Nfl Head Coach 09 Video Game

NFL Head Coach - Strategy / Walkthrough.AGGRESSIVE VERTICAL OFFENSE STRATEGY GUIDE by: XOCOACH2009NFL HEAD COACH - PS2.by: S. Lewisxocoach2009@gmail.com06-20-09 (Corrections made 07-28-09)Version 0.99Intro/Background:Hello and welcome to my strategy guide/walkthrough of NFL Head Coach forPS2. I have always been a big fan of 'Franchise/Owner' mode of the EASports Madden games. I have played numerous games of Madden as numerousteams for the entire 20 seasons allowed. I liked NFL HC from the firsttime I saw it in the store and bought it.

The first time that I played it,like most people, I set it down in frustration. It was later that Idecided that I was going to figure out a way to be competitive. After morefrustration, I decided to search the internet for help. I did find somegood information but just not what I was looking for. I used all of theinformation I could find and a lot of experimentation (and huge amounts oftime) and came up with the techniques included in this guide.

NFL Head Coach 09 - RUNNING THE NORV TURNER OFFENSE! (Gates/Tomlinson/Chambers) - Chargers vs Pats - Duration: 24:57. MrHurriicane 14,696 views. NFL Head Coach 09 EA Tiburon NFL Head Coach 09 BE THE DECISION MAKER Game Features BUILD A WINNING TEAM All-new mini-games make free agency and trading more fun and exciting than ever before as you bid against other teams in a live auction event. Learn More ALL-NEW COACH CLIPBOARD.

If you are afan of Madden Franchise/Owner Mode, this game is for you. I hope that youtake something from this guide that will help you achieve more in the game.Please understand that this is an open-ended game and anything can happen.PLEASE NOTE: This guide is just that - a guide. This guide outlines what Icall an aggressive vertical offense.

You may choose to do thingsdifferently. It is completely up to you. You're the head coach of yourteam. I use this strategy because the quarters are short (five minutes).If you spend a lot of your time running the ball, you will burn throughgame time like there's no tomorrow and your players will end up with statsthat are so-so at best. If you follow this guide, your players shouldscore more points and win more games which makes you look better as acoach.

My team has won two Super Bowls in a row (2006 & 2007 seasons) andworking on a third! If you decide to use another strategy, that's up toyou.

Maybe you can incorporate some of these ideas into your game planwith your favorite team. I hope that you find a few tips in here that willhelp you score more points and win more games. Heck, maybe this willconvince you to blow the dust off of your copy and give it another try!SO. THAT SAID, HERE WE GO:For starters, this game is a little long-winded at the first.

Lots of timeL-O-A-D-I-N-G. SO BE PATIENT! This is a very cool game when you finallyget to the season. The game starts out at the first of the off-season andit takes a while to get to the first game.

The hardest part of this gameis knowing when to sim. That will come to you in time. A good rule ofthumb: When the game tells you that you have completed the assigned taskand asks if you want to sim to the next task always choose 'no' and gointo your computer and then to the 'Calendar'. You can then sim to thenext important task on your calendar. You need to learn how the calendarworks. This will save you tons of time.

There is some good info on the weband there is some bad info, too. For example, using the name 'RobertVapor' will not make other coaches accept any trade that you offer, so useyour own name so you can enjoy the glory of winning and creating your ownlegacy. You are going to have plenty of time invested. Don't do it assomeone else.

Be sure and read through this guide before starting. Thereare some tips at the end that may be helpful. I will probably add anupdate or two after I have progressed further in the game.

These updateswill appear at the end of this guide.CHOOSE OFF/DEF PHILOSOPHY: The game starts by asking you what kind ofbackground that you have. You should choose 'offensive'. You will thencreate your coach. Make him 30 years old and whatever else that you want.You then choose your offensive and defensive philosophy. Go with a verticaloffense and 3-4 defense.

The rest of this guide will assume that you havechosen these philosophies. Once finished you will be in your home office.Use the phone and call the Texans to let them know that you are interestedin being their coach. They will make you an offer soon after.

(They havefirst pick in the draft.) The game will ask you a series of questions thatwill build your personal attributes depending on how you answer thequestions. Be sure to answer them with your vertical offense in mind.Take the job with the Texans. The owner will show you how to do differentthings with the 'quick nav' tool. You will have to do what he asks andthen come back to him. He will eventually cut you loose to hire coaches.SIGN COACHES: You will have to fill all of your coaching positions. Trustyour gut on this and fill all positions.

