Building a winner?

[C-Bailey24]

Same here. Actually playing the games myself seems to do nothing in terms of improvement. Sometimes it seems worse actually. Maybe i'm just a horrible play caller offensively and defensively. I can NEVER get a running game going no matter how much i vary my playcalling or how much i vary the formations and types of runs i call. It's usually one nice gain of about 5-8 yards and then the next 7-10 carries are losses or a maximum of 2 yard gains. This usually leads me to become one dimensional and that means more opporunities for the cpu to sack and intercept me. When you're playing the likes of BC, Va Tech, NC State, Ga Tech, etc who are all top 25 every year u need balance and i can't ever seem to get it. Edit: In my current season we now have balance in the offense and are 23rd in total offense. We average 139 on the ground and 286 through the air. Our record? 0-7 ! We've lost 5 games by a total of 13 points. My defense is ranked 92nd in total defense. All of my starters and backups are yellow (according to my def. coordinator)with the exception of cornerback where i knew we would struggle, but sheesh. What makes it a little worse is my def. coordinator is rated green in motivation and blue in gameplan so you'd think that his coaching would help in some way. I might as well have hired one of the cheaper less talented coaches *lol*

[Mad Cow]

I played a career as UAB coach. Had a couple rough seasons to begin with but started landing key transfers and eventually built a solid program before taking a job offer from Florida. I was able to take UAB to the playoffs in my 3rd or 4th season there as a 15 seed and stunned 2 seed and undefeated North Carolina before being blown out by LSU in the second round. Without transfers I dont think there is much hope in building a strong program at a lower level school. I also noticed that it is easier to get transfers from neighboring schools than it is from schools across the country.

[tc66tc]

[QUOTE=Mad Cow;160175]I played a career as UAB coach. Had a couple rough seasons to begin with but started landing key transfers and eventually built a solid program before taking a job offer from Florida. I was able to take UAB to the playoffs in my 3rd or 4th season there as a 15 seed and stunned 2 seed and undefeated North Carolina before being blown out by LSU in the second round. Without transfers I dont think there is much hope in building a strong program at a lower level school. I also noticed that it is easier to get transfers from neighboring schools than it is from schools across the country.[/QUOTE] I will agree with you on that, I was playing as Miami OH and I got alot of kinds who where from Ohio who went to Notre Dame, Purdue, Michigan, Michgan State, and Ohio State. These kids were the reason I was able to win as much as i did. Well that and coaches who were able to develop them.

[DocStevens]

[QUOTE=Dave Hansen;159830] Of course, the downside to this approach is the actual time involved to get thru a few seasons and see the results.:D[/QUOTE] And the minor detail that when you play the games out you can not run the ball. I like to have run heavy teams and my RB will usually go over 100ypg no problem but EVERYtime I play the games out my guy will go something like 30 carries for 45 yards so something like that. The one huge flaw in this game is how the running game works when you play it out. When you sim the run game is great but it just does not work when you play the games which is a bummer.

[mvargus]

This game works a lot more like real life than others realize so there are several factors that balance out if your team rises up the ladder 1) recruiting - This is the most obvious, but also the most trick. But there are a few things you can do to help A - recruit your backyard. You can sort the recruit list by state, and you should be going after any in state players you have an interest in. This is harder to do in states with lots of teams, but getting even one 4 star player because he wants to stay close to home can mean a lot to a lower tier team. B - recruit for your play style. Choose an offense style and a defense style you want to stick with and then build around that. If you want to play a west coast offense, that's fine, but then don't go out and recruit a running back with hands of stone, even if he's a 4 star player. There might be a 3 star player who'd shine in your offense. Same for defense. You don't need 5 defensive tackles if you plan on playing a 3-4 all the time. C - corallary to B, recruit your lines first. If your offensive and defensive lines are losing at the line of scrimmage you'll lose a lot more than you will win. These need to be high priorities. D - if you have a need look for a JC player. These players usually have some development built in, so you can quickly bring in a 2-2.5 star player by finding one, although you only get him for 2 seasons. E - recruit to replace players a years before they leave. When recruiting look at who next years juniors are going to be. These are the players you want to replace with the current years recruits. Long term this translates into 2 years of development for most players before they are starters. 2) development matters - when selecting your OC and DC find ones that develop the positions you need the most skill in, and don't be afraid to make changes. 3) schedule teams with some prestige. - who you beat matters, if you are beating teams with prestige greater than yours players notice and you'll get better recruits. 4) academics need to be considered - if starters are getting suspended for grades it might be wish to either increase the budget for tutors or to make sure you are recruiting more intelligent players. 5) don't get overboard on transfers. They can't play the year you get them, and at best you'll get them for 3 seasons. Use this to try to fill an expected need, never to fill an immediate one. having a top transfer come in can discourage some recruits. On a side note, I've watched since 1.52 came out and recruits are paying attention to who you get commits from. If you already have 2 starting WR and get 2 3-4 star recruits, the 5 star you were chasing often decides that he wants to go to a school that has a bigger need for him. Just my observations, but it has worked in the games I've run so far. Although I'll admit that sometimes luck in avoiding injuries helps. (recruit for durability to avoid injuries if you fear this is a problem.)