I'm closing on the end of my free season and can't decide what to do going forward? I had a very strong schedule this season so the W-L is not good and my D3 conference has several strong teams including one team in my division that has been the champ for a while and looks like he'll stay. The team I have is nothing special and I have no reason to stay there. I don't know if I can change jobs in D3 or find a terrible D2 team I can move up to or what options I have? Thanks.

Well, that depends on what your goals are and what you'd like to do long term. You have a bunch of options

1. stay at D3 and start making the NT
2. Move up to D2 and hang out there
3. Get up to D1 as fast possible
4. Insert others

If you have a desire to get to D1, then yes, move up to D2. After several seasons at D2 the you'll be able to move up (depending on your success).

If you want to just try to figure out the mechanics of the game and how to play, I'd recommend staying at D3. D3 can be very fun and depending on what conference you're in, it can be a nice 'learning grounds'.

A couple things to note - changing jobs is pretty tough because you start in the 2nd session and a lot of players are already snatched up. But if you're looking for a fresh start or a different conference and location, bite the bullet and make the move. Maybe you can find a team with good prestige that doesn't require a total rebuild. I'd look around for a team that was human coached and doesn't have any seniors. That way you can start recruiting fresh at the start of 1st recruiting session and don't need to recruit anyone in 2nd session

Another option is to just bail on Wooden completely and join another world. Maybe you prefer 1x worlds vs 2x worlds or vice versa. Maybe you want to join the Capital conference in Iba (hint hint).

But again, it's totally up to you and whatever floats your boat.

Personally, I like D2 better than D3 because you have more scouting resources and recruiting dollars, so to me it is easier, because if you screw up, you have more resources to adjust with.

Thanks for the good info guys- just what I wanted to know.

Agreed on the D2, I wasn't great at either of the D3 schools, but in the old system it was easier to learn some of the nuances. I think in this 3.0, D2 is a much better area to learn the game. From recruiting to scouting there is just more resources. I wasn't happy with the way D3 was headed, probably I just didn't want to try to learn some newer tactics, regardless, I'm almost through 1 D2 season and just started another and really enjoy it.

In the past, if you moved up, you wanted a team with a lot of open scholarships, that you could mold right away. Especially if you were comfortable with the recruiting process, and confident in your abilities. Now, having a lot of scholarships to fill is a liability in your first season, for the reason Benis mentioned. You certainly can do some scouting and get some guys - you'll get a full season's scouting budget to play with - but it's probably better now to choose a team that is returning most of its players, when you move up. You can always cut some of those guys if they're terrible, and if you find some gems that you can snag in the second session. Taking over a team with lots of open scholarships is begging for a long rebuild.