Another EA CFB 25 Thread: Recruiting Thoughts and Brainstorming Session

So after spending a week on the game and recruiting 2 classes I have some things to discuss.

My first year as OC at App State I was able to grab a fair class but at the end of the day it did not matter as I bolted for FSU when they offered me the OC job.

My first class with FSU ended up being the #3 class. I made a lot of errors that I am trying to fix going into year #2 at FSU in the same OC position.

Some of my tips so far.

Fill up the board with 35 guys and offer scholarships to them all and then immediately scout as many of them as you can.

If I recruit a 5 star that ends up as a "bust", I do not immediately write them off

If I recruit a 4 star that ends up as a bust, I tend to move on from them

In year 1 at FSU a lot of my visit weeks were near the end of the season because that's when my big games and rivalries were. This is a problem. Visits are very important and many of my targets had already signed by the time those game rolled around.

For year 2 I moved my Florida-FSU game to week 3. I was able to get enough information and unlock the option for about 5-6 guys. I think the max that can visit is 4. Its a bit of a risk to have a big game this early as you have to be down to top 5 to unlock the "visit". You then also need to have atleast one of his pitch likes known.

So how do you do this. The recruiting meter/bar gives you an idea how close a guy is to Top8, 5, 3.... Those guys that are close you need to be sending the house to get as much information on them as you can so you can do an early visit.

Hard and Soft Pitches.

I rarely use a soft pitch. If you can get two parts of the pitch unlocked you can usually use trial and error to get the final one, but be forewarned this is not a guarantee as there is some crossover between pitches.

So when do I use a soft pitch? If I already know what their ideal pitch will be I use hard pitch. I only use soft pitch for a secondary pitch that I am able to create/discover with the SWAY option.

I use the sway option to try and create a second ideal pitch. If it is successful I will then use the Hard and Soft Pitches for the two ideal pitches (but only if I have the availability for 60 hours for a recruit)

When do I back off a guy. I tend to stop caring about a guy if they are a 4 star or less and show a "bust". I won't back off 5 star "busts"

I also will back off of a guy if within the first few weeks I am not in the top 3. Its just too much you have to put into those guys.

Some other things I do. If it looks like I am massively ahead on a recruit, I will only search Social media or DM them to conserve time for guys I am not as far ahead.

Pipeline is important, So I tend to elect Florida guys over everything else.

I do like that it also shows us our needs so I don't get wide eyed at all the flashy 5 star QBs and receivers and end up with a team of 30 WRs and 10 QBs.


I know this is a wall of text but feel free to add your insights.