Ok, I'm really getting into the game and here is my situation. I'm in the third year at my starting school UNO. My ultimate goal is to get to USC and take them to the national championship. I'm playing on the default difficulty level to get my feet wet with the game and I've had some good recruiting classes. My first class was 79th in the country, my second class was 55th. This year I played a redshirt freshman by the name of Terrence Wells who had great shooting ability but little ability to create his own shot. However, he had a good point guard who created a lot of shots for him and Terrence managed to make it on the All-American Freshman team as well as win the Sun Belt Freshman of the year award. My dilemma is: my good PG graduated and I had an off year this recruiting class and didn't really get any of my top "realistic" picks. I did manage to get lucky and get a center from Italy in March who has a reported 82 Inside (but everything else is horrible including his endurance.) I'm afraid that Terrence and the rest of my shooters will seriously suffer with the lack of a decent PG on my roster currently. I'm just coming off a 24-9 record in which I won two games in the FBIT (my first appearence in any postseason action.)

My current team prestige is 37. I now have 2 job offers currently both with jumps of at least 10 points: 1)Cleveland State which has a prestige of 48, a budget of 370,000 (45,000 higher then my current school) a recent record of 17-13 with a roster that looks like it has some decent talent, but a very poorly rated recruiting class of 247th. The other offer is Wisconsin-Milwaukee which has a prestige of 47, a budget of 385,000 apprxomiately, a recent record of 7-22 with a fairly thin roster and the 181st rated recruiting class.

My most recent recruiting class is rated 131st and my first two classes were 79th and 55th. My first year record was 13-17 and my second year I was 15-15 followed by this 24-9. As I said, I expect some significant decline without a decent PG. So do I jump ship now for one of these offers, or do I decline and see what other offers I get. Or do I rough it out this year and hope to pick up a dynamic PG next year to go along with Terrence who will only be a junior then and might still be with us? Also, will I ever get offers from teams that are more then 10 prestige points above me, or should I expect that to be about the incremental increase? Finally, one last question: Does size matter in the game? Due to injury, I started a center who is 7"0 279 but less talented then the 6'10 225 guy in front of him, but my 7"0 center clearly played much better statistically in regards to rebounding and defensively despite inferior ratings to the 6"10 guy.

Thanks for opinions on what I should do as well as answers to the question about size in the game and job switching opportunities.

Dola - One other thing about Cleveland State. They have training facilities with a rating of 52 (3rd in the conference.) My current facilities are only rated 35 (7th in the conference.)

In reverse order, yes, a bigger, more physical player is very important to have at certain positions, especially center. You'll also see differences as players bulk up through years of training, they'll be able to stand the physical game better and not wear down as much.

As for your coaching change, you can get offers from very prestigious schools, but generally you have to have a more established record for yourself. Either multiple solid years like the one you had, or a good year or two where you go to the NCAAs, this seems to be a big trigger for getting your coach's name out there for possible offers. Personally it sounds to me like you have a shot to have some more good seasons with your recruiting, I'd stick around for another year or two and hopefully you'll get some more likable offers in years to come.

I'm not the best when it comes to player interaction, but if you can't find a good PG to use, you might want to try someone who has good hands and passing, even if no other skills. That way they can set up the bigger scorers.

In regards to height, there is definately an advantage. If you have two players with equal ratings, yet one is taller than the other, the taller player will be better. How much of an advantage I can't say. I did however have a PF who grew from 6'10 to 7'0, and despite his ratings not changing much (VERY low potential scores) he is having a much better year.

As for your job dilemma, I personally would stick with your current school. I tend to find that when you accept an offer for another team, you end up missing the guys you had on the last team (especially the guys you worked so hard on recruiting). Your mileage may vary of course, but I think I'd at least stick it out a little more than 3 seasons. If you put some wins on the board over the next two or three seasons you'll likely start getting offers from teams in the high-50's prestige wise and above.

Before switching jobs you should also (1) compare rosters; (2) check the expectations of the potential new schools athletic director (no sense in taking a new job if they have unreal expectations that will lead to you being fired in two to three seasons); (3) check the condition of the facilities (this helps your players improve).

