I decided to try another comeback after giving a half-hearted return attempt a couple of years ago after reading the 3.0 update. I don't expect any of you to remember me, but any advice other than that great 3.0 update recruiting post would be greatly appreciated. I'll be coaching in Phelan so I have plenty of time to study up in preparation of getting dominated and hopefully not fired. Thanks in advance.

What level?

Welcome back.

Thanks. D1.

My advice is to try to not spend much money until right at the signing cycle. Good luck and welcome back.

What team are you taking?

Thanks! Definitely remember you, you're a bit of a legend haha. And I don't remember how it works, am I guaranteed the team that I applied for, or is there still a process?

D1 i is the easiest.
This is what I do:
1. Private camp the max
2. Fss some local states
3. Assistant search already recruited players with in x miles
4. Repeat 3 and 4 until out of cash

You show up as accepting the position at Notre Dame. It’s yours, you just pick up after last season’s recruiting is done.

When the new season starts, you’ll start scouting recruits, and you’ll develop your own process. It’s important not to get click happy and start individually scouting all the guys you see yourself, that’s by far the least efficient. You’ll want a plan. TJ’s process is one way. My usual process is similar, though I FSS first, and wait for the private camp to run before running the assistant out there. *also on the assistant in this method, remember to un-check the “find new players” option, or your pool will be much wider, and much less deep, which is not ideal.

Another way guys do it at higher D1 is to focus on the top 100 and internationals. Here, you forgo the camp altogether, at least to start. You fully scout the top 100 first by sending the assistant out right away, *remembering to uncheck the “find new players” option. Then you FSS Internationals only. Then send the assistant out again. This blows through a big chunk of your cash early, but your pool is fairly select, and fewer guys focus on internationals (obviously this could change, depending on how others develop their own gameplay habits). You’ll have cash left over at that point, and can FSS and assistant scout local states, though your domestic net will be a bit smaller than option A.

Thanks, wasn't sure how it worked. I can't see anything in the world yet. For some reason it wouldn't let me join Tark even though I've coached there before. It's not a big deal, I'm just not very good at waiting. Excited to coach at Notre Dame even though it's going to be a difficult rebuild.

A lot has changed with recruiting since I last coached, but it looks a lot better. Are public camps not efficient? Neither of you mentioned them, so is it just better for D2 and D3? As far as top 100 guys, wouldn't I be better off not going for them since my prestige is so low? Or is that not as important as before? Sorry for all the questions, just trying to figure out a gameplan in this long wait until the season starts. Thanks again.

My 2 cents is that the plan TJ laid out, or my option A, or some version of that, is better than option B until you get to C+ level prestige. At C+, you can fight for just about anyone and have a shot - if you prioritize them highly enough, and they’re a good preference match. Lower than C+, you’ll likely be shut out of most of the legitimate Top100 (I say legitimate, because there are some duds among them). You can realistically compete for elite guys who want rebuilds, and that’s about all, and there aren’t many of them. Local guys right outside that Top100 range, like #15-40 by position, and who have good potential are often good guys for low prestige Big6 teams to target and prioritize, and you’ll find more of them by widening your domestic net.

I dont do public camps. I think some guys do, and at low D1, D2 and D3 it may make more sense. At higher D1, it’s not very efficient, because you’re pulling in D2 projected players you are not likely to want to recruit. Private camps get you two levels, and you can limit to D1 recruits.

Thanks for all the tips. I'm guessing it'll take me a while to get the hang of it, but hopefully I won't get fired. I just wish I didn't have to wait another week before getting to play.

I personally don't use camps or assistant coach searches much. I use the assistant coach searches when I want to scout a bunch of internationals, but that's about it. I prefer to FSS states, and then individually scout players that look like they could be good, depending on the division it will be people that have A's and B's. Considering I don't usually venture far away from home, it's quite efficient because I don't waste money on players that have no chance of being good, with all C's and D's. At D1, I can afford to venture farther out if I have a good amount of scholarships, but I make sure to scout the guys close to me first, setting the filter to look at players within 100 miles, and then 200, etc.

If you look at Virginia where my team is, there will be like 30 players, and only 3 of them are viable options, so why would I waste 1500x3(4,500)$ of that scouting money on players who I know will not be good, when I can just spend 900$ on the guys that are good.

With my method I may miss a few diamonds in the rough, but I am able to make sure I get all of the guys that are close to my school that are good.

Posted by MonsterTurtl on 3/9/2018 9:25:00 AM (view original):
I personally don't use camps or assistant coach searches much. I use the assistant coach searches when I want to scout a bunch of internationals, but that's about it. I prefer to FSS states, and then individually scout players that look like they could be good, depending on the division it will be people that have A's and B's. Considering I don't usually venture far away from home, it's quite efficient because I don't waste money on players that have no chance of being good, with all C's and D's. At D1, I can afford to venture farther out if I have a good amount of scholarships, but I make sure to scout the guys close to me first, setting the filter to look at players within 100 miles, and then 200, etc.

If you look at Virginia where my team is, there will be like 30 players, and only 3 of them are viable options, so why would I waste 1500x3(4,500)$ of that scouting money on players who I know will not be good, when I can just spend 900$ on the guys that are good.

With my method I may miss a few diamonds in the rough, but I am able to make sure I get all of the guys that are close to my school that are good.

That’s a way to do it, but you don’t really gain any efficiency by avoiding guys you don’t want to sign, because you pay much more scouting individually. Plus it takes longer. It’s good for guys who really enjoy the scouting system, and have the time to dig in. I prefer to get my scouting done in less time, and spend more time setting priorities.

ETA, another drawback is that with the much smaller and more local pool, you have a harder time avoiding battles if you play in a fuller conference, or more saturated region.

Hosted camps are essential to efficient recruiting, not just because they are the most bang for your buck. What you do after that may vary. It is like furnishing a room -- you need to start with a good carpet or quality finish on your floor before you start to place furniture.