College Football Sim League

[CuseTroop]

i will take Hobart if we can get some more people to do this. CNY pride.

fyi, I play you first game of the season

 

[TBCuse11]

fyi, I play you first game of the season

So I will be 0-1 lol

 

[CuseTroop]

So I will be 0-1 lol

lol i havent checked out your team yet. This will only be my 2nd season in the league, so I'm not a pro by any means

 

[CU44SE]

I signed up 5 hours ago and I havent stopped messing around with stuff. I'm already addicted! Also, apparently my mascot is Gompei the Goat!!

 

[SUFaninNJ]

Setting up practice times is driving me nuts. I have no idea what I'm doing!

 

[Dnyr85]

Setting up practice times is driving me nuts. I have no idea what I'm doing!

http://www.whatifsports.com/gd/Help/PlayerGuide.aspx

 

[Dnyr85]

http://www.whatifsports.com/forums/Posts.aspx?TopicID=451760&TopicsTimeframe=0

 

[CuseTroop]

Setting up practice times is driving me nuts. I have no idea what I'm doing!

http://www.whatifsports.com/gd/Help/PlayerGuide.aspx#introduction

here is the players guide for anyone who hasent found it yet.

Also, For both football and basketball, whenever I have had a question about something, I just posted it on the forums. Half the time, I just scan the forums and see that the questions I had, have already been asked and answered. Theres alot of great information in the forums, and alot of long time coaches that are very willing to help new players out. Some will let you "sitemail" them with any questions you have through out your career.

 

[SUFaninNJ]

Thanks. It didn't seem that clear that the 180 minutes was a combination of the formations and individual positions. I think I have it now, more or less.

 

[JKinPhilly]

I'm all signed up...waiting for more to join. I dabbled in this a few years ago, seems like a few changes since then. Should be fun

 

[RF2044]

Hey guys--I've been playing GD for years. Love the game, and have won championships in the Rockne world at multiple levels.

This is actually going to be my last season. They are about to unfurl a major game engine overhaul, and while I enjoyed the game quite a bit I don't have the time / interest in learning an entirely new game [this is about the fourth time they've done this].

But if any of you newbies who've signed up for teams have questions about game play, strategy, etc., hit me with them and I'll do my best to offer some tips.

 

[TBCuse11]

I'm all signed up...waiting for more to join. I dabbled in this a few years ago, seems like a few changes since then. Should be fun

I JUST SIGNED UP. Hobart Statesmen. Would be cool to get a few more guys from here in the Centennial Conference. I guess Im not getting any work done today. Have to try to figure this whole website out in a day.

 

[AirForceOrange]

Hey guys--I've been playing GD for years. Love the game, and have won championships in the Rockne world at multiple levels.

This is actually going to be my last season. They are about to unfurl a major game engine overhaul, and while I enjoyed the game quite a bit I don't have the time / interest in learning an entirely new game [this is about the fourth time they've done this].

But if any of you newbies who've signed up for teams have questions about game play, strategy, etc., hit me with them and I'll do my best to offer some tips.

RF...for practice plan, how much time should be dedicated to formations?

 

[TBCuse11]

RF...for practice plan, how much time should be dedicated to formations?

question from me also... i did my 180 minutes total for each position (factoring i the team formation time and the individual drill time)... i saved them both. it says congrats both were saved, but now the indivudual drills are all at 0 again, but my time used for the formation stuff saved.

is this correcT?

 

[RF2044]

RF...for practice plan, how much time should be dedicated to formations?

Let me qualify this by saying that there is no one right approach to setting up practice plans. I can only describe what's worked for me.

But the game is a mathematical engine that factors in both positional formation IQs, and also the "talent level" [determined by the attributes of the players] to determine how a play unfolds. Some coaches dump tons of minutes into formation practice at the expense of position practice. Others spread the minutes out across lots of formations on both offense / defense, which naturally means they have fewer minutes to develop players, while others focus on only a couple of formations and get really good at them.

There is no one right way.

