Hi all! Brand new to the game and judging by the forum activity and world content, I'm very glad I stumbled into this game while Wilkinson was accepting new coaches. I really like what I see with the game so far. As a newbie, I'm not sure how I like the 3-hour cycles in the recruiting period. I was watching an old H&H episode where hookemhorns7, huskerfan26, and gators06 were discussing the viability of 6-hour cycles and from an inexperienced, new guy perspective I think that might be a lot less overwhelming for the new people. However, I don't fully have a grasp on the mechanics yet either, so just an initial observation. Other than that, so far so good.

Anyway, on to the actual question, I was learning the recruiting mechanics and realized I targeted too much low talent in an effort to avoid any battles my first year, but decided to jump in the running for just a couple better guys that were only being targeted by sims. I had one OL that was red and I spent quite a bit of money on him this past cycle and he came back with an email that said "No point", "No thanks. I'm already considering enough schools." So, I kind of assumed that was that and I missed out on him. Then I went into my summary and in that same recruiting cycle, he had now become yellow and was considering my school for the first time. Do I keep going for him? What are my chances with a recruit in this situation?

Thanks in advance guys. -Mark

You can keep hitting him if you can afford it. Campus visits give the most bang for your buck but it's hard to use too many of those at the lower levels so offering playing time or starting spots can help, if he will actually play. Don't really read the email responses from players... they're just fluff. Any player that shows up in your search for players at your division, you have a chance to get him. Some may just be more difficult to land.

Alright, good to know. I appreciate the response.

Hookem, we should get COachMark on the slack channel so he can ask his questions to them too

Posted by hookemhorns7 on 8/7/2019 9:30:00 AM (view original):
You can keep hitting him if you can afford it. Campus visits give the most bang for your buck but it's hard to use too many of those at the lower levels so offering playing time or starting spots can help, if he will actually play. Don't really read the email responses from players... they're just fluff. Any player that shows up in your search for players at your division, you have a chance to get him. Some may just be more difficult to land.

Hookem is right, but keep in mind if you make playing time or starting promises that the recruit will lose work ethic drastically if you do not keep those promises. i believe your rep takes hit as well. You will however have a chance to correct it and get most if not all loss back if you fulfill the promises in a timely manner which is usually 3-4 games.

Yeah, I thought about it once or twice, but I stayed away from all the promises this time through. Don't need any locker room issues in my first season, lol. I'll have a much better feel for how stamina translates into playing time for next recruiting cycle.

it is the easist way to get a recruit to favor you and if your team has been sim then you will want to start your new guys anyways.

Ah, okay. I understand what you’re saying now. Freshman benefit from starts/playing time, so as long as my team is mostly sim, I’ll want to play the freshman anyway, meaning I can give out promises more generously. Appreciated. I’ll keep that in mind.

Finding ways to get your FR 40% playing time will usually give them credit for the start. Take a look at the pbp for top coaches and you'll see how they use rotations to give starts to FR and SO. Makes a YUGE difference in WE and player growth if you can get your FR and SO starts.

If you wait until they are JRs and SRs, it's too late to really get much growth, because by that point, the player expects the start and PA.