Posted by carl3298 on 7/22/2015 9:59:00 AM (view original):
In the last year I have made the jump to D1 in Iba and Phelan.  I have 2 teams now - Maryland under this ID and Seton Hall under my other ID in Iba (brianxavier).

I have enjoyed the challenge.  It is a much different experience.  My path was slower in Phelan since I wanted to learn about D1 and so I started at a low D1 school - Samford.  After several seasons and ok success (beating up sims mostly) I felt ready for the jump to Xavier in the A10 against more human coaches.  Did okay there and finally made the move to Maryland.  I tried to be picky about what high level Big 6 school I could take.  I consulted a lot with a guy who had much experience at D1 and he has helped me quite a bit along the way.  I don't know if I'll succeed at D1, but I do see a lot of coaches that seem to jump too quick to the big 6 conferences that I don't think are ready.

In Iba, I took a different route - I jumped straight to Seton Hall from D2 after years (literally) at Limestone.  Time will tell if I can build either of these teams to elite levels.  The main differences I see at D1 are:  prestige is huge, there are many more good coaches, there are many full or nearly full conferences (most coaches are lumped in the big 6, whereas D2-D3 are less coaches I think and more spread around), and lots more recruiting cash...

In sum, if you go the D1 route I think it's important to be humble and patient.  There is a steep learning curve and I think a lot of coaches get frustrated.  I am trying to keep my expectations low and my credit card handy (due the lack of post season rewards).

Good info, Carl. Incidentally, my first name and middle name are Brian Carl. Not sure if that's interesting. At all.

Posted by the0nlyis on 7/22/2015 12:57:00 AM (view original):
From the looks of it, it basically looks like you have to build a D- up to better than a mid major, then jump to a worse mid major but better baseline, before building that up better than a bad big 6 and jump to another worse team but better baseline, before building that bad big 6 up into a contender or on par with the other A schools and jumping to those high prestige baseline, desireable big 6 jobs.

Really should not be that hard to jump from a D- to a big 6 job if you can manage 3ish+ consecutive NT bids, or make 1/2 deep runs to the S16 or better.  Or if you go to a mid major you should be able to jump up to those desireable jobs if they fall under an A- if you have built a B- or better school.

tl:dr you shoulnt have to build a school up better than the job you want.  you should be able to move up schools prestige wise like apply to a B+ big 6 from a B-/B mid major or built up bottom feeder.  but then you have to wirry about those coaches than don't have the ability to coach big 6 getting there and not being fired forever....(fix firings too)....

this isn't really the case. i strongly recommend to new-to-d1 coaches NOT to jump at the first d- job, because its such an increase in challenge on the recruiting side, i mean its such a new challenge you are guaranteed to suck (i sucked horribly at d1 recruiting when i started, don't take that personally). so you really need to be rock solid on everything else, team building, team setup, game planning, scheduling... which, if you are rock solid at those things, will lead to enough d2 success for you to be able to start better than a d-. for fun im picking up a d+ team in another world, and its an a10 team, with a b- baseline. you want to try to start d1 when you are eligible for d+/c- jobs so you can get a decent situation, and then its only 1 shot into the BCS. you can of course build ANY d1 team into a BCS eligible simply by making the NT in a crap conference a handful of seasons in a row, but you'll probably have last choice there (there is often a BCS job open but often its too high prestige and you have to wait for sim to ruin it, as was mentioned). ideally you'd build your mid major into a program that has some solid seasons, not just CTing into the NT, more like at large bids and a 2nd round or two, so you can take those B-/B bcs jobs instead of waiting for sims to drive them down to C/C+. 

anyway, i definitely think people want to set themselves up for a one shot deal into BCS. its MUCH more important to do it that way today. why? because now job resumes are 10 years, so when you go to that second job, and have a few bad years rebuilding, you need to get pretty many solid seasons under your belt to just get back to where you were when you started. it used to be that the 2nd shot could go fairly quickly but that simply is not that case today. so i strongly recommend - DO NOT try to 2 shot your way into the BCS conferences. just wait until a decent enough job opens up (it can be a typical D+ baseline as long as there is some upside) and try to go straight in from there.

Gillispie's prior post is spot on for new coaches going to D1.  Either have enough D2 success that you can jump to a C-/D+ mid major or if you're too impatient, get a D+ or better gig at a D+ baseline school in an empty conference.  After beating up on sims and making the NT you'll qualify for a BCS job in 5-7 seasons.  My Crum resume shows you don't have to job hop in D1 before getting to a Big 6 school; in 5 seasons at E. Illinois I had two 1st round exits and one 2nd round exit in the NT, got the prestige up to B- (started at D+), and moved to C+ Tennessee.  (I also think winning a NT game that 5th year was key in qualifying me for a BCS school.)

The tough part is D1 recruiting is SO different than D2 or D3, as mentioned by Carl/BX above.  It's like learning how to recruit all over again.  So find a mentor who can and is willing to help you navigate D1.  I see new D1 coaches posting all the time on CC's that D1 recruiting is stupid and pointless because while at C- school they spent $40K on a kid and lost them to a B+ school and don't understand why they couldn't sign the kid when the B+ school only had 2 openings.  

Last, as mentioned before, prestige is so important in D1.  But the great equalizer for a lower prestige is $$$.  When you get to a BCS conference, void a class if you can, maybe even try and go superclass in your first couple of seasons.  If you're getting $20k/season in extra money from your BCS conf you could be looking at $150K to recruit with when your first set of seniors graduates.  If you can get to a B- or B prestige in 4 years, you'll land some quality guys with $150K.  (No, I don't want to rehash the superclass thread again.  Yes, I bring it up because of all the frustration and recruiting disparity between the lower prestige schools and boatloads of money the good conferences can rake in).  

Posted by taniajane on 7/22/2015 1:04:00 AM (view original):
No can move as I did from a low conference to a big 6.....but openings are a few, and you get the bottom of barrel there...still great but now is the dog fight billy G mentioned.....I quickly got tired of it. rather build a team and compete than fight (usually losing battles) over top end recruits.....in this bracket of div 1....its who gets most 5*'s for a lot of it...not who finds gems

I moved from Fordham to Colorado in Phelan. Also moved from D2 Delta State to Penn State in Smith. You just need big time success at one of those schools to make a big jump like that. Plus the Big 6 schools have to have fallen on hard times.