To look at your coaching staff goto your computer then click 'Coach Roster'. Look at each coach. The boxbelow their info tells their contract length. If it is red and thecontract length is '0', you will need to either resign the coach or firehim and hire a new one. During a 'Manage Staff' task, you can either go tothe coach as described above and press 'circle' to set up a meeting todiscuss a contract or you can leave the computer and go to the phone andlook at available coaches and set up an interview with one of them. Youcan do three tasks per 'Manage Staff' session on your calendar.

Yourscouting director will send you emails about perspective coaches, but itseems like he seldom looks at the right type of coach. He's a moron- moreon him later.

If you have chosen to be the Texans I would considerreplacing the following coaches: Off. Coord, OL, DL, LB, DB. You will haveto fire the OL, LB and DB coaches because they still have contract left.To fire a coach go to the coach, as outlined above, and press 'square'.This whole process does take some time because you can only do three tasksper session. Remember that you can change any session on the calendar thatdoesn't have a lock to the left by highlighting the session, press 'X' andchange it to whatever you want. After signing all of the coaches that youneed, go to the calendar and sim to the 'Management Meeting' right beforethe 'Sign Players' phase and save.

If you don't have all of your coachingpositions filled by the end of the 'Manage Staff' time, don't sweat it.Remember you can change any task on your calendar that does not have apadlock to the left of it. You can reassign a 'Sign Players' or 'Re-signPlayers' task to a 'Manage Staff' task and hire more coaches if you arein a bind. (Do be sure and go to the management meeting and weekly staffmeeting.).MANAGEMENT MEETING: Move your cursor over to the owner on your left. Hewill tell you that during the next weekly staff meeting your coaches willrecommend players with an expiring contact that they think that you shouldkeep on the team. If you agree, the player will be put on your 'Keys toVictory' list and become a goal. He also talks about RFAs (restricted freeagents).

A quick note on RFAs- this game does not make this task very easyat all. As a rule of thumb, I don't even mess with RFAs unless I am in aDIRE situation. There is more on this later in this guide. OK, back to therecommendations coming from your coaches. You will need to be ready whenyou go into that weekly staff meeting.

You will probably need a notepad ifyou don't already have one handy. Your first season will go much easier ifyou keep notes. If you are playing as the Texans, you will want to keepthe following players at all cost: Davis (HB), Johnson (WR), Gaffney (WR),Robinson (CB), Buchanon (CB) and Earl (SS). Before going to the weeklystaff meeting, go to the computer and choose 'Roster' then 'Salary Cap'.Sort your players by 'Contract Length' and hit 'X'. Players that are redhave an expiring contract. Look at the red players and decide if you wantto keep them.

I make a list of players whose contract is up and I want tokeep for sure. I then make another list of 'hold outs' that I want tokeep. You will have to go through the players one by one to find the holdouts. Note at this point that I only listed who I want to keep. If theyare not on one of the lists- they're gone.

Now you have the informationthat you will need at the staff meeting. Sim to the first weekly staffmeeting.WEEKLY STAFF MEETING: Go around the table and talk to each coach that hasa blue triangle above him. He will either name a player that he wants tokeep (look at your list and decide) or he will name a rookie that he wantsto watch in the combine. Always agree with his combine choice because thiswill increase his trust in you. The same is true with the player(s) thathe recommends for you to keep. Only agree on keeping players that are onyour list of 'keepers' because the player's rehire will become a goal ifyou agree.

If you don't agree, just say no. When done, go to yourcomputer, pick 'Calendar', highlight the next 'Re-sign Players' task andhit 'X' to sim to it and save.SIGN/RESIGN PLAYERS: Jeeez this is taking forever. Hang in there. Thisgame is awesome once you get past this first off-season!

Now you need tore-sign your good players that have no time left on their contract. Youcan see this in your computer in 'Roster' then 'Salary Cap'. You can sortyour players by 'Contract Length'. The red ones and the hold outs needyour attention. To sign a player- highlight the player and hit 'X' to calltheir agent to make a deal.

Make an offer or tell him you want to cut theplayer. If you need the player, I would just accept the deal that theagent offers. This game makes it difficult to haggle. I would wait untillater off seasons to haggle with these guys and just get deals done fornow. You can do three players in a 'Re-Sign Players' session. Do the threeand then sim to the next 'Re-sign Players' session. Keep doing this untilyou have everyone signed that you want.

Remember you are going to havedraft picks coming in the draft. If you picked the Texans and have stayedwithin the outlines of this guide, expect to get the following positionsfilled by the 2006 draft that is coming up soon: QB, WR, MLB, LE and FB.Be sure to read all of the way through this guide before signing anyplayers. You can also use any left over 'Re-sign Players' session to cutplayers that still have a contract.

