PLEASE. No huge changes, minor tweaks could be identified to deal with equaling the field between elite schools and other schools, but why? That is what you work for in this game; an elite school with major advantages, just like real life. Ohio State doesn't donate their revenue to other schools after a national title just to make it interesting. If you eliminate prestige and bonus money then you diverge from real life. Power conferences for pro sports are relied upon for their big time schools and big time games.
Phased recruiting is interesting, go for it, in a WIS timeframe, not something that requires hours per day for your site hits. Dump a day of Job Openings, good grief that is already at least a day too long. Also, if you eliminate bonus money for tourneys, then why would we want to get into the National Tourneys aside from personal pride?
Finally, dropdowns are key to D2 and D3 schools in building programs.