But my approach has been to pick three or four formations on offense [usually Shotgun, Trips, ND Box, and either pro-set or I], and a couple on defense [either 4-3 or 3-4, Nickel, Dime, and 4-4]. Depending on how many you choose, then that will help you figure out how many minutes to distribute. If you pick 3 and 3 [total of six], then you'll obviously have more minutes available than if you pick, say, eight formations.

For the best results, you need to put between 7 minimum and 15 minutes into both formations and position practice. It is important to understand the primary and secondary attributes that are most relevant to each position, and set up your practice plans to help the players grow most in the important attributes, but also to cultivate the secondary attributes. Usually, that means limiting the total # of formations you are pumping minutes into, otherwise you run the risk of not being able to allocate enough minutes to both formations and positions.

And don't forget about special teams--you'll need to set aside at least 10 minutes to ST.

 

[RF2044]

question from me also... i did my 180 minutes total for each position (factoring i the team formation time and the individual drill time)... i saved them both. it says congrats both were saved, but now the indivudual drills are all at 0 again, but my time used for the formation stuff saved.

is this correcT?

I would say that if 0 minutes are showing up in individual practice time, than you didn't save it properly [or at the very least, that the adjustments you made didn't save]. It will allow you to save if you have FEWER than 180 minutes, but not more. So without seeing your screens, I'd say that you saved the formation practice time but not the individual. I think that there are two different save buttons, so do them one at a time.

If you put all of your minutes into both individual and formations, but clicked the save button for formations, then it probably didn't record the individual practice times. Sorry--sounds like you need to re-do that, and save that separately after you've inputted your formation practice times.

 

[TBCuse11]

I would say that if 0 minutes are showing up in individual practice time, than you didn't save it properly [or at the very least, that the adjustments you made didn't save]. It will allow you to save if you have FEWER than 180 minutes, but not more. So without seeing your screens, I'd say that you saved the formation practice time but not the individual. I think that there are two different save buttons, so do them one at a time.

If you put all of your minutes into both individual and formations, but clicked the save button for formations, then it probably didn't record the individual practice times. Sorry--sounds like you need to re-do that, and save that separately after you've inputted your formation practice times.

it worked. thanks.

man this recruiting is insane. trying to pick the right guys to go after is quite a process

 

[RF2044]

it worked. thanks.

man this recruiting is insane. trying to pick the right guys to go after is quite a process

Recruiting is a blast--most fun part of the game, IMO. But at the DIII level, as new coaches, you have to be REALLY CAREFUL how you spend your money.

I recommend that you focus entirely upon players within 250 miles of your school, and that you don't go all in early. Let a few cycles go by, see which schools are on which players and which players are still available, and then go in harder after that.

 

[RF2044]

Recruiting is a whole separate discussion topic--so hit me with questions about that if you have them. Very important, but can be very frustrating as new coaches without a rep or track record of success.

 

[AirForceOrange]

So I shouldn't offer a recruit within the first few cycles?

I guess that is different from the Hops Dynasty...one of the recommendations I read there was contact them in the first cycle and then offer by the third. This way a recruit will have you at the topof their list and it makes it harder for the AI and/or other players to pry them away from you...basically first in has the advantage...

 

[CuseTroop]

I just realized how much harder recruiting is going to be now that we filled our conference up, lol. Last season I was recruiting against all sims lol

 

[RF2044]

So I shouldn't offer a recruit within the first few cycles?

I guess that is different from the Hops Dynasty...one of the recommendations I read there was contact them in the first cycle and then offer by the third. This way a recruit will have you at the topof their list and it makes it harder for the AI and/or other players to pry them away from you...basically first in has the advantage...

I wouldn't offer until players are already green on you. Red means they are considering others, yellow means you and others, green means just you.

Honestly, offering them doesn't really offer much of an advantage. Spending $$$ is what gets recruits to consider you. If you offer, that's only $100 in budget toward the player, which doesn't mean that much. And if the player ultimately decides to go elsewhere, you're out the $100. Doesn't seem like much, but it can add up if you have a bunch of offers out to players you can't land.