If you took the Texans, I would cutone of each of the following: QB, FB, TE, and MLB. This will create someroom on your roster. You are allowed 55 players total. You want to makesure that you leave room for your draft picks.

The way to count your teammembers is to go to 'Roster' then 'Player Roster' and count the rows andmultiply that by 8 and add the total of the last row. Some things thisgame does not make easy. (Note: you can see your total on the screenwhile you are making a trade with another team.) Anyways.

When you havere-signed everyone that you want to keep go to the calendar and sim to'Scout Players'. (There will be some players left with no contract.

They will automatically be cut at a certain point in thepre-season. There may also be some holes in your line-up but the draft iscoming and you can also fill holes with free agents at the last minute,after the draft, if needed.).SCOUT PLAYERS: Now is the time to scout some of the 2006 draft class. Youwill talk to your scouting director. You have to choose if you want topick who to scout or if he should pick who to scout.

You should tell himthanks but no thanks and do it yourself. He's an idiot.

It will takeyou to the list of rookies. If not, you can go into 'Roster' then 'PlayerRoster' and change the team to 'Draft Class'. Highlight a player and hit'X' to scout him. You may have to scout a player multiple times to seehis true ability spectrum. Be sure and completely scout Reggie Bush HB,Matt Leinart QB, Troy McCoy MLB, Chris Craig LE and BJ Dean FB of thedraft class. Once you have scouted the maximum number of players that youcan, go to the calendar and change the next available task to 'TradePlayers' and then sim to it.TRADE PLAYERS: During the first 'Trade Players' task, make a deal withthe Saints. Trade your 2nd and 3rd round picks and FS Marcus Coleman forthe second pick in the draft.

(Try to get their 4th or 5th round pick ifpossible, but you HAVE to get that 2nd overall pick) I know Coleman is oneof your best players but you have to do it. You can pick a differentplayer to trade but be careful not to trade any of your stud players. Inthe off-season, players numbers are at the bottom of their abilityspectrum. Always look at a players 'high number' because this is what heshould be at after practicing. The numbers that you see at the first ofthe game are a little deceiving. There is a list of my 2008 (season #3)roster towards the end of this guide that might help you decide if youshould keep a player.

Now you should have the first and second pick in thedraft! OK, this part of the game is a bit tedious. (Imagine that) You cansim through most of it. If you are comfortable at this point, sim to rightbefore the draft and save.THE DRAFT: (This assumes that you chose the Texans and made the tradewith the Saints to get the 2nd overall pick.) In the draft, move thecursor to the notebook on the left and pick HB Reggie Bush and then QBMatt Leinart (in that order) in the first round. Hit 'circle' to sim toyour next pick.

I’’s a cohesive thing that does manage to help you a lot in the long run and at the same time you will have the unique opportunity to dominate the battlefield and outwit the enemies thanks to them.Combat in Shadowbound is turn-based. It’s not a bad thing though, in fact it helps you a lot if you are tired of clicking and clicking tirelessly without end.The fact that the combat is automatic doesn’t really manage to let you take complete control over the way you play so that is a downside of playing Shadowbound.Unique PuzzlesSolving puzzles isn’t really something that I imagined doing in Shadowbound, but to be honest it’s a cool thing to encounter. Turn Based CombatThe combat is turn based, but just like in the case of most games in this genre, it’s quite automatic because of the way it’s built. Shadowbound game.

This will finish the first day of the draft because yournext pick is in the 4th round. You will have to go into your computer andto the calendar and sim to the next day if it doesn't offer to do itautomatically. You should be able to pick up MLB Troy McCoy in the 4th andLE Chris Craig in the 5th. These guys are 'sleeper picks' and you reallyneed them! Use your 6th round pick to get (FB) BJ Dean.

Pick whoever thatyou want in the 7th round or ask your scouting director's opinion.Remember to hit 'circle' to sim to your next pick. If not, you will haveto wait for the computer to pick every single one until your next pickcomes up. You might prefer to watch the draft but it is verytime-consuming. When done go into your computer then sim to the next'Management Meeting' task on the calendar and save. After talking to theowner, go into computer and sim to first 'Sign Players'.

(You can skipthis particular weekly staff meeting).SIGN PLAYERS: Sign your draft picks. You sign them the same way as youdid current players whose contracts had expired. During this first seasonI would take whatever contract that their agent offers. Remember that youcan only do three signings in a session so sim to the next 'Sign Players'on the calendar until you get everyone signed. Cut anyone that seems to bemaking a lot of money and isn't that good. (I wouldn't cut too manyplayers the first season, it's confusing enough.) You cut players bycalling their agent during the 'Sign Players' task and telling them thatyou do not want them anymore.

