I find your desire to not scan the mentor list or contact folks who are frequent forum contributors and ask them about mentoring disheartening. Best of luck with your HD experience nonetheless. 
2/21/2013 12:22 PM
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Hey heinz! I'm new here too, but I've had help from a friend who's been playing for awhile and I can give you a few tips if they will help at all. When choosing a team, try and find a team with a good prestige (B-C range is fine), look for balance in age (Don't pick a team with 8 Seniors and 4 Juniors, recruiting would be awful), I forget if you can check during team selection, but if you can, try and find a team in a conference that has mostly human-coached teams, it's a lot more fun and the coaches in your conference will help you with any questions you have (At least mine do), and this is just my own opinion, but try and pick a team where there are good recruits near (For example, teams in Illinois, Indiana, Texas, etc). That should help you pick a team, if you have any more questions or anything feel free to message me, I'll be glad to help the best I can.
2/21/2013 12:44 PM
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I totally understand, this is my first season and I would have been lost without some guidance, but I love this game already and I love being able to help other coaches. At first it's a little confusing, but after using it for a little bit, you'll get used to everything and understand how to do everything.
2/21/2013 12:56 PM
Posted by heinzkill on 2/21/2013 12:36:00 PM (view original):
So you're not willing? Offense taken. If you took the time to get all the facts before you spewed your judgment you may feel a little different. I have experience in trying to find mentors from the mentor list in HBD and I didn't get a single response. So, to save myself some time I am putting this out there. I hope your post made you feel better about yourself because I can't see it as anything but self serving.
sorry you feel that way. good luck hoping things get handed to you. 
2/21/2013 12:59 PM
Wow. I have already had some people reach out to me. Seemed to be effective. I don't see it as being handed to me, I initiated it.
2/21/2013 1:05 PM
A must-read for all new coaches: How to Win at D2 and D3. aejones is the author. The last post was on 2/19 so you'll find it on page 2 of this forum
2/21/2013 1:14 PM
Thanks alblack. I have some homework!
2/21/2013 1:18 PM
Welcome to the game! Read up and have fun!
2/21/2013 2:19 PM
Posted by alblack56 on 2/21/2013 1:14:00 PM (view original):
A must-read for all new coaches: How to Win at D2 and D3. aejones is the author. The last post was on 2/19 so you'll find it on page 2 of this forum
This is by far the best first step you can make.  You'll have a much, much better understanding of the game after that thread.  Great resource even for experienced coaches.

Mentors are obviously helpful (and you should get a response from most on the list here I'd imagine... at least ones that are posting in the forums).  Plus there are plenty of coaches that will answer questions through sitemail or the forums.  Some coaches like billyg and other uber-successful coaches get backlogged on the messages though from the volume, so it helps to ask pretty specific questions and not just broad topics like "why isn't my team winning?" so you'll get a faster response.  If you have a question about your depth chart, for example, propose a lineup you think would work and ask for suggestions on how to improve on it - things like that.  Plus if you're asking questions about your team or specific players, including the links to those teams/players is helpful just to speed things up for the person/people answering (in forums and sitemails).

Good luck!
2/21/2013 2:28 PM
Thanks ryrun
2/21/2013 3:22 PM
Heinz, it could make early success a bit more challenging, but you might want to join a conference with a decent number of human coaches (even 3 or 4 other humans would work). When you go to the Apply to School page, sort by conference, then look for a school when a decent prestige and a few openings (4 or fewer) in a conference with fewer than 8 or 9 openings. 

At the risk of offending dacj and guiding you too much, if I were just starting and had to choose from among the two worlds currently accepting applicants, I would probably sign up with a school like Philadelphia Biblical in the Heartland conference in Knight. It's an active conference with long-term coaches. Plus, Philly Bib. is east of the other teams in the conference and does not have to recruit against those experienced coaches. The prestige is low, but that's okay.

If you truely want baptism by fire, you could sign up with one of the two SCIAC (Southern California) teams in Knight. Recruiting will be challenging, but this is a conference of champions (helpful champions, including the aforementioned aejones).
2/21/2013 5:00 PM
dont go to a school with a bunch of open scholarships i did this my first time to try and make my mark early and just happened to get a school with no national title berths in 59 season (and still none in 64 seasons) and no human conference foes and the worst conference rpi ugh it was awful
2/21/2013 5:09 PM
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