I think the0nlyis is spot on about scheduling. The best teams to schedule are the best team you can beat. If I have a rebuild year, then I schedule a bunch of patsies. On my good teams, I schedule teams just below my team's caliber.
Also, in a rebuild, when I drop players, I drop the underclass first. You do want those seniors to stay, even if they don't play, so that you get a decent amount of cash next season. I stagger the number of players for recruiting. I don't like to have more than 6 so even if I have a team of total losers, I will only drop enough to allow a 5-6 recruiting class.