First of all, I hate coach hiring. But it is a fundamental piece of this game.

Anyways, I have heard that you can hire a coach from a higher level, but it has to be done late in the game. But how do you do it? What kind of offer do you need to make? And when do you make it?

Coaches drop a level when all spots are filled at their requested level. So, really, it depends on your leaguemates. If all BL pitching jobs are filled, the unsigned coaches will drop to AAA. If you have some lollygagger coach hirers, it won't happen until the last cycle and you have to get lucky.

I usually hire one or two ML coaches on the second last cycle, not waiting for them to drop a level but for their demands to come down. Some will take offers below demand at that point. But I consistently see that invariably one or more other owners wait for the very last cycle, whether they're hoping for coaches to drop down or just not checking in. It really is dependent on the other owners. And it really does suck seeing three crappy coaches available at AAA and 38 overqualified ones at ML who aren't going to get jobs.

My strategy with coach hiring is this:
$5 million (approx) is the minimum you need to pay all coaches the minimum. $8 million does quite nicely.
I will rehire any coach that would be a top 10 based on his current position core ratings vs the intended level from last year. If he's less, then I dump him.
If I have two coaches at a level (because one will only accept a promotion up to that level) then if I can move the better one up and he'd be a top 10 at the next level I do that. If not I keep only the highest rated one. In the pros, if a coach wants a significant raise, he's a goner. Even if he's a 99. Only coach I make an exception for is fielding.

Once I decide who I am going to keep:
Early on, you want to attack Low A, High A, and AA. Thats where most of your development happens. Most of the time, you hire the best from Rookie to fill Low A, the best from Low A to fill High A, etc etc. Usually hiring up and paying 1.66% of his salary does the trick. Even if you have to pay him double (if he's worth it) its only 10s of thousands of dollars. Not millions.
For Rookie, don't go nuts. You want decent coaches, but remember: If you have a total stud prospect coming in, you can put him at Low A or High A to start if your Rookie coaches really suck. My Rookie hitting coach is a 51 hitting in Clemente. The top 10 are 61, 55, 54, 54, 53, 52, 52, 51, 51, and 51. 61 is an outlier. Given max playing time, do I really think a 55 coach would improve my player more than the current 51? I haven't seen any evidence about that.
Once you fill Low A, High A, and AA, along with rookie, then start looking at AAA and pros. As you get closer to the end, you can hire BL coaches down to AAA by offering 1.5 of their asking price. If you actually have some studs in AAA, then go for it. If not, Just hire hire who you can hire (within reason). In Clemente there are hitting coaches from 83 down to 63 (ignore the coach with the 46). I can make it with a guy who is in the low 70s. If I have a superstud, then maybe I pay the 1.5 million for an . Its your call.

For the Pros, wait til the end. There'll be some quality coaches there you can pay half price for. Mike T had an important point in previous threads. Once your prospects reach the majors, there's usually not a lot of development still left. And playing time (getting into games vs ABs and IP) is whats most important. Does a 97 hitting coach really mean more than my 89 hitting coach in Griffey to a 5th year rookie who's going to see 150 games? Maybe. So maybe you'll pay the extra 2 million. Maybe it isn't. Its your call.