Recruiting battles with SIM schools Topic

Maybe this is just me being a bit sour but has anyone else noticed that when recruiting against the SIM schools, it's been darn near impossible to win against them the past few seasons? I will openly admit that several seasons ago, it was like shooting fish in a barrel to recruit against a SIM school. It was almost too easy to win. I felt like about 4 or 5 seasons ago, it was a pretty level field. You'd win some and lose some.

However, the past few seasons...it's been impossible for me to win against a SIM school. I can tell you in the last 3 seasons, I have lost recruiting battles to SIM schools with an almost 0% success rate. Last season I engaged in 5 battles with SIM Schools and did not win a single one. Season before that I engaged in 12 with SIM Schools...won 1. This season, I've engaged in 10 with SIM Schools...and have already lost 5. I have no problem with it being more competitive, human coaches ran over them for many seasons but I kind of think the advantage is more than overwhelmingly in favor of the SIM schools.

Is it just me being sour for not being successful against them or has anyone else noticed this?
8/16/2019 12:22 PM
I actually noticed in my first season recruiting in Wilkinson D1-A last week that it seemed unreasonably difficult to knock off SIMs, and I lost a few myself. I attributed it low prestige for the job I had just taken. Before that though, I hadn't really noticed anything different.

One thing to pay attention to is that not all SIMs are equal. You're at D1AA so there are a couple of things to look out for.

1) Are the SIMs you are trying to knock off D1A schools? If so, are they BCS schools or non-BCS? BCS SIMs will be significantly harder to knock off than non-BCS SIMs, which in turn will be significantly harder to knock off than fellow 1AA SIMs.
2) How many teams was the recruit considering? This is counter-intuitive, but if the prospect was initially considering 1 school he will be more difficult to knock off than if he was considering 2 schools. A SIM player considering 3 schools initially will require the least amount of effort to knock off.
3) Once you identify the players you want to recruit, try to knock the SIM schools off as quickly as possible. The more cycles you let them hang around, the more it will cost you.
8/16/2019 1:17 PM
Posted by jeffn48 on 8/16/2019 1:17:00 PM (view original):
I actually noticed in my first season recruiting in Wilkinson D1-A last week that it seemed unreasonably difficult to knock off SIMs, and I lost a few myself. I attributed it low prestige for the job I had just taken. Before that though, I hadn't really noticed anything different.

One thing to pay attention to is that not all SIMs are equal. You're at D1AA so there are a couple of things to look out for.

1) Are the SIMs you are trying to knock off D1A schools? If so, are they BCS schools or non-BCS? BCS SIMs will be significantly harder to knock off than non-BCS SIMs, which in turn will be significantly harder to knock off than fellow 1AA SIMs.
2) How many teams was the recruit considering? This is counter-intuitive, but if the prospect was initially considering 1 school he will be more difficult to knock off than if he was considering 2 schools. A SIM player considering 3 schools initially will require the least amount of effort to knock off.
3) Once you identify the players you want to recruit, try to knock the SIM schools off as quickly as possible. The more cycles you let them hang around, the more it will cost you.
Definitely great insights Jeff.

The SIM schools are actually on my same level DIAA. I usually don’t get into a recruiting mix of multiple schools...so no more than 2 when it comes to SIMs and typically 1 on 1 with Human users.