You already mentioned some of the most important factors to consider. I usually do not change schools because I recruit players that fit my style (and are better overall) than the schools only 10-15 points better than me in prestige. If my roster is better, and I've already got a proven record with my current AD, I stay put. If my AD is about to fire me, I'll begin looking for any way out.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm going to sleep on it, but I'm leaning towards staying at least another year. Unfortunately, none of my guys on the roster really have both good hands and good passing. My PF has the best hands but his passing is weak, and I have only one PG who is even a decent passer but his hands rating is not that strong (actually it's only 17.) If I do stay, hopefully I can get a good PG in the upcoming recruiting class. It's good to know height and weight matter. I think that is why my SG whom I played at SF had such a good year, as he was 6'8 220 and his defense and offense were both better then his ratings might otherwise indicate. Unfortunately, he graduated. I'm glad I know to start this center now as his size was definitely an advantage this past year. Well, time to go to sleep. Of course I meant to go to sleep 2 hours ago before I decided to finish up this season ;)

Of course I meant to go to sleep 2 hours ago before I decided to finish up this season

Yep, that's what usually happens to me too. I'll have to download HR's updated patch for the game when I get home, and maybe start another season as Coastal Carolina. Wow are they bad.

Yep, that's what usually happens to me too. I'll have to download HR's updated patch for the game when I get home, and maybe start another season as Coastal Carolina. Wow are they bad.

You're telling me... I've only ever been fired in FBCB once, and it was after my third season of coaching at Coastal Carolina. We were just woeful.

I've actually been through three seasons, and not fired yet. Did finish at the bottom of the conference or second to last two of those years though. The other one I made a fluky run to win the Big South tourney and then lost the play-in game.

But still, it's not much to work with. My lack of skill with the recruiting game is not helping me either.

Well I'm home early thanks to a cold. However, I'm not sleepy enough to rest in bed yet ;) So, I'm about to make my final decision and after looking at my roster again, I feel I have to stick with my team a little longer. Terrence made the All-American Freshman team! How can I desert him now? Hopefully, he will continue to develop and I will find someone that can get him some open shots. If so, I have faith he will continue to drill them. Plus, my 7'0 279 pound center is going to get to play from day one now that I know size is a factor in the game.

In my current career I coached The Citadel for 17 years had a string of 20+ win seasons but never won an NCAA Tournament game because any time I made it we were the 14-16th seed and got demolished. Finally with regret I took a job at East Carolina in C-USA. I have been having to rebuild their facilities which are bad (6 on a 20 point scale) but I have 20k to recruit with which is like 4 months of recruiting money at The Citadel.

I intend to do 5-8 years there and take a chance on a power conference team with a history of failure(or TCU if it ever gets offered to me). I am going to "retire" him at age 70 (he is like 52 now) and start his "son" as a coach and see if he can overtake the old man using a similar path. :D

My usual procedure for evaluating new offers is:

1. Look at the new team's conference prestige.
2. Look at the new team's prestige.
3. Look at the new team's expectations.
4. Look at the new team's facilities
5. Look at the new team's recruiting class.
6. Look at the new team's roster.
7. Realize I'd miss my current team too much if I left.
8. Turn down the offer.

This works really well. After a while you don't have to think too much about steps 1-6, and you can fly through new offers.

Interesting list of steps. Of course, that algorithm might make it hard to get to USC ;)

Dola.. I was all set to stay at my school and I finally was ready to turn down those 2 offers, which I did. Then I got offered two potentially better jobs! I got 6 offers in the following stage including two which are somewhat tempting. Indiana State wants me to come work for them. The are in the Missouri Valley Conference which has a prestige that is 1 point higher then my own. The team prestige is 66 compared to my 37. However, their expectations are high - Win the Conference Championship. They have a couple of decent players, but not the depth to realistically win the conference. However, their facilities are ranked 72 (compared to my team's 35) which is 2nd in the conference. Their incoming class is 167th which is discouraging. Their only great player is their PG who was conference player of the year last year.

