... Would a viable initial strategy, when trying to get up out of the really low prestige so you can see some better recruits, be to ultra - specialize - in other words, for example, specialize in ath, def and speed and try to jack those three up and then hope to be able to win enough games against conference to get the prestige up enough to be able to land a better rounded team?

What made you successful at D3 and D2 will also make you successful at low D1, no need to change.

Agreed with emy - recruiting ultraspecialists is nice, but so is recruiting all-rounders and acting like you're the greatest team in the history of DII.

I think what helped me the most at low D1 (ages ago) was never shirking D. You'll beat a lot of low-prestige teams with very good D and a few other holes. 

That said, there are loads of different ways to win there. I'd also recommend scheduling a lot of wins if you can... until you're postseason-ready, of course. 

Posted by emy1013 on 8/6/2012 11:55:00 AM (view original):
What made you successful at D3 and D2 will also make you successful at low D1, no need to change.

Succinct and precise. The simengine is the same among all 3 levels. 

Just thinking about possibly dipping a toe into d1 again with one of my worlds and while, yes, I know the engine is the same at all levels, from all I hear, and my two limited forays up, recruiting can be quite different and the question would be can you build the same way with a low d1 team? Are you going to be able to get the players to build that way before getting a higher prestige?

Posted by a_in_the_b on 8/6/2012 2:27:00 PM (view original):
Just thinking about possibly dipping a toe into d1 again with one of my worlds and while, yes, I know the engine is the same at all levels, from all I hear, and my two limited forays up, recruiting can be quite different and the question would be can you build the same way with a low d1 team? Are you going to be able to get the players to build that way before getting a higher prestige?

Absolutely. Recruit as if you are an A++++ D2 team that can recruit any D1 pulldown straight up, with 2.5x the budget. 

Posted by tianyi7886 on 8/6/2012 2:35:00 PM (view original):

Posted by a_in_the_b on 8/6/2012 2:27:00 PM (view original):
Just thinking about possibly dipping a toe into d1 again with one of my worlds and while, yes, I know the engine is the same at all levels, from all I hear, and my two limited forays up, recruiting can be quite different and the question would be can you build the same way with a low d1 team? Are you going to be able to get the players to build that way before getting a higher prestige?

Absolutely. Recruit as if you are an A++++ D2 team that can recruit any D1 pulldown straight up, with 2.5x the budget. 

remember that at really low D I you will still need to pull down players above a certain level...call first

The biggest piece of advice I could give from taking the worst D-1 team I could find and turning them into a consistent tournament team, is pick a system and recruit to that system.  Triangle/Zone; FB/Press, etc. 

# 2 would be to recruit within 1000 miles. 

i'm trying to do the same thing I did in DIII and DII. Right now I'm recruiting for potential, using ineligibles and redshirts to get extra growth and IQ out of every player, and not wasting my $$$ on the top players.

My recruiting in Phelan wasn't too great this year, but I got 2 guys (the guards) I targeting from the get go. by the time they are juniors they'll be hard to keep off the floor...

but remember, with bigger budgets, comes bigger battles, when that A school comes after the 3star 10 miles from you, I suggest run like the wind....