I actually hold off on making offers until the very last cycle before the signing period. Now, that's at the D1 level where competition is more fierce. But why squander any of your limited recruiting budget?

 

[AirForceOrange]

I wouldn't offer until players are already green on you. Red means they are considering others, yellow means you and others, green means just you.

Honestly, offering them doesn't really offer much of an advantage. Spending $$$ is what gets recruits to consider you. If you offer, that's only $100 in budget toward the player, which doesn't mean that much. And if the player ultimately decides to go elsewhere, you're out the $100. Doesn't seem like much, but it can add up if you have a bunch of offers out to players you can't land.

I actually hold off on making offers until the very last cycle before the signing period. Now, that's at the D1 level where competition is more fierce. But why squander any of your limited recruiting budget?

Apparently the computations are different between the two...where in football how much you spend matters, in basketball it is what you spend it on that matters...

Example: In basketball if you call a kid and send material it matters a very small amount...whereas if you call a kid, send material, make a visit and then offer a scholly, it weighs a lot more...offereing a scholly, even though it is only a $100, weighs the most in calculating interest...

It seems in football the more you spend, the more it matters, what you spend it on doesn't matter as much?

 

[TBCuse11]

I wouldn't offer until players are already green on you. Red means they are considering others, yellow means you and others, green means just you.

Honestly, offering them doesn't really offer much of an advantage. Spending $$$ is what gets recruits to consider you. If you offer, that's only $100 in budget toward the player, which doesn't mean that much. And if the player ultimately decides to go elsewhere, you're out the $100. Doesn't seem like much, but it can add up if you have a bunch of offers out to players you can't land.

I actually hold off on making offers until the very last cycle before the signing period. Now, that's at the D1 level where competition is more fierce. But why squander any of your limited recruiting budget?

interesting... this may be easy for me to find, but when recruiting starts at noon tomorrow, how often do the cycles run? and how many cycles are there? i dont want to get caught sleeping on a few cycles and miss all the players i have targeted. I have 18 schollys open, so i have some filling to do.

 

[RF2044]

Apparently the computations are different between the two...where in football how much you spend matters, in basketball it is what you spend it on that matters...

Example: In basketball if you call a kid and send material it matters a very small amount...whereas if you call a kid, send material, make a visit and then offer a scholly, it weighs a lot more...offereing a scholly, even though it is only a $100, weighs the most in calculating interest...

It seems in football the more you spend, the more it matters, what you spend it on doesn't matter as much?

I don't agree with that. For example, visitations are way more important than sending letters, calls, offering a scholy, etc. But each of those activities has a cost associated with it, and you can benchmark how "impactful" the activities are by comparing their relative costs against one another. A campus visit [cost will vary by distance--but let's just say that it costs $850] will be "worth" more than a home visit from the head coach that costs $500, for example. And both of those would be better than an AC home visit [$400], or a scouting trip.

But just because you make those expenditures doesn't mean that you'll land the player. If you do one campus visit, but another coach does three home visits, it might swing their way due to the fact that they've had more contact and are allocating more $$$ to the player.

So it is a little of both--how much you spend, and which activities you spend it on, that will help you land players. Ultimately, you need to find the right balance of how you spend your money and what you spend it on. The objective is to land players as inexpensively as possible, so that you can preserve as much of your recruiting budget for next year. But you still need to spend enough to land players.

Here's a tip: at the DIII level, there are very few players that you can't just go out and find a comparable prospect elsewhere. That's not always true; there will be guys who have really high attribute scores, and there will be a lot of competition to get those players--and as new coaches, it will be tough for you guys to compete for those players. But lots of coaches get caught up in bidding wars for players that are generally pretty "average," and it is easy to blow through your budget at the DIII level when you are fighting multiple battles where you have to "outspend" the competition to land players. So you probably want to avoid battles and s<out the hell out of the prospects in your territory so you can move on to comparable alternatives when other coaches bogart guys you are targeting.