Understanding effective recruiting strategies in College Football 25 can transform a mediocre Dynasty team into a prestigious powerhouse. Here are essential recruiting tips to ensure your dominance in Dynasty mode.
While Road to Glory immerses you in the life of a single student-athlete, Dynasty allows you to manage a complete college football program within College Football 25. Mastering the recruiting process is vital to achieving success in this mode.
These recruiting tips are beneficial regardless of the size of your program or how far along you are in your save.
Essential Recruiting Tips in CFB25
1. Start Early
The preseason in Dynasty Mode gives players an opportunity to review the prospect list and assess available high school athletes who will be entering college the following year. This is the best time to identify your top priority recruits.
Navigate to the ‘Recruiting‘ section and select ‘Prospect List‘ to view all available prospects. The board will indicate which positions need the most attention from your coaching staff. From this list, highlight players using A (for Xbox) or X (for PlayStation) and add them to your recruiting board.
Pay attention to the players’ Pipeline affiliation and their interest levels (Int.), which indicate their openness to your program.
You can target up to 35 players each season and utilize the same number of scholarships.
2. Scout and Uncover Characteristics
Once you’ve curated a list of potential recruits, it’s crucial to scout and discover key characteristics of these players.
Select a player from your board and access their profile to go to the ‘Scouting‘ section. Use your scouting hours to reveal player stats. If a green jewel appears, the player is deemed a Gem for that star level, meaning a 4-Star Gem could perform at a 5-Star level.
Conversely, red jewels indicate ‘Busts,’ suggesting the player may not meet the star-level expectations. Still, according to EA Sports, 5-Star Busts often prove to be solid players.
When a player is fully scouted, be sure to uncover their characteristics. This can be done by researching their social media, direct messaging players, reaching out to their friends and family, and “sending the house,” which requires significant scouting hours. Completing these actions will reveal what the prospect values most—be it Academic Prestige, Brand Exposure, etc.
Check the right-hand side for a player’s interests. A green box next to a category signals that the player finds that attribute valuable, while a red box indicates indifference.
3. Don’t Waste Hours
In-game hours for scouting and recruiting are limited, so manage them wisely.
Each week, players are allocated a specific number of hours for scouting and recruiting activities, with additional hours available during the offseason, particularly during the four-week signing period and Transfer Portal phase.
Coaches typically have a cap on recruitment hours, allowing for up to only 50 hours for recruiting activities, excluding scheduled visits. If you possess the Recruiter Archetype and the Always Be Crootin’ ability at Tier 3, you can secure an extra 15 hours.
For each recruit, consider taking one or two scouting actions before performing a Sell or Sway action. Conduct social media searches and connect with friends and family to discern character traits, then proceed with a Sell (broad pitch) or Sway (specific pitch) once the prospect narrows their school options.
Regardless of your choice between Sell and Sway, tailor your pitch to the university’s strengths and the green checkboxes that appear on the right side of the screen.
4. Schedule a Visit
As previously mentioned, schedule a visit as soon as you identify a target player. However, it’s also wise to stagger visits due to the limited hours required to arrange one.
Select an activity that aligns with the players’ interests, and aim to win during a game week when a high-profile recruit visits. A loss during this period could dampen their interest.
Keep in mind that you can only schedule a visit once a prospect narrows their options to the top five schools.
5. Don’t Chase After an Unattainable Player
In the recruiting board, Dynasty Mode coaches can view the most preferred schools of each top recruit. Throughout the recruitment cycle, prospects will refine their list to the top eight and then the top five. At each stage, you can perform additional recruiting actions.
However, it’s crucial to take a conservative approach and not overly pursue recruits who seem out of reach.
Utilizing the interest bars is essential to gauge how near you are to landing a player. A larger bar signifies a stronger chance of making the next cut.
If a rival school shows a much higher interest bar than yours in a prospect, consider backing out. Competing against a strong interest level is challenging and can lead to wasted resources.
6. Take Advantage of Pipelines
Pipelines refer to specific states and regions where schools have a recruiting advantage. Within College Football 25, there are 50 distinct pipelines, some identified by state names, while others are more localized, such as South Florida or Metro Atlanta.
