mwjohnell, honest....I found recruiting to be about usual. Believe it or not...I was able to recruit closer to home than last season. It actually seemed to be easier to find and land pretty decent players. Don't know if everyone else had the same experience or if mine was just.......unique. With distance costs being scaled, it is easier to target what you want to spend.

Carpe, i rarely get over to the Stagg forums, and haven't looked at this thread before. That's a nice service you guys are providing for noobs.

This is my very first season so everything is very new, however this forum has been a great teacher.

My Question: About how many players should I have for each of the following positions: OL, DL, LB, DB, K and P?

Thanks for the help mpmershon.

One more question: Since this will be my first recuiting season I am a little intimidated by the whole process. Do I need to be around and contacting recruits the moment it begins (ie 12:01), and is there a standard order I should use to contact, like phone call first then campus visit, and so forth?

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Novar,

It is imporatant to be around for the first few cycles. You become considered on recruits and that can keep others away. This doesn't always work, some people will start battles for recruits no matter what you do.

The 12:01 cycle ends at about 2:30ish, so it is important to be on for that cycle and probably the next (2:30 till 5:30). After that it is ok to miss here and there but I try to be on for most.

There is another theory that alot of succesful coaches use that is to not be on for the first cycle. Let the diehards that want a specific recruit get on their guys, then take the people who have not been recruited heavily yet. I feel this is a pretty good strategy for new coaches.

Also I quickly looked at the ditribution of your recruits (not the quality). Based on numbers, you have 8 open schollies and not that many holes. You do have a huge Jr cl***, 22 players, so you will want to prep for that at some point.

I would shoot for these positions:

2 RB

1 WR

1 OL (next year you will need to sign 1 or 2 to prep for that jr cl***' graduation).

2 DL

1 LB

1 DB

At first, I would pick 4 guys (I would get a RB, WR, OL, DL), all on the DIII search and none of them the 'best' guy within 250 miles. All kinda in the 15-30 range for their position (within 250).

Only go after these 4 until after signings start. At that point, you will have a little experience with recruiting (quality, cost, poaching, etc...). Then target 2 more (say the DL and LB). You can adjust up and down (quality wise) based what the first four cost you and what is available.

Once the next two are signed (and 1-2 days into signings) go after 1 more, then when he signs, 1 more.

Your first time out you will probably run out of money somewhere around recruit 6, don't be discouraged alot of people do this.

Last thing. Don't give a scholly offer till at least the cycle after the recruit is considering you, it's not worth it. And don't go after 20 recruits at once, you are wasting money, you are only able to sign 8 max.

shoot sorry about the wasted space guys i am hoping to get some ideas on taking my team to the next level i have had 3 seasons at 7-6 I've only had one open scholarship in four seasons recruiting. my conference is tough with at least two playoff and one being a perenial national power. I understand football at schemes well enough i am comfortable with my game plan. Should i take a shot next season on recruiting a couple studs or just continue to add 410-420 players every year and eventually break out of this slump.

Birdie, thanks i am pretty aware of the key ratings when i recruit but i guess my question is, is throwing alot of money at studs worth it

If I have a scholarship offer on the table to an "undecided" recruit, will he accept my offer if no one else offers a scholly before the deadline? What exactly does "undecided" mean?

wagnaar, the answer is no. Unless a recruit is considering us, or considering us and others, they will not sign. What undecided means is that no team has given the recruit enough "attention" (using any of your available recruiting tools) to merit his considering a school. These undecided recruits become easier to sway as end of the recruiting period approaches, but you still need to meet the recruits minimum requirements for considering your school (based on type of contact, volume of contact, your schools success historically, your rep and loyalty, and a few other factors I'm missing). From everything I've been able to determine, you also need some type of face to face contact, either by your AC or HC. This could be scouting, home visit, or campus visit, but it seems to be a requirement before a recruit signs. Hope that helps, best of luck!