Whether you’re managing your favorite SEC powerhouse or attempting to rebuild a team that hasn’t been anywhere near a championship in years, all good coaches inEA Sports College Football 26have to master the game’s recruiting mechanics. The recruitment system has seen some pretty big changes since last year, so even veteranCollege Football 26coaches have some learning to do.
You only have so many hours to spend on each prospect, and all that time can go right down the drain if they end up signing with another school. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to prevent potential players from choosing your rivals over you. You can have success with just about any team inCollege Football 26as long as you know the ins and outs of the recruiting process.
Best Coach Backstory and Pipelines
When you start a new Dynasty save, you’ll be prompted to create your own custom coach or use an existing coach at the school of your choice. If you go with a custom coach, you canchoose from one of three backstories:Motivator,Recruiter, andTactician.
These backstories will influence your main game plan, giving you access to unique skill trees for your chosen backstory that the others can’t unlock until much later in their careers. If you’re serious about recruiting talent to your team, thenthe Recruiter backstory is the best of the bunch. If you’re playing with a low-tier team that will have trouble attracting star players, however,MotivatororTacticianmight be a better choice, allowing you to focus on building up your existing roster and raising your team’s prestige.
Yourpipelinechoice is also a huge deal, so think carefully before selecting one. Your pipeline determines which part of the country you primarily recruit from, and prospects within your pipeline will have a much higher chance of signing with your school instead of others. Recruiting from your local pipeline is also a great way to guarantee a solid rating forProximity to Home, which most players value pretty heavily.
These are some of thestrongest pipelinesto choose from inCollege Football 26:
Remember that certain pipelines work better with certain schools.Choosing a pipeline close to your school’s locationis the best bet for most coaches.
How to Influence, Sway, and Pitch Prospects
Prospects will narrow down their top schools throughout the season, and it’s your job to convince them that your school is the best fit for them. You only have so many hours to spend each week, though, so knowing how to influence, sway, and pitch potential players is crucial.
Influencingis the first stage of the recruitment process. Once you’ve scouted a prospect enough to realize that they’re a good fit for your team’s needs, you can search their social media profiles, send them a DM, contact their friends and family, or send the house. Each of these will teach you more about theplayer’s wants and needs, preparing you for the pitching stage once they’ve narrowed down their top five schools.
Soft Sell versus Hard Sell
As you influence a player, you’ll start to seegreen check marks and red Xsappear next to their list of motivations. These are the most important things to each player, and trying to sell them on your school with the wrong angle can completely ruin your chances with them. Once you’ve spent enough time researching, you may choose aSoft SellorHard Selldepending on your level of confidence.
When you select either pitching option, you may choose from a grid of strategies that group together three motivations each. If a player has green check marks and your school has a high grade for those motivations, the pitch will be successful. The fewer green check marks and the lower your school’s grades in those motivators, the lower your chances will be.
A Soft Sell doesn’t require as many hours and only has a small negative impact if you choose the wrong motivations, while a Hard Sell is for confident coaches who are sure they know what players want. Failing a Hard Sell has harder consequences than a Soft Sell failure, though, so weigh your options carefully.
Swaying Players
If you can’t find the perfect combination of motivations, you canSwaya player to convince them that they should want something else. After spending a few turns Swaying a player, they’ll get afourth green check marknext to another motivation. This will give you more options for your next pitch, drastically increasing the chances of a prospect falling in love with your school.
Scholarships
If all else fails, you can always offer aScholarshipto a player. You only get35 Scholarshipsper season, but most schools will offer them to top prospects. It’s a good idea to use the bulk of your Scholarships early in the season to get a head start, but save a few of them in case some prospects end up locking you out or signing with other schools.
How to Use the Transfer Portal
In addition to high school prospects, you can also recruit players from theTransfer Portalat the end of a season. Once the season is over, some players will seek out other teams because they’re not happy with their current conditions. This is a gold mine for some teams, but don’t forget that your favoriteplayers can transfer away from your schoolif you’re not careful.
The Transfer Portal works mostly the same as the standard recruiting process, but there’s a much shorter window to influence and convince students to transfer to your school. Still, it’s a great way to snatch some players for positions you missed out on during the seasonal recruiting period. Just make sure that yourschool grades are high enoughso that your best players don’t transfer away.
How to Improve School Grades
Your school is graded in several different areas, and players will have different opinions about your school depending on its reputation. These grades are used in the recruiting process when pitching and swaying players, but they also affect your existing roster.
If your players are unhappy with the way that your school’s grades have changed throughout the season, they’ll have agreater risk of transferring to another team. As such, you should attempt to keep your school’s grades as high as possible. Here’s how you can increase every school grade inCollege Football 26.
Win games and increase your team’s rating.
Play and win high-profile games like playoffs and championships.
Recruit higher-rated players and improve your overall roster.
Hire talented Offensive/Defensive Coordinators and meet your coaching contract goals.
Coach Stability
Sign long contracts and stay with the same school for a long period of time.
Conference Prestige
You can increase your team’s prestige, but other teams in your conference can drag your average down.
Playing Style
Make specific play types to pad your seasonal stats in the desired direction.
Playing Time
Check your depth chart and verify that players are likely to see action at some point during the season.
Pro Potential
Raise your seniors' ratings and have them become projected NFL draft picks.
Program Tradition
Play and win conference championships, bowl games, and things like that.
Stadium Atmosphere
Win more home games to increase fan turnout.
Remember that each player will weigh these stats differently inCollege Football 26, so it’s a good idea to find like-minded prospects who value the same things. Otherwise, you’ll have to cater to all sorts of different people, and you’ll inevitably end up with transfers at the end of the season. If you don’t want to deal with all these stats, you can always check out Road to Glory mode, but you’ll still need to deal with other factors likeCoach Trust and Happinesson that side.