If a poor player is making big bucks, it isbetter to cut them and pay their bonus than to keep them for millions ayear. Note, at this point, your players haven't practiced and they are atthe lower end of their ability spectrum so don't sweat it.PLAYER CONTRACTS: Player contracts are a little complicated to handle inthis game if you change the contract length or dollar amount at all. Ifyou change it and submit it to the agent, there is a possibly long andsomewhat tedious procedure to go through to finally sign the player. Youhave to wait for a call back or email from the agent.

If he takes the deal(doesn't seem to happen often for me) then great, but if he doesn't, thenyou have to go through the process again. Of course, this wouldn't be toobad if you didn't have 10 or so players to sign and the fact that you canonly do 2 or 3 actions in a session! In the beginning of the game, theagents just don't have much trust in you so you are sort of at theirmercy.

On thing to note here: As time progresses in the game, you willbuild up a trust level with the different agents. If the agent has trustin you, his first offer will be the best deal he is willing to make. So atrusting agent is your best friend. He can save you a lot of time, moneyand headaches. You should make notes about which agents trust you beforestarting the 'Sign Players' and 'Re-sign Players' tasks in later seasons.RFAs and UFAs: This game has made free agency quite the pain for the mostpart. (Maybe it is in real life.) It is easy enough to sign a player fromthe 'Free Agents' pool in the 'Roster' Menu.

When it comes to RFAs thatare on another team, this game makes it difficult. As far as I know, youhave to manually go through every player on every team to get the listthat you might need. My policy is as follows: I get my talent from twoplaces: (1) the draft and (2) the 'Free Agents' pool in the 'Roster' Menu.It is up to you if you want to spend the time looking through thepossibilities.

Also remember that the RFA system is a little complicated.You can and probably will lose a draft pick to the team that you get theplayer from.HERE COMES THE BEGINNING OF YOUR AGGRESSIVE VERTICAL OFFENSE: You have agood running back in D. So you ask: Why did I pick Reggie Bush?Well you need to now change him into a WR. He is short but I amtelling you he is as fast as they come, he can catch very well and can beuncontainable after the catch. He is absolutely awesome! To change himinto a WR, sim to next 'Office Hours'. Go to the computer and pick'Roster' then 'Player Roster'. Highlight the player and hit 'X'.

It willask you if you want to change the player's position. Pick 'Yes' and thenchange the position. Once you get him switched over, set Reggie Bush asyour 2nd WR position in the depth chart. (Go to 'Roster' then 'DepthChart'. Pick 'Offense' then move cursor to 'WR' and hit 'X'. Highlight thefirst stringer (Reggie Bush) and hit 'X'. Now highlight his replacement(Andre Johnson) and hit 'X'.) This will switch them.

I have found that ifyou leave Bush as your 1st string WR, he will end up in double coverageall of the time and will not put up the numbers that he deserves. Alsomake Reggie Bush your PR guy in the depth chart under 'Other'. You canonly make so many changes per session (usually 2 or 3), so you may have togo to the next 'Office Hours' to make more depth chart changes or to thenext 'Sign Players' task on the calendar to sign more players.ON TO THE PRESEASON: Once you have your roster full (look under 'Roster'then 'Roster Breakdown' and see that you have the required number ofplayers at each position.

If not, you will have to put a 'Sign Players'task on your calendar (if there's not one already), sim to it. Go to'Roster' - 'Salary Cap' - change team to 'Free Agents' - find the playerthat you want, highlight him and hit 'X' to contact his agent and sign acontract. When you have the required number at all positions go ahead andsim to the first 'Management Meeting' after all of your days off (about 7weeks) and save. After the meeting, sim to 'Weekly Staff Meeting'. Thecoaches will make recommendations on changes that should be made to thedepth chart. Go ahead and agree with them so you will get the trustincrease. If you are really against the change you can change it backlater during office hours before the game.

When done, sim to the next'Scout Players' task. Now you can see next year's draft picks! Startscouting them now. When you have chosen the 8 players to scout, sim to thenext 'Scout Players' if there is one before the pre-season games start.Always do the 'Scout Players' tasks. Your scouting director will usuallywant to scout players on other teams. You should scout next year's rookiesinstead of the current players that he wants to scout, but that's up toyou.

Go ahead and sim all but the last pre-season game. Check your injuryroster. Hope for the best. (fingers crossed) Before the last pre-seasongame, check your depth chart and make any changes that you need to and simthe last pre-season game.