Schools are ranked on a tiered scale from one (weakest) to five (strongest) regarding their prowess in recruiting from a given region. A higher pipeline ranking indicates an easier path to recruit top talent from that area.
7. Prestige and Success Matter
High prestige levels and winning records can significantly influence your recruiting efforts.
Each university possesses unique characteristics that can provide a recruiting edge.
When examining character traits, these reflect a player’s perspective on the value of various priorities alongside the university’s attributes. In the recruiting menu, navigate to ‘My School‘ to review your school’s strengths.
Every institution receives a grade across 14 distinct categories, including:
- Playing Time: Indicates how long it will take for a player to start at their position, tailored to each recruit based on the position group and overall rating.
- Playing Style: Reflects your team’s playstyle, tracked via player archetype statistics throughout the season.
- Championship Contender: Assesses the chances of the team winning a championship based on current ranking and roster composition.
- Program Tradition: Offers a comprehensive view of a program’s historical success, accounting for conference and national championships, total victories, and accolades.
- Campus Lifestyle: Represents the surrounding area and campus environment, fixed attributes not subject to influence.
- Stadium Atmosphere: Derived from the ranking of a stadium as one of the toughest places to play, influenced by team performance in home games.
- Pro Potential: A forecast of how likely current roster players are to make it to the NFL.
- Brand Exposure: Grades the team’s visibility and the NIL opportunities available to players, along with prime-time game frequency.
- Academic Prestige: Ranks institutions based on actual academic performance metrics.
- Conference Prestige: Represents the collective strength of the conference, evaluated against member teams.
- Coach Prestige: Reflects the reputation of the coaching staff, with the head coach being the primary factor.
- Coach Stability: Measures the longevity of the coaching staff and their likelihood of remaining in place for the next four seasons.
- Athletic Facilities: Evaluates the quality of facilities available to the program.
- Proximity to Home: Specific to each recruit, indicating how close the school is to the recruit’s home pipeline.
Remember, high grades in critical categories paired with green checkmarks enhance your recruiting potential.
Some aspects can be improved; for instance, competitive performance can elevate the Championship Contender rating, while metrics like Campus Lifestyle and Academic Prestige are relatively fixed. Top institutions like Stanford and Northwestern will inherently have an advantage in academics.
Focus on improving the categories within your control. Consistently winning games enhances Coach Prestige.
8. Upgrade Coach Stats
The next tip for effective recruiting in College Football 25 doesn’t directly involve player recruitment—use your Coach Points actively.
Each week, coaches accrue XP, unlocking Coach Points (CP) that can be utilized in the ‘Coach Abilities‘ section.
Prioritizing upgrades to Archetype Perks is vital for enhancing in-game attributes and recruiting advantages. Additionally, activating the Elite Recruiter Archetype—attainable after compiling two top-five recruiting classes—grants even further bonuses.
9. Watch for Deal Breakers
Every prospect will have at least one Deal Breaker, something that could deter them from joining your program. Deal Breakers can range from guaranteed playing time, proximity to home, brand exposure, to coach prestige.
These factors may be influenced by characteristics outside of your control. For instance, a 4-Star recruit from New Jersey valuing closeness to home may not even consider a school located in California. Stay mindful of these factors to avoid squandering valuable hours.
10. Make Use of the Transfer Portal
Finally, don’t overlook the potential of the Transfer Portal.
This portal does not primarily feature true freshmen but includes players seeking better opportunities from other institutions. It can be challenging for coaches who lose players but presents an opportunity, especially for securing high-caliber 4-Star or 5-Star recruits.
Similar to recruiting high school prospects, you’ll need to scout students from the portal, uncover important information, and then pursue your pitch—all within a constrained four-week timeframe. Like in-season recruiting, offer scholarships, optimize your research, arrange visits, and aim to close the deal effectively.
For more insights on College Football 25, be sure to explore our articles on the best offensive and defensive playbooks, optimal settings, how to kick, and enabling play selection in Road to Glory.
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