While I'm not currently playing GD, I did have some level of success when I did play. I attribute (now and then) that success to the great mentors I had. 3-4 coaches really influenced just about everything I did with my teams, but I also bounced questions off of and had a lot of strategy discussions with another 15-20 of the best coaches in the game, about all aspects of the game.
I lay that foundation to say this. I can guarantee that not a single one of those coaches would advise what was done here as a valid strategy for winning. The very first thing to understand about being a successful recruiter (beyond knowing what a "good" recruit is), IMO, is to have a backup plan. You pick your battles, knowing that the better talent is going to be contested and you have to have options in case your primary targets get out of your reach.
But let's get crazy, let's say ALL your primary targets get taken out of your price range...along with ALL of your backup targets. That seems ridiculous for a recruiter with any kind of experience, but let's just suppose that's what happened. How on earth, is your first recourse not to look for the top undecided recruits in your vision? Instead, you look a division below you? And then, rather than do the research yourself, you look for the players that the top teams in that division are recruiting and just decide to go after them?
I guess I could sort of understand a rationale of: Well, after my plans fell apart, I searched out the best alternatives that were either undecided or that were currently leaning toward signing with a team that I had a distinct recruiting advantage over, be it prestige, distance or being in a higher division. But just going directly to the recruits of the top teams in the division below you...
Look, I don't know either of the coaches involved in this, but I just don't see any logic in what the D1-AA team did. Most of these "foul play" threads I just read for laughs, but the actions taken here...and then the poor attempt at justifying them...I had to get my two cents in.