This is my second season in Div 1-AA and last year I had decent success with a 7-6 record beating some human coaches as well as sims. This year I didn't change my playbook much but I am getting killed by pretty much every team I play. I am 0-5 and getting a bit frustrated. I lost 18 seniors which I know has something to do with it but I had a very good recruiting class this past recruiting cycle for me and I know I am miss coaching badly but honestly not sure what I am doing wrong for this type of outcome. I was running out of the trips to specifically beat Sims but since that wasn't working I scrapped that idea now and just totally changed my playbook. Turning to run wishbone with some I-Formation mixed in because I have 3 very good young RB's and a good OL but bad WR and QB and I have always been more of a run team anyway. I have good young potential talent but my team is very young. Any pointers from some vets? I just feel like I don't know what I don't know at this point.

Been reading forum posts and got a better understanding of playbook development (so I thought atleast) and got torched again by a sim that I was projected to beat. Interesting thing was at the half I was only down 14-3 and I actually had more time of possession and ran a few more plays offensively. I tweaked my playbook to throw a bit more because I was having a bit more success with that and I ended up with less time of possession by 9 minutes and losing the game 34-3 now that means I lost the second half 20-0. I know my team has very bad conditioning and I have that in my practice plan to get better but could that be the reason I got burned that bad in the second half? If my teams conditioning is that bad then I may not win a game this year. Anyone able to point me in the right direction as what to read and understand to compete in 1-AA?

Just from when looking at your team, 3 Formations is too many for both sides of the ball in my opinion, that means you are practicing a total of 7, Your IQ is very low and even your juniors and seniors have pretty low IQ ratings for the year they are in. You lost 18 seniors, that is a huge hit in not only personal ratings but IQ also. I would like you said switch to 2 formations on both sides, some teams even just run 1 offense, I know a lot of guys out there and even forum posts that run wishbone only with like 4-6 ELITE RB's and smash teams. Just my thoughts, sure higher level guys will respond, I know my record on this account is low but I have some experience in D1/D2/D3 on another account.

I don't think I'd run wishbone right now until you practice it more. What stands out to be quickly is that your quarterbacks are an issue. They are lower in talent and would be average in D2 but playing in D-1AA. Redshirting and developing them would go a long ways in the future and you want to get your formation IQ above 75 or higher to reduce interceptions. Ideally, I like to have a redshirted senior QB each season if possible, leading the charge.

throwing out of wishbone is probably the worst way to go with the low formation IQ, instead, I would try to hide that weakness and lean on your running backs to run the ball. Teams are effective running out of I-Form, Pro-Set or Trips which your formation IQ is better in. I would also increase the minutes in formation IQ going forward because it seems low across the other seniors. You also lack depth on defense for LB and DB and need to try and keep your best talent on the field to avoid having out of position players sub in. I would keep my best QB and WR off the field when running the rushing plays and then put in a formation package that has them only on throwing downs. This way, you can be sure it's not a back-up trying to convert that 3rd down since you're roster talent is not all that great yet.

The playbook I'd run is very simple and it involves a lot of pounding the ball on the ground and throwing only when you have too. I'd try to funnel targets to RB Jackson when you do need to pass. Simple is sometimes better and you need to salvage your season and build for the future.

Just at a quick glance, I'm sure others can dive into it more.

Thanks jaydubz1515. Any response is good for me. What you are saying makes sense to me and confirming what I am asking about. I just want to make sure that I am on the right path. I know I am not going to win much if any by totally switching my formation and my formation IQ is very low but figured this was the time to do it with a young team. Yeah 3 is too many formations I agree and I cut it down to 2 on each side of the ball. So running 4-3 and 4-4 on defense. I know that I need a lot of RB's but it seems I am able to recruit a lot of good RB's compared to getting an elite QB to pass with.

Thanks akua29. I will look into all of that knowledge for sure.