I have teams currently in all divisions and I have had a lot of fun in each division. I've been able to take a team at every level to the National Championship game over the past couple of months. Here are some of my pros and cons in each level:
D3: I have fun sending out a lot of scouting reports looking for "Sky is the Limit" potential. I only search undecideds and I usually will scout 70-90 players looking for the highest potential combined with the highest work ethic. Once I find players I like I send a Head Coach Scout Visit and offer a scholarship. I rate my success by how many "Sky is the Limit" players I recruit in a season. Game planning is non-existent but the skills learned recruiting are used in all divisions.
D2: Similar to D3 I will sort undecideds while filtering out Work Ethic under 45 (sometimes 50). I will send Assistant Scout Visits to all undecided players within my 360 for the positions I need. I send Head Coach Scout Visits and offer scholarships to turn green. My goal is to only sign high potential high work ethic players. I usually have a budget surplus after I am done with my 360 so I will spend my remaining budget on players across the country that are better players than my current green recruits. D2 has been a lot of fun recruiting for me because this is probably the level I am able to scout the most amount of players across the entire country. I rate my success by making sure all of my recruits are high potential and try to find at least one "Sky is the Limit" recruit.
Game planning becomes more important because you will need to spend a few seasons in D2 building your resume. I like the competition with the coaches that have been in D2 forever compared to the coaches like me that are only there until I qualify for a higher level. If I was looking to build a dynasty that could go on a run of 10+ National Championships in a row I would do it in D2. I feel like D2 is the level where I could have the biggest talent edge compared to other coaches if I stayed at a program long enough.
D1AA: I have really enjoyed my D1AA teams in Leahy and Dobie. The talent on my Valparaiso team in Dobie is crazy. I have players on that team right now that are better than a couple players on my Michigan and Oklahoma teams. My D1AA team could crush my Leahy D1A Indiana team that I just took over. I have also been able to find several "Sky is the Limit" recruits to keep me paying attention to my Dobie D1AA team.
I have learned a lot about D1A recruiting from recruiting in D1AA. I was at The Citadel in Leahy for two seasons and had D1A schools jump on several of "my" green DB recruits two seasons in a row. I learned D1AA recruiting prepares you for recruiting in D1A against elites. The lesson to learn is if a recruit looks "too good to be true" wait a cycle or two before pursuing it because somebody with more money will probably be hunting that same recruit.
Game planning at D1AA is awesome. You can really exploit your strengths against your opponent's weaknesses. It seems like this is magnified in D1AA compared to D1A. My first season at The Citadel in Leahy I game planned a couple playoff games and I was able to beat a couple teams that had better rosters and take my team to the NC game. I like that aspect of D1AA.
I love the similarities of D1AA playoffs to a D1A elite season schedule. At a D1A elite most non-elites won't schedule you in non-conference play and you need to have at least 2-3 human coached opponents in non-conference play. A D1A elite will typically have to play a couple elites in non-conference, plus at least one elite in conference play, and if things go well in the CC game and then a Level 5 bowl game. That totals 6-8 human coached programs, many of them elites, to face in a season. Two losses in this scenario means no chance at a NC. I think D1AA playoffs prepares me for that. You have to face several of the division's best coaches in the playoffs and figure out how to counter what they do well while exploiting their weaknesses. To win the NC at either level you are going to have to beat several great coaches.
D1A Non-BCS team: I break D1A down into three areas. They are very different from each other. 1-Non BCS, 2- BCS non-elite 3- Elite
Coaching at a non-BCS conference team has some challenges. They have less bowl money typically than BCS conference schools. Their prestige is lower than BCS schools so it is more expensive to knock off BCS school sims when recruiting. My goal each season is to win the CC and hope for a good bowl game. This is probably the least fun division/group for me to play in (outside of D3).
D1A BCS conference Non-Elite team: This is probably the most challenging for me out of every division. I like being in a conference with a few elites and have to compete with them in recruiting and play them every season. It makes you improve all aspects of your game to keep your job. I feel like most coaches have unrealistic goals when they coach one of these team. They want immediate success and to win multiple CCs. My only goal is to make a Level 5 bowl each season. Making a few Level 5 bowls will make you a great job candidate for the next elite coaching vacancy. I feel like my greatest coaching achievements and growth have come from coaching in this area.
D1A Elite: I love coaching my elite teams. There are several aspects that are rewarding. The expectations are high - you coach at an elite to compete for national championships. One important aspect of coaching at an elite is to help your conference coaches succeed. You need bowl money to compete with elites in other conferences. You can't crush your conference opponents on every recruit. There is a balancing act to take the talent you need but try to let conference coaches build their program into a Level 5 bowl program. I love seasons where we have 70,000 -90,000 in bowl money for a conference.I feel like winning the D1A national championship is the greatest accomplishment in GD. You have to recruit the best players in the game and beat the best coaches to win it all.