The other offer is Clemson. They are also in the Missouri Valley Conference. Their current prestige is only 55. Their expectations are to compete for the conference championship. Their facilities are a 53 (7th in conference). One of the most tempting aspects is the incoming class is ranked 19th in the nation! They have an incoming freshman PG who has good quickness good hands and passing with A/A potential. They have a Center with a B/B/B potential for inside scoring, post defense and blocking and his numbers are already fairly good (76th in the nation by national scouting service.) They have a sweet outside shooting sophomore SG, who was 160th in the nation last year. Another Freshman PG who has A/A potential for perimeter defense and steals and is already 55/52 in these categories (97th in the country by FBCB scouting services). They also have a Senior Center who was freshman of the year in the ACC (before the team got relegated) who has 75 inside scoring with good strength 91 on a 7'0 262 frame (but he was a disappointing rebounder last year.) They also have a SF who is a redshirt freshman 6'7 229 with a sweet outside shot, but he is slow of foot and not that great defensively (but he was rated 56th last year by FBCB) The rest of the players are 1 star players who don't have very good skills. Decisions.. decisions..

Edited to add: Last year record at Indiana State was 13-17 and they have a 510,000 per year budget. Clemson was 18-12 last year and they have a 457,000 budget. Clemson is really tempting, but I'm afraid I'll regret leaving my team, but 19th recruiting class is tempting and I'll have to go to at least one additional stop (I think) to get to USC.

HornedFrog- That's a nice idea for approaching the game...

EaglesFan- If Clemson's in the MVC, they've fallen a certain ways. A sinking ship might not be the best bet. Rock UNO up into a new conference, then look around, I vote...

Another thing to consider when changing schools is the region. With the lower and mid-tier teams you don't have buckets of recruiting cash, so you want to be going local. With that in mind, areas with LOTS of recruits like California are going to be easier to work than places like Delaware.

I switch jobs like I switch hands. I am quickly getting to higher prestige teams, and I shocked myself when I turned offers from the likes of Auburn, Rutgers, and others to stick it out at Hawaii for a few years (I got the #36 player in the country, and he hasn't played a game yet! Gotsta see what he can do!)

2000-2004 Colgate
2005-2006 Siena
2007-2009 Miami (OH)
2010-2011 Hawaii current.

I think everyone has a different approach to the game, and attitude when it comes to coaching changes. It can be very difficult to succeed in the NCAAs as a small conference team because of what HornedFrog pointed out. Of course if you have promotion turned on that Citadel team could be in the ACC by now. I do wonder what people's experiences are with the conference prestige changes option. If you have a great team in the Big South or wherever, will they over 7-10 years improve the prestige of the conference?

I wonder if how often we switch teams in text-sims correlates with how often we switch women in life.

I wonder if how often we switch teams in text-sims correlates with how often we switch women in life.

Oh, good Lord, I'm a tramp.

Oh, good Lord, I'm a tramp.
LOL!

I think everyone has a different approach to the game, and attitude when it comes to coaching changes. It can be very difficult to succeed in the NCAAs as a small conference team because of what HornedFrog pointed out. Of course if you have promotion turned on that Citadel team could be in the ACC by now. I do wonder what people's experiences are with the conference prestige changes option. If you have a great team in the Big South or wherever, will they over 7-10 years improve the prestige of the conference?

I have no idea. No one from the Big South has ever won an NCAA tournament game in my sim so it wasnit just me. :D

I thought about every 5 years switching the promotion option on. I may do that when my "son" coaches because I intend to start him at The Citadel also and see what career path he ends up taking.

I have promotion and relegations on in my sim (obviously), but I do not have conference prestige changing. Therefore, I doubt my little UNO team could ever really achieve on a national level... but I'm still left wondering. It would be cool to build this team up and get it into a power conference and then take the USC job and only be a two team coach, yet I want to get to USC as quick as possible. Therefore, jumping a few teams that are higher in prestige might be the quickest way. I'm going to ponder the change a little while longer. I've never spent this much time considering a decision in a sport text sim. I like it that this game is making me consider this choice so much :)

Originally Posted by Godzilla Blitz
My usual procedure for evaluating new offers is:

1. Look at the new team's conference prestige.
2. Look at the new team's prestige.
3. Look at the new team's expectations.
4. Look at the new team's facilities
5. Look at the new team's recruiting class.
6. Look at the new team's roster.
7. Realize I'd miss my current team too much if I left.
8. Turn down the offer.


I will say I strictly adhere to the Godzilla Blitz Principles of Evaluating Offers, as anyone who read through my UNH Dynasty could attest to. I always decide it's time to move on and take the better off, get ready to move, and then wuss out at the last possible second, deciding that there's just one more recruit I need to stick around to watch develop.

It's a vicious, vicious cycle. One I don't have the willpower to end.