I’ll definitely have to be more conscious of trying to push them out sooner. But, again, it just seems almost impossible right now.
8/16/2019 1:58 PM
knock them off first day or its bye bye recruit
8/16/2019 2:01 PM
Just an update... 0 for 10 this recruiting season vs SIM Schools. Averaging well more than 16K per recruit, doesn’t leave much to get a decent class. Seems pretty pointless at this point. Trying to sign 11 recruits with 5K.
8/16/2019 9:24 PM
No change noticed
8/16/2019 10:18 PM
Posted by raginirish on 8/16/2019 2:01:00 PM (view original):
knock them off first day or its bye bye recruit
I agree. I just took a DIII team to play around with formations, and I only had $51,000 for 17 recruits. 14 were considering other schools and 13 of 14 were green by 4pm EST (second recruiting period). The trick is to quickly send multiple CV's as soon as possible
8/16/2019 10:27 PM
Posted by nlewis_02 on 8/16/2019 10:27:00 PM (view original):
Posted by raginirish on 8/16/2019 2:01:00 PM (view original):
knock them off first day or its bye bye recruit
I agree. I just took a DIII team to play around with formations, and I only had $51,000 for 17 recruits. 14 were considering other schools and 13 of 14 were green by 4pm EST (second recruiting period). The trick is to quickly send multiple CV's as soon as possible
I think it's easier to do that at DIII. At DIAA it's tricky because even if you knock the SIM off quickly, which has become increasingly difficult, Day 2 is when you face the storm of DIA coaches recruiting from the same pool. I've tried jumping out first day and dumping as many coach visits as I can at a time and then making sure to hit EVERY recruiting period. I've also tried waiting until Day 2 of recruiting to see where the DIAs will start landing but then it's even more difficult to unseat a SIM. I just hate that before recruiting opens up, the SIMs are already being considered by recruits. So, it's a balance. At either rate, I appreciate the input. I'll have to change my strategy again.
8/16/2019 10:50 PM
Posted by badaxe on 8/16/2019 10:18:00 PM (view original):
No change noticed
That's because you don't have to slum it enough to go after the SIM recruits. LOL
8/16/2019 10:57 PM
ebmidway, you're right that it becomes more difficult, as my DII teams took 4-5 CV's to knock off a sim, or just to get them yellow if you're in a league with a lot of human teams.
I look forward to trying DIAA, however I need more time to improve my game before I try to recruit against the best of the best
8/17/2019 12:09 AM
I don't know about you guys, but I've never lost to a SIM in recruiting. In fact, except for my first season I've never lost to a SIM at anything:O)
8/17/2019 6:20 PM
In Div II in Stagg, I just had an undecided SIM recruit who I offered a scholarship - but never had him turned green (was always undecided) - just sign with me. I was out of money and so stopped putting any effort on him and this morning he signed. Never had that happen before and had given up on him. Sent him an AC Scouting trip, a scholarship offer, 3 letters, 5 HC phone calls, and 3 AC phone calls = value of $495. I'm shocked. This was after putting $5,000 towards another player that I lost to a SIM. Even Steven?
8/18/2019 9:17 AM
I once had a "sky is the limit" recruit with very high WE and core stats turn green and sign after only an AC Scout. I almost always have enough players green by 7pm EST on day two of recruiting
8/21/2019 11:20 AM
I haven't noticed a change but will be recruiting next week. At I-AA level, it usually takes 7-9 CVs to knock the SIMs off in the first day. If you wait longer than the first day, it will take a lot more.
8/21/2019 12:33 PM
Posted by pwiest on 8/18/2019 9:17:00 AM (view original):
In Div II in Stagg, I just had an undecided SIM recruit who I offered a scholarship - but never had him turned green (was always undecided) - just sign with me. I was out of money and so stopped putting any effort on him and this morning he signed. Never had that happen before and had given up on him. Sent him an AC Scouting trip, a scholarship offer, 3 letters, 5 HC phone calls, and 3 AC phone calls = value of $495. I'm shocked. This was after putting $5,000 towards another player that I lost to a SIM. Even Steven?
There seem to have been some changes to how a recruit's interest builds without further input. Either SIMs don't get the extra bump every cycle like they used to (or a smaller bump), or human coaches are getting more credit for what they've already put into the recruit, like compound interest..
I suspect some of the better coaches have already figured this out; I see a lot of them content to just go yellow against a SIM, and sit on the guy until he signs.
8/21/2019 1:20 PM
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