Season 77 is just starting in Crum. During recruiting in season 76, I cut 2 players from my team. My reputation dropped down from an A+ to a B-. As of now, my reputation is still listed at B-.

My question is, how long will it take for my reputation to recover to an A or an A+? I've checked the player's guide and FAQ but can't find any definitive answer, other than that it will simply take time. Do any of you have any idea as to how many seasons it might take? I'm in D-II right now, I want to move up to D-I eventually. I've made the NT 3 seasons in a row, all 1st round exits.

Also, I promised one of my recruits last season that he'd be a starter. He started 26 out of 29 games last season, and will start every game from here on out. Could those 3 games that I didn't start him have had any negative effect on my reputation?

If I recall correctly, you improve roughly one sign per season (so from a B- to a B), but I've also never dropped below an A-, so I can't say for absolute certainly that it doesn't improve slower/faster at lower grades. 

In response to the question about the kid you gave 26 of 29 starts to -- if he wasn't complaining that you broke a promise, it didn't impact your rep. Also, start promises only apply to the regular season (same as minutes promises), so he doesn't care about any games he didn't start in during the conference or national tournaments. Even if all 3 missed starts were in the regular season, however, 23 starts out of 26 games is generally enough to keep the player happy. (I've heard of players who complain about a broken promise at 22, but I don't think I've ever heard of a guy leaving if he got 23). 

one note for anyone else looking at the question - the players you cut must have been guys you recruited - not leftovers from Simmy.  There is a much much slighter reputation hit (if any) for cutting holdover players

Also, a key point is that the promised start only applies to the player's freshman year.
I think.

So Mr Mitchell Dunlap, of Sweet Grass County HS in Big Timber, Montana, current location of a ranch home owned by the famous Tom Brokaw, former NBC Nightly News anchor... Big Timber, Montana, which i assume has either beautiful grasslands and or glorious mountains or both but I'm leaning towards grass because of the name of its high school... and which might be near either Little Bighorn or the Anaconda Smokestack, but I'm too lazy to look it up... Mr Mitchell Dunlap, one of Sweet Grass High's potentially most famous graduates, a high school with probably less than 40 students, but I'm too lazy to look that up too... you have no real guarantee of starting next year...

And really, a tip of the hat to the Le Moyne coaching staff, who practically lived out in central Montana during the last recruiting cycle, trying to nail Dunlap down with a commitment... did you ever travel to central Montana in the middle of winter... biting cold, horizontal snow, wind coming off the plains that will freeze your peaches off... but ppk700 demands nothing less than total dedication to the cause of Le Moyne winning a national championship... and how valuable is a Le Moyne scholarship... did you know that 3 Dolphin big men were either 1st or 2nd team All-America... think about that... a backup center on Le Moyne last year was a 2nd team All-America.

Meanwhile, rumors are circulating from inside sources at the Merrimack Bugle (slogan is "we know the N-10 better than you know yourself") that ppk700 has entered into talks with Marquette that have "progressed significantly" and have supposedly "entered the negotiation stage"... way beyond the point that the Golden Eagle Warriors had reached with Shaka Smart last year... part of the demands that have gummed up the works are that ppk700 wants "a free pass to each brewery in Greater Milwaukee" and or for Marquette to install a statue in his likeness before he even coaches a game, and that the statue must be at least the same size as the Al McGuire statue, and must be located in the same lobby area.

Those same sources have claimed that Le Moyne is willing to "go to seven figures" to retain ppk, which will make him the highest paid coach in Crum Division-2... not sure this is true but apparently the Dolphins have enlisted the help of testudo34 in the attempt to keep ppk... and they have offered to upgrade the company car to a hybrid Tesla... meanwhile reports this morning are unclear whether or not a "private jet" with a "green dolphin on its tail" left Syracuse Hancock and "headed west" (Wisconsin?)... could just be a "meetup" with ppk with rumored mistresses Mika Brzezinski, Hope Solo and Megan Fox...

Don't get me started...!

Big Timber...home of the Herders. Sheep grazing country at the mouth of the Boulder River valley, which leads into the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness and some of the most remote country in the lower 48 (and great area to run into grizzly bears while out hiking...). Also country where an entire town was misplaced for a few decades before being rediscovered by someone lost and trying to find his way down to the valley floor. Also home to the west portal of the largest platinum/palladium mine in the United Staes. And wind...better like wind...

Yeah, I lived close to it for a while :)

npb, shhh... you're giving away all my secrets.

Thanks for the answers rednu and metsmax. And now I know, next time I want some palladium, just head west to Montana.