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.

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It’s the week after the NFL regular season ended, and as expected numerous head coaches have been axed, and a few more have stepped down. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but what follows this time could.

Nick Saban pulled a dick move that will go down in history as an all time low blow. He abandoned Miami for Alabama, and faced many outspoken critics, including Don Shula, who is probably more pissed that his son got canned there than he is at the fact that Saban is bailing on his beloved marine mammals.

Meanwhile in Pittsburgh, the legend Bill Cowher resigned. I find this interesting because he didn’t officially retire, he just resigned. Does this mean he is going to be looking for work elsewhere? I hope not, I just can’t imagine this face sending spit flying in anything except Steelers garb. I have heard rumors of Cowher winding up in Miami, but I expect him to take a year off and find some big bucks.

Art Shell joined those being fired, as he was let go by Al Davis for the second time in 13 years. Does this mean that we will get to see another year of Art Shell in another 10 years? I certainly hope so, after all, I am a big fan of emotionless people.

The firings may or may not be done. As surprising as it is to say, two major playoff contenders have their coaches on the hot seat as well. In San Diego there have been rumblings of letting go of coach Marty Schottenheimer. Most of this has come due to the not so private clashes between himself and general manager A.J. Smith. The monkey on Schottenheimer’s back of his struggles in the playoffs probably doesn’t help his cause. And Marty isn’t alone in being on the hot seat. Tony Dungy’s job doesn’t seem to secure either. This is probably because his defensive coaching abilities have manifested themselves in a defense that is practically non-existent. If the Colts or Chargers see an early exit, don’t be shocked if they jump in on the search for a new head coach.