I have spent four seasons at Felician (D2) in Knight, maintained a B- prestige, have two PT appearance and a regular season conference championship. What are my odds of being able to land a D1 gig? If I can do it, what type of program with what prestige should I target? Thanks in advance for your help, guys. 

almost none, you really need like back to back NT appearances and preferably a 2nd round to get eligible for d- and d jobs. further, if somehow you are eligible, i would strongly recommend you wait to move up. d1 is very different and the caliber of coaches in generally is way higher than lower divisions (generally speaking). if you cant consistently make the NT in d2, there is really no point in moving up - it will be nearly impossible to be successful in d1! just some friendly advice, i think most coaches move to d1 too early, and struggle too much that it really ruins the experience for them. d1 has at least 75 coaches who can consistently win NT games in the lower divisions, and at least 30-40 who can build a+ d2 programs, if not more. throw in the fact that d1 has a major learning curve, and it seems to me that there is really no point in moving up until you can maintain an a/a+ d2 program.

Thanks, Gillespie; I had no idea that D1 is that much more competitive than D2. Sounds like I need to buckle down and focus where I am at.  Unfortunately, I had a bad recruiting session a couple of seasons ago because I could not log on until the last day so I was hoping to bounce early. I have read the aejones guide for D2 &D3; is there anything else out there that might be helpful as well? Thanks for responding, man. I appreciate all of the help that you have given me on here.

Speaking from experience, you can get qualified for low-level D1 jobs with just one NT bid in D2, but you have to make a good run in it (I don't know how good is required, but 2nd round won't do it and Final Four definitely will). 

Beyond reading the aejones guide, it can be helpful to just find a more experienced coach to bounce ideas off of. And read the forums regularly. There's not always good information there, but you'll learn some things you didn't already know. 

I had Abilene Christian (smith) for 20 seasons and only grabbed one National Title. Don't remember how many FFs were in there, but a few.

I left that program with a high B/Low A prestige and was able to grab BYU which had a C- prestige at the time.  So I don't know whether it was time-served that helped me make the move or the one NC trophy, but it wasn't as hard as gillispie1 indicates.

I also was qualified for Villanova at the time, but decided to start with a non-BCS school just to get my feet wet.  Sim told me I could take BYU but not New Mexico.

To me it looks like it's pretty easy to get to D1 if that's your only goal.  10+ seasons of good success (many NT's, one PIT win, one S16 in the NT) at D3 gave me some qualified D- D1 schools.  I hopped up to a D2 school for one season and then could hop up to a D- D1 school the next season.  If you're just looking to get to D1, you can.

If you're looking to get a good school in a good conference, that's much harder, you'll need sustained success as mentioned above.  There are definitely differences across the different divisions.  I like the money for recruiting at D1 and people have proven you can take a mid major, maybe even lower rated school and be competitive and maybe even win a title, but it's not like D2 or D3 where you can really take almost any team to a title given the work and time. 

I don't have titles, and can't speak on it like some of the other guys, but I can already tell D1 is different.  It all depends on what you're looking to do and what your timeframe is.

Posted by tarvolon on 11/1/2013 10:22:00 AM (view original):
Speaking from experience, you can get qualified for low-level D1 jobs with just one NT bid in D2, but you have to make a good run in it (I don't know how good is required, but 2nd round won't do it and Final Four definitely will). 

Beyond reading the aejones guide, it can be helpful to just find a more experienced coach to bounce ideas off of. And read the forums regularly. There's not always good information there, but you'll learn some things you didn't already know. 

good point, i didn't mean to suggest one run couldn't be enough. when i said back to back NT appearances, i meant just back to back NT appearances, two first rounders, is a borderline resume (probably depends on the details and what came before it), and a 2nd round probably pushes you over. but one good run certainly is enough. that said, i still would hold off until well past the minimum qualification point, get up to an a/a+ and be confident you can stay there before you move up, that way you will be prepared.

even the most successful d2/d3 coaches, guys who rattle off 5 or 10 titles in a span of months or just a year or two, regularly get to d1 and struggle. i mean, they can make the NT and stuff, but when you look at guys who are/were on top of the d2/d3 world, and have spent a decent amount of time in d1 without winning a title, or without even getting that close more than once or twice, it should send a pretty clear signal about the different challenges present! theres quite a list, everyone i can think of as way up there in the d2/d3 scene in the new engine has still struggled to convert their d2/d3 mastery to competing in d1 with the top d1 coaches. dont get me wrong, some of them have done fine and can build a+ programs and are virtually guaranteed to get their championship soon - but its NOTHING like the dominance they laid down on their respective d2/d3 worlds. that does say d1 experience is invaluable - its not a bad idea, if you have multiple teams, to move one up a bit before you master d2/d3. but its definitely a good idea to at least be regularly making the NT with at least one team, so that you have the necessary background to go to d1 and have a chance. there is so much to learn, and all of the challenges of d2/d3 are present in low d1 - so moving early just gives you twice the work load. the very competitive who love to lose as a means of learning may want to move up early but i think most people get burnt out consistently getting their buts handed to them :)

I've seen coaches make it to D1 without any NT appearances at D2. A deep PIT run is enough.

If you can't make the NT in D2, you'll get smoked in d1.