As a real-life UNO Privateers fan, I say stay! The food down here is great. Come on, you really wanna leave New Orleans for Terre Haute, Indiana? Think about that long and hard before you abandon your 6 or 7 loyal fans.

Go Privateers!!

I'm about to make my final decision in a few minutes, but I've been in New Orleans for about 4 years and my enjoyment of UNO and the rest of the basketball teams down here as well as my growing knowledge of the high schools down here is a consideration in my staying in my FBCB career. However, I don't know if I'll ever be able to make the jump from here to USC without at least one other stepping stone.

Well, if you go, toss the Privateers a bone by bringing your new team into Lakefront Arena one year. That's what I usually do when I switch schools in FBCB. Little dose of realism even if I've stepped up to a school that would have no reason to play at High Point or somewhere like that.

By the way, anybody ever get a job offer from your alma mater? It's a different e-mail from the regular job offer e-mail -- a pleasant surprise when your alma mater AD really kisses up to you trying to get you to come back home...

Well, I FINALLY made a decision after weighing and weighing my options throughout my work day (I took printed out rosters of the two teams I was considering as well as my current roster to work and looked at them during breaks in the work day.) Looking closely at key categories (such as jump shot and 3 point for shooting guards, inside, post defense and blocking for centers, etc etc.) I feel my current UNO roster is better then Clemson or Indiana State's roster. The potential's aren't quite as great but I'm unsure if I would survive to see that great recruiting class at Clemson develop to their potential due to their expectation of "winning the conference championship this year." Therefore, I stayed at UNO with the plan of requesting an upgrade to the facilities. Besides the overall evaluation of the roster, I really do want to see what my Freshman All American Shooting guard can do this upcoming year :)

Dola -

Now, I'm kind of wishing I left! My ungrateful board said I should just worry about my own performance and refused to upgrade my facilities. Now they have lowered their opinion of my performance :( Hopefully, I get some of the good recruits I'm targeting.

Go Privateers! Woohoo!

Nice choice. I had a similar decision to make last night. I finished the second season of my coach-every-game Boston University career and was getting some decent offers. I had three starters graduating and a fourth starter (rather stupidly) declare for the NBA draft.

I decided to stay, as even though I was replacing 80% of my starters, I had the #40 recruiting class in the nation. I rather wish I'd left now, as it looks like a looong year is ahead of me. My first three games were all against cupcake low prestige teams, and we are 1-2, getting blown out by prestige 3 Morris Brown.

My recruits are doing well, but we just can't put points on the board. After coming off back-to-back 20+ win seasons and an appearance in the first round of both tourneys (NCAA and NIT), I may have missed my window unless I can turn things around...

Well, I just finished my first season after staying. I ended up 18-12. Terrence had a disappointing sophomore year in which he showed decline in every statistical category. I think the lack of a good PG is severely impairing him. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good PG or other good passer during this recruiting season. Furthermore, I think I have an offer too good to pass up. Colorado State wants me to come work in the Mountain West Conference which is a higher prestige conference. They have a solid roster and they had a decent recruiting class last year (79th) Their facilities are rated 75 out of 100 which is 1st in the conference. The only downside is their expectation is to "play in a postseason tournament." However, looking at this current roster I think I should be able to make at least the little show.

I figure geographically this moves me closer to my alma mater and their current prestige is 62 which is a 20 point jump from my current team (which I've raised from 36 or maybe 37 to 42 over my few seasons there.) I like Lloydlungs idea and I think I will play UNO at least once a year (however I will alternate home sites rather then always going to their arena - actually I just reread his idea and realize he only said bringing the new team one time)

Anyway, I'm glad I stayed as in many ways I think this is a better offer then the ones I was contemplating last year. I just hope I manage to make the playoffs and don't get fired in one year.

Dola, my replacement at UNO is an assistant from Kentucky! That is really cool how assistants will get hired for head coaching jobs :)

Not that I still have much hope of ever actually playing the game (WinMe issues) but Im' curious about something -- with promotion & relegation turned on, do the teams that begin as independents ever join conferences?

Yes. It is possible for the independent teams to move to conference if you have conference movement turned on.

Interestingly, my new team Colorado State barely beat UNO 76-72 in the Lakefront Arena. Terrence my former star had a stellar game against his old coach with 29 points. That would have been an embarassing loss.