I've never done much recruiting after signings start, but on some future cycle I may try doing all my recruiting after the signings. Particularly in a cycle when I can afford a few recruiting misses. Has anyone tried this strategy before and had any luck with it? What are the pros and cons? Anything about the "normal" recruiting dynamics that change dramatically after signings?

I am sure that many coaches have done this for a variety of reasons. The pros are that there is less chance of battle for a player and the player's signing threshold will have dropped significantly compared to the start of recruiting. Also, sometimes you can pick up a gem that was being held by a coach as a fallback that he didn't need. The cons are that most of the top of the line players have been picked and those that are left may have limited growth potential in certain key skill areas.

I like to do that.

Pros:

Cheaper to FSS
Cheaper to pull down
Less competition
Access to the late cuts
You can find schools with muliple battles and take one of their players

Cons:

Most of the BEST players are taken.

In D2 I was able to pick up a couple gems by performing a thorough search the cycle right after first signings.  Low D1 teams often have fringe D1/D2 guys considering them for backup options, who they then drop after filling all their scholarships.  Most coaches don't have much money left to battle at this point, so if you have a couple thousand dollars you'll be in good shape for these kinds of battles.

I do this with my low prestige school.  It means that I don't have to worry about battling with anyone as all of the higher prestige schools have gone after their players, but you are very limited in the quality of players available and generally have to find dropdowns or players with a mid/low ratings, but a lot of potential.

That's in line with what I was thinking - thanks for the feedback. Regarding the dropdowns/pulldowns, is it just easier or less expensive to get players that would have been available to me anyway, or do I have access to better players than I could pull down before signings?

Posted by mroylanc on 9/16/2014 10:28:00 PM (view original):
That's in line with what I was thinking - thanks for the feedback. Regarding the dropdowns/pulldowns, is it just easier or less expensive to get players that would have been available to me anyway, or do I have access to better players than I could pull down before signings?

I have found pulling down after signings have begun to be somewhat tricky. You'll just get some players who consider themselves to be legitimately in the higher division and will not go for you.

On this topic as a whole, I find it to be a very good strategy. I will often save my last scholarship until late in the game because there are usually a few diamonds in the rough to be found at the end of the cycles. Often people who will require a few years or a redshirt before they're especially playable in big games, but definitely a lot of potential. But, the best scorer I've ever had was a very late scholarship offer (to be honest, I didn't even know he would be a scorer when I recruited him), and many hi-ath/hi-def SF's, and versatile bigs (albeit, not usually people with hi LP potential).