I am finally getting my James Madison squad (Phelan, CAA) going in the right direction.  I realized the CAA with a Conference RPI in the lower teens in our world might hold me back long term.  Do I need to move to a "higher" RPI Conference in the short term, to get to a "Power Conference" long term, or can I move from the CAA to a "Power" after another five or six successful seasons?

I was qualified for B level big 6 jobs after about 4 or 5 seasons of making the NT at Princeton.   If you can get them to a B-, you should be able to hop to bottom level BCS gigs.

It probably would help to move to a beter conf, like the A-10 ;) but yea the question is, do you think you can get to B- at James Madison?  If so, how long will it take?  I moved to the A-10, to Dayton, and 4 seasons in I'm at B-, so if you think you can get there easier/quicker at JMU, stay there, if not maybe go to the A-10 or MWC (i'd imagine you qualify), both have 9+ humans and are pretty much "power conferences" already.

Does winning in a Conference with a higher"Conference RPI" help with individual program prestige?  JMU went from a D to a C this year.  CAA is #18 RPI.  A-10 and MWC are both in top ten Conferences in RPI.  A-10 I can get LaSalle and MWC only Wyoming.  Looking at all three (my JMU the third), and I not better off staying here?

MWC would be all Human if I go to Wyoming!!  Have always wanted in one....But the team would be a rebuilding effort all over again!

The thing it's easier at the A-10/MWC schools b/c they have higher baselines, so if you did what you did at JMU at La Salle you'd probably have a C+ instead of just a C.  The A-10 had a higher RPI and got more into the NT and postseason than the MWC so we'd have more recruiting cash, which makes it easier to recruit, thus a higher prestige. I hope you join the A-10, we would love to have you. 

Imo, with how many Big 6 teams are open in Phelan, I would stay at James Madison and jump into a BCS conf in a couple of seasons.

Looking at who you have coming back, I'd also say you should stick around at JMU.  The BCS doors really open up for you if you can make some NT runs.  Barring that, multiple years of making the NT coupled with 300-400 wins in that world and good loyalty along with high recent winning % can open up some back doors into BCS jobs as well, albeit lower end BCS jobs as opposed to some better baseline gigs you'd possibly have available if you made some noise in the NT.

Can anybody tell me the Logic behind all "C-" programs being keep looking?  In my self serving mind, if you advance yourself beyond a level(c versus c-) some c- programs logically should open, and not all be closed for advancement.  My conference baseline MUST be stopping this action as the CAA is rather low in RPI.

One of my mentors told me to just not pay for next season, and then sign up again in the "New Coach " signing period and I can get a loophole to a good job!

I don't think prestige is the only thing the system looks at.  You've only had 1 good season there.  I think 1 more and a lot more doors will open up.

Edit:  What's your loyalty?  You've been there for  4 years, but you bounced around a lot before landing there.  I bet it's loyalty that's holding you back.

Posted by jdno on 11/4/2012 8:35:00 PM (view original):
Looking at who you have coming back, I'd also say you should stick around at JMU.  The BCS doors really open up for you if you can make some NT runs.  Barring that, multiple years of making the NT coupled with 300-400 wins in that world and good loyalty along with high recent winning % can open up some back doors into BCS jobs as well, albeit lower end BCS jobs as opposed to some better baseline gigs you'd possibly have available if you made some noise in the NT.

Agree with this - consistently making the NT will start to open up the lower level BCS jobs and better mids, and if you have built a few of those then you can also look to make a higher leap if you win a couple of games in the NT one season.

Posted by wvufan76 on 11/5/2012 6:39:00 AM (view original):
Can anybody tell me the Logic behind all "C-" programs being keep looking?  In my self serving mind, if you advance yourself beyond a level(c versus c-) some c- programs logically should open, and not all be closed for advancement.  My conference baseline MUST be stopping this action as the CAA is rather low in RPI.

One of my mentors told me to just not pay for next season, and then sign up again in the "New Coach " signing period and I can get a loophole to a good job!

I think we all had similar thoughts at some point, but Jobs just don't work like this.  And it has nothing really to do with your conference.  I haven't jumped to a new job since seble extended the resume lookback period, but a lot used to depend really on your last 2 seasons.  And in D-1, unless you have 500 or 600 wins (which alone opens up some BCS opportunities that you wouldn't have at just 200 wins), you really need a string of 2nd round and better NT showings to get some of the better BCS jobs opened up...but even those are hard to get with less than ~300 wins unless you've really done damage in the NT and had some great seasons.  You can make the jump from JMU to a desirable BCS job w/o changing conferences.  In fact, I'd advise against it in the near future unless you're NOT taking over a rebuild opportunity.  Get some more 25-5 kind of seasons, make it to the 2nd round of the NT in at least one of those seasons, and then some better doors will be open. 

Posted by wvufan76 on 11/5/2012 6:39:00 AM (view original):
Can anybody tell me the Logic behind all "C-" programs being keep looking?  In my self serving mind, if you advance yourself beyond a level(c versus c-) some c- programs logically should open, and not all be closed for advancement.  My conference baseline MUST be stopping this action as the CAA is rather low in RPI.

One of my mentors told me to just not pay for next season, and then sign up again in the "New Coach " signing period and I can get a loophole to a good job!

As jdno said, your team's current prestige is not the factor.Think of it this way:

I take over an A+ team the same time you take over a D team. My team goes into the tank, we're terrible. You make the NT every year. At some point, we both have a B prestige. Our team's current prestige is even -- do you think that should be the measure of who gets what job? Definitely not.

Yeah I think the loophole is your best bet.  I didn't realize there was a loophole but I am glad I used it.

Posted by bossman2345 on 11/5/2012 6:19:00 PM (view original):
Yeah I think the loophole is your best bet.  I didn't realize there was a loophole but I am glad I used it.

Yeah, nothing like gaming the system is there?