Authentic Offseason Additions

[TryHard_Nation]

This post will address several things the community is clamoring for in the off-season, such as spring games, etc., but let's start with recruiting.
I'd like for there to be an option of "in-depth recruiting." I say option because some people think there's too much already. So, this is how I'd break the recruiting modes down...
A) - The CPU recruits for you like old school College Football USA 96. At the end of the season, the CPU randomly selects commits based on how your team performed and their prestige in the given year.
B) - The standard user-controlled 5 week post-season recruiting only, which was introduced in NCAA Football 98 (I believe).
C) - The existing setup: In-season recruiting + 5 week post-season recruiting.
D) - In-season recruiting + 5 week post-season recruiting + off-season recruiting.
In real life, there are 4 types of recruiting periods set by the NCAA: Quiet, Evaluation, Contact, and Dead periods. For the purposes of this post, I'll only be using the Quiet and Evaluation periods as it pertains to off-season recruiting.
Quiet Period = Coaches are allowed to call recruits (and offer scholarships). Recruits can visit coaches, but can only do so at the coaches' respective colleges (i.e. unofficial visit).
Evaluation Period = Assistant Coaches are permitted to visit recruits off-campus (as well as make calls and scholarship offers).
The off-season recruiting calendar set by the NCAA is as follows...
1st Week of February (the day after Signing Day) - April 14th = Quiet Period
April 15th - May 31st = Evaluation Period
June 1st - July 31st = Quiet Period
Here's what I'm suggesting with off-season additions...
1st Week of February
- National Signing Day (NSD)
(Advance to Next Period)
OFF-SEASON TASKS
1st Week of February (day after NSD)
- Next season's Top 100 Recruits 'Watch' List released
- Recruiting: Notification of any prospects that will attend your school's Junior Day Event
- Recruiting: Select Prospects for Recruit Board
(Advance to Next Period)
February - April 14th (Quiet Period)
- Spring Position Changes (including early enrollees)
- Spring Depth Chart (Divvy up reps to each position group by percentage points totaling 100%)
- Recruiting: Notification of any prospects that will attend your school's Spring Game
- Recruiting: Calls restricted to unlocking Interest in Pitches and Scholarship Offers
- Spring Game (option to play or sim)
(Advance to Next Period)
April 15th - May 31st (Evaluation Period)
- Training Results (including early enrollees)
- Recruiting: Notification of any prospects that will attend your school's Summer Football Camp
- Recruiting: Calls restricted to Scouting, unlocking Interest in Pitches, the ability to Sway Pitches, and Scholarship Offers; Off-Campus Coach Visits (scouting) permitted <-- this period only
(Advance to Next Period)
June 1st - July 31st (Quiet Period)
- Official Top 100 Recruits List released
- Recruiting: Notification of any prospects that will attend your school's Pre-season Scrimmage
- Recruiting: Calls restricted to unlocking Interest in Pitches, the ability to Sway Pitches, and Scholarship Offers
- Summer Position Changes (including non-early enrollees who have now arrived on campus)
(Advance to Next Period)
August (Pre-season Tasks)
- Pre-season Depth Chart
- Pre-season Scrimmage (option to play or sim)
- Redshirt Players
- Cut Players
- Schedule Changes
- Recruiting: Calls / Scholarship Offers; Official Visits now permitted (beginning of Contact Period)
- Begin Season
(Advance to Regular Season)
NOTE: Junior Day, Spring Game, Summer Camp, and Pre-season Scrimmages are all unofficial visits i.e. prospects randomly attend based on interest level and/or location.
The current off-season tasks as of NCAA 2012 features 5 advancements (Signing Day / Position Changes / Training Results / Cut Players / Pre-season Tasks). The example I have given of an in-depth off-season recruiting also has 5 advancements. However, there are now 4 additional recruiting opportunities, a Spring Game, Pre-season Scrimmage, and 2 opportunities for Position Changes (Spring and Summer).
The spring game DOES NOT determine off-season training. Practice does. And practice is simulated by setting the rep percentage of your players in spring depth chart.
So, spring depth chart is essentially spring practice. Each specific position group in your offense/defense scheme (based on playbooks) has a cumulative total of 100% reps. Example of a pro-form offense's position groups: QB, RB, FB, TE, SE, FL, LT, LG, C, RG, RT. Each one of those groups totals to 100% reps.
Then, you divvy up that 100% within each position group. Say you have 3 QBs. You give your starter 50% reps, back-up 30%, and 3rd string 20%.
1 - QB = 50%
2 - QB = 30%
3 - QB = 20%
And you do this for each position...
1 - RB = 40%
2 - RB = 30%
3 - RB = 20%
4 - RB = 10%
The amount of reps, coupled with a player's potential (which is hidden), will determine the offseason training results. It's also a risk/reward scenario. You could give one player all 100% of the reps at his position, leaving the others with 0%, where your reward is maximum progression for that player depending on his potential rating, however you risk injury. Conversely, if a player gets a small percentage of reps, you risk that player transferring or minimal to no training results. Even further, if you give the player 0% reps, some of his ratings will actually regress, so it's important that even if you have a 90 OVR Senior starter, and think you don't have to give him any reps, think again. This would also play a huge role for CPU A.I. when they oversign too many players at one position, like having 5 QBs on a roster. The 4th and/or 5th string QBs would be getting screwed in the rep department and may transfer.
The game should have a default percentage already set up, then you could manipulate it from there.
This would give you some control over the development of your players. But just as coaching in real life, there are risk/rewards to these decisions. Hidden potential ratings, though, are the key in keeping offseason progression from being cheesed.