I just received an email from my redshirt-Junior QB (soon to be a redshirt-Senior when the season rolls over) that he is leaving early. I asked WIS about it.

I was told that the only circumstance under which a player could ever possibly leave early is if he had been promised a start or playing time and that promise was broken. Is that correct? I'm fairly certain that this is incorrect because he was a junior and juniors cannot have promises; there is no way for us to give promises to juniors.

Still, WIS is telling me that the only way a player would ever possibly leave early is if he had been promised a start or playing time and that promise was broken.

That's not to say that a player 100% will leave early if you don't satisfy a promise. It's just that the following if/then statements are true:
* If a player does not receive a promise as a freshman or sophomore, then it is guaranteed that he will never leave early, even years later as a junior or redshirt junior or rising senior or rising redshirt senior -- and this is true regardless of his playing time in subsequent years such as his junior season or redshirt junior season.
* Likewise, if a player receives a promise as a freshman or sophomore and that promise is satisfied, then it is guaranteed that he will never leave early, even years later as a junior or redshirt junior or rising senior or rising redshirt senior -- and this is true regardless of his playing time in subsequent years such as his junior season or redshirt junior season.

In other words, as long as you don't break a promise to a player, that player is guaranteed to stay as long as you want him to stay (all 4 or 5 years), regardless of his playing time at any point in his career.

This explanation sounds like total BS to me.

Players used to leave after their JR or JR* season all the time. It appears that has been removed from the engine.

Would be interesting if they added back the players leaving early but instead of them just disappearing they would go back into the recruit pool. Kinda like the transfer portal.

I too thought it had been removed from the game, but I can tell you with 100% certainty, that it has not been removed from the game, or if it was previously removed, it is back.

My Texas team in Bryant just lost redshirt-Junior (about to be a redshirt-Senior) QB Wesley Sawyer. I got an email from him saying he wasn't getting enough playing time, so he was leaving the program even though he had a year of eligibility remaining.

I asked WIS about it and was told that the only reason a player might leave early is if he had a promise and it was broken ... but I know that cannot be correct because Sawyer was a junior and juniors cannot have promises. WIS cannot tell me what happened that might have triggered him leaving early. I also cannot see his playing time data because he and his data have already been removed from the system.

I'm unhappy about it because he was the #4 overall QB as a junior and was set to be a Heisman contender as a senior. I was looking forward to trying to get him the Heisman Trophy. And it's a setback for my team because now I will have to compete in next season's playoffs with a lesser QB.

We spend hours and hours and hours recruiting these players and then staying on top of all our coaching tasks . . . and hours more game-planning to win games. After investing all that time to try to be successful, I don't like arbitrary things like this that randomly sabotage someone's season.

It certainly feels arbitrary to me. I didn't even know it was something that I had to worry about. I am not aware of anyone else having a player leave early.

Has anyone else had a player leave early in recent seasons?

I don't want to sound like a whiner, but it is arbitrary and it is terribly detrimental. Losing my #1 QB - who would have been a Heisman contender - is a huge blow to my chances next season.

He was by far my best returning QB. He was ranked as the #4 overall QB as a junior. He also had a very high formation IQ - in the mid 80s if I recall correctly. I really thought I had a chance to get him the Heisman Trophy. That's been one of my goals for a while - to have one of my players win the Heisman.

I had a LB leave a couple seasons ago. I had not broken any promises, but I redshirted him for his JR year (trying to even out class distribution). I guess he did not care about class distribution as much as I did.

I redshirted this QB back when he was a freshman, and he had no problem with it. I don't think that would have had anything to do with him leaving early. I always redshirt my QBs and he's the first that decided to leave early. This is a real setback; not insignificant. I know this happens in real college football, but I didn't know it could happen in GD. And I really don't know what I'm supposed to do to avoid this happening. I cannot see his playing time data because he was already removed from my team (and deleted from existence) when I received his email telling me he was leaving early. WIS customer support is of no help. So what percentage of playing time does a junior QB require in order to stick around for his senior year when he is in line to be the #1 guy?

Also, don't many of you coaches try to give your freshmen and sophomores lots of playing time? That cuts into the upperclassmen playing time. I'm assuming that many of us do this all the time. Yet suddenly, with no warning, I lose my #1 QB because of this. I think this is crap.

I had a junior RB leave a few seasons ago, but unlike Armchair my player was just a solid backup. This was a player I recruited without any promises for his freshman or sophomore year and who had maybe 20 to 30% playing time throughout his first three years, (playing time is a guess since as noted once he's gone you can't really see what it actually was.) It would be nice if instead of the "goodbye" email and player vanishing we received a warning email, "hey coach since I'm not getting enough playing time I'm thinking of bolting". Then give us the ability, if we want to keep the player, to make a promise of playing time to a junior for his senior year. If we don't mind the player leaving or if our junior promise isn't good enough follow that with what Ozzzball19 suggested and add that player back to the recruiting pool.

Posted by bagchucker4 on 9/19/2025 10:26:00 AM (view original):
the recruiting pool is reinvented every season

the guy who leaves your program ceases to exist the day he absconds

you're asking bad programmers to improve their code

ain gonna happen

they dint write the code

they don unnerstan the code

and they ain got the time & money to improve the code

accept it

your boy flew the coop

Unfortunately, I think bagchucker hit the nail on the head.

Have had one or two players leave early over the years, I think it has to do the the "character" qualities that are revealed in the scouting reports. Waiting for a chance to start, reduced playing time and "selfish" tendencies in the player triggers leaving early. Very uncommon but I think it was part of the original code and was not ever turned off like injuries. Selfish players could leave early that would be the clue that it might happen but so uncommon it is not paid attention to by most. Sorry that it has frustrated you Armchair, lots about the game is frustrating.

I have lost redshirt QBs on two different teams on the last last cycle. I never promised playing time or starts to either. I've never lost a player on any team that I can remember. Now it's happened twice in 1 month. Something has changed.

"I too thought it had been removed from the game, but I can tell you with 100% certainty, that it has not been removed from the game, or if it was previously removed, it is back."

It may have been removed and returned to the game. I do think the new owners make tweaks without telling anyone (or just telling a few people).