Good morning all!

Just looking for thoughts and opinions. If the ultimate goal for many is to coach at an elite D-1A school...is it better to coach in the Big East where you don't have any elites, so in theory everybody has a near equal opportunity to win conference championships (although admittedly the recruiting is better at some schools) and many Big East conferences have several good coaches making playoff appearances and increasing your recruiting cash every season...or is it better to set up shop in a power conference with elite programs, and probably lower your chances at conference championships but those elites often advance further in the playoffs providing you with more recruiting $ to build up your team?

Thanks for any responses!

This is a good question and I hope that some of the vets answer this. I have been wondering the same thing. I came back to GD after 10 years gone and put 2 teams in big conferences (SEC and Pac 10)... my SEC team (Arkansas) is 4-7 with 2 games left and it makes me think that I should have picked an easier conference lol.

Recently, it has seemed that an excellent record in D1aa will get you a better shot at an elite. The algorithm picks wins, CC and DEEP playoff runs as primary factors from D1a and D1aa. So unless you are an impressive D1a school you won't always get those points (and if you can - why move?) because the elites are filling those deep playoff spots. You can dominate in D1aa and get those qualifications.

Typically the Big 10 and SEC will bring in the most playoff recruiting $$$. Other than those two conferences, you can often get as much or more recruiting money being in the Big East as you can in any of the other conferences with elite teams. I like the East Division of the Big East. There are a ton of recruits in the Northeast.

Do you believe "deep playoff runs" are considered to be the 3rd round, or are semifinals necessary?

FWIW I've made the jump several times from the Big East, and have yet to make it from D-IAA when applying with far better resumes (if counted equally). It largely depends on who else is applying, but a couple CC's in the Big East and a couple runs into the 2nd or 3rd round is a strong resume for a less competitive elite (the premium elites like USC and Penn State typically go to coaches who have great resumes at other elites in my experience). I've applied several times from D-IAA programs with long streaks of CC's and semifinal or better playoff runs and always get beat out. If I could get over the hump and start winning NCs maybe I'd have better luck, but those big wins keep eluding me.

I think this depends on where you think you can find the most success. Big conferences but good recruiting areas that you can work with are viable too even if there are elites. To me it's find as fertile recruiting ground as possible. If you doubt your gameplanning ability or recruiting skills and don't want to compete with even a couple elites then Big East is a great option.

If the goal is to get an elite, the Big East is the way to go. Good recruiting area, no elites and a much better chance of getting a higher seed in the playoffs which in turn will help you get those deep playoff runs. You can get an elite from 1AA, but in my experience it really just depends on who else applies. And realistically, you probably need at least a NC win, if not multiple in a row to make that happen and jump over another reasonably qualified 1A coach.

If you can recruit, well, schedule good but winnable OOC games to get a higher seed in the playoffs and show some consistent level of success, youll get there eventually. Same with the power conferences but harder to get that high playoff seed if youre consistently losing 1-2 conf games a year to elites.

Thanks for the feedback y'all!

I should probably force myself to schedule my non-conference games a little differently. Especially since the conference slate is so difficult. But I'm kind of addicted to playing tough games. They are so much more entertaining for me...and that's why a lot of us play this game right, for the entertainment value?
I usually schedule all human non-conference games (although often some of the human coaches depart before the next season), and often one or two elite matchups (a few seasons ago I believe I scheduled Tennessee, LSU and Oklahoma...what a mistake! Haha). This season for instance I was 9-4 in the regular season, but still had a #4 seed in the playoffs because our SOS was ranked 1st in the country.

What's the worst record anyone has seen make the playoffs, due to strength of schedule?

I made the playoffs at 7-6 in a full big East conference in Wilkinson b/c I had a really good OOC schedule

you either want to go somewhere you can win your conference and at least a playoff game or two per season. if you do it in 1aa probably count on needing 2 or 3 playoff wins a year. if you have 3 years straight of a cc, and playoff wins you got a pretty good shot. you can get on an elite for less sometimes too.