A huge thanks to EA Sports’ Will Kinsler who was nice enough to invite me to their football community day this past week at the Tiburon Studios in Orlando, Florida. In the first part of a three part series, I will go over my experiences with NFL Head Coach 2009, NCAA Football 2009, and Madden NFL 2009.

Initial Reaction
I really didn’t know what to expect when I first sat down with the game. I knew I was going to be calling plays, but I had no idea that the game would include such off the field detail. I thought it was neat to prepare draft boards and bid on free agents, but I really loved the ability to create a play while you were in the midst of a game. I was playing against the Ravens as the Packers and Ray Lewis and company were blitzing the crap out of me in my full house formation. I went to five wide and created a new west coast offense scheme with short passes landing every which way. I pretty much out coached John Harbaugh after the first quarter. One of things that I had a bit of a problem with was the quarter lengths. You play the standard 15 minute quarter lengths just like in the pros so it can get a bit tiring after a half. When you just sit there and call play and not control players you tend to wish you were actually controlling them. So I can see where gamers would get a little tired of that aspect quick.

Senior Designer Josh Looman
To be entirely honest, I never played the previous NFL Head Coach that came out in 2006. I knew what the game was about, but like most other gamers I felt like I needed to control my players instead of simply calling the plays. So when it came to the presentation of NFL Head Coach I wanted to see what Senior Designer Josh Looman had in mind for the second edition of this game. Looman and his colleagues described right off the bat that they wanted to make the deepest football strategy game they could make. He also went on to say that this is game for all NFL fans who are experts at being armchair quarterbacks and who can’t help but scream at the decision making of teams on Sundays. Instead of groaning about certain play calls, NFL Head Coach lets you write the history book for your favorite franchise. To make this possible, Looman sat down with 30 of the 32 NFL head coaches in order to bring you the most in depth coaching experience ever.

Graphics
The graphics in NFL Head Coach are simply outrageous. The crisp cut view of player detail and stadium features is literally just about as real as you can get. A bit scary to see how sports gaming graphics have become so real. I really like the graphics of the team facilities outside of the stadium on the menu screen. Everything is very detailed from moving cars to the landscape.

Cool Features
-Call every play that your team runs from kick-off coverage to crucial third down situations.
-Free agent players are more likely to sign with head coaches who they have previously worked under.
-When you go to sign a free agent you begin a bidding process with other teams. Continue to bid higher and less teams will try acquire the free agent player.
-Players are very agressive in contract talks and will demand more if they have been productive on the field.
-Follow draft prospects from the Senior Bowl all the way through the NFL Combine and college pro days. Ratings on each player will change after each workout.
-Make cuts after you expand rosters to 75 players. Trim your roster to the exact specifications you would like.
-Create plays during an actual game. If your team is continuously facing a blitzing defense you can rearrange personal and defeat the opposing scheme.
-Create an entire playbook or modify the one already given to you. Created plays or created playbooks can also be uploaded to Madden NFL 2009.
-Track players health and injury status. If a player keeps getting knocked down and hurts his shoulder continuously you might want to bench him for some time so he can heal. Player ratings will drop and escalate if a player is too banged up. Also some players will end up with fluke injuries such as receiving a cut at a family BBQ.
-Players can came out of retirement to join your team as well as leave fr personal reasons.
-Adam Schefter and Todd McShay provide commentary on upcoming draft picks and will inform coaches on what is going on around the NCAA and in NFL news.

Overall
This game wasn’t made for the Madden fiend. If you’re looking to get a duplicate of Madden, you’ll have to look elsewhere. This game is all about strategy. Get over the fact that you won’t be able to control your individual players and you’ll really start to enjoy this game.