You could also choose to replace your starterswith 2nd stringers through the pre-season to lower the risk of injuries toyour key players. It will take some time to switch to 2nd stringers andthen switch back to 1st stringers because you can only make three changesto the depth chart per session. It's a pretty good insurance policy but itis also very time-consuming. You make the call on that. I've been known touse my starters out of laziness and to get them closer to the top of theirability spectrum.

I've had a FEW injuries in pre-season. I take a lot ofrisks as a coach and it has paid off big for me but. That'sup to you. (You can also actually play the pre-season games.).ON TO THE SEASON: Sim to the 'Management Meeting' and then the 'WeeklyStaff Meeting'. After finishing business in the staff meeting go into yourcomputer and pick 'Calendar'.

Look at the last three practices before gameday. They need to be OFF VS DEF CON - OFF VS DEF CON - PASS SKELETON CON(in that order). Do these three practices, in that order, before all ofyour regular season games. If they need changed, just highlight thesession on the calendar that you want to change and hit 'X'.

Choose 'SwapTask' and change it to the above practice types. These practices areimportant because (1) they prepare your players for the game by raisingtheir stats and (2) you get money plays for every play (offense anddefense) that you run 5 times (make 100%) in practice. These money playshave a better chance of working well on game day. They are key to winningin this game. Practice offensive and defensive plays that you are going touse during the game. In time you will become accustom to what goodplays your OC and DC usually call in and make the most common ones moneyplays. Run each play 5 times so it will become a money play.

After thefirst game, your money plays will still be close to being money plays(usually 46% or so) and you will only have to do them three times to makethem money plays for the next game. I would go with at least one firstdown pass play (WR Option), a first down run play, a 2nd and long passingplay (X Clown) and another play of your liking (preferably a WR passingplay that has Reggie Bush as the primary receiver). Use your first stringoffense and defense most of the time. I go with 1st string vs. 1st stringabout 8 times out of the ten and 2nd vs.

2nd the other two. I've never hada major injury in one of these practices (knock on wood) that I actuallyplayed.

That's not to say that it can't happen. Always check the injurylist after all practices and games to check for an injury that you mayhave missed. After doing the last (2) OFF VS DEF CON practices and thenthe (1) PASS SKELETON CON, check you depth chart then sim to game day andsave. I should note here that some of the time my players are not ALL atthe top of their ability spectrum at the start of the game. (For example:my QB is a 79-94.

It varies but he sometimes starts the game as an 88 orso. I check my depth chart in the two minute break at the end of the 1stquarter and he is usually at 94. Your players rating can and probably willincrease during the game.).GAME DAY: Alright coach, you have made your choices and all the harddecisions to get to this point and now here you are at the best part ofthis game: GAME DAY! To start, you have the coin toss. Make your choice.

Ialways choose to kick but you can decide. After the coin toss, you have 2minutes to work with before the game starts.

This is VERY important. Holdleft on the directional pad (Talk to players) and hit 'X'.

Now push righton the directional pad until you get to the WR/TE group, pick 'All', then'Strategy' and tell them to 'Fake-Use their speed to get open' and do itfor the 'Entire Game'. Push 'Triangle' to back out. Now push right untilyou get to the LB group. Choose 'All' then 'Strategy'. Tell them to'Hit-Force a turnover with a hard hit' and then to do it for the 'EntireGame'. Push 'Triangle' to back out. Now push right to the DB group.

Choose'All' then 'Strategy'. Choose 'Pic' then tell them to 'Jump the route andgo for the interception' and then to do it for the 'Entire Game'. Push'Triangle' to back out. Finally, push right to the DL group and Choose'All' then 'Strategy'.

Tell them to 'Hit-Just don't let anyone by you' andthen to do it for the 'Entire Game'. Push 'Triangle' to get out of thatmode and now it's time for kick-off. (That will get easier once you havedone it a few times.) Press 'Square' to go to the kick off.

Once you pickhow you want to kick off or receive, press L1 to change camera view. Iprefer to push it once to get 'Classic View' but you may like anothercamera view better.KICK OFF: On game day the quarters are 5 minutes long. If you keep thegame moving, it seems to work out well. KEEP THE GAME MOVING! KNOW YOURPLAYBOOK!

Go with the play that your defensive coordinator calls in 95% ofthe time. Go with the play that your offensive coordinator calls in about10% of the time. Your OC will tend to lean toward conservative runningplays.

I tend to play somewhat conservatively, but still pass a lot, inthe first part of the game until I have a comfortable lead. In your firstseason your goal is to win. Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart will probably notput up spectacular numbers until 2007.

You may have to play a little moreconservative in your first year but do take some chances. Throw the ball alot. The keys to this strategy in the long term are very fast and talentedwide receivers, a solid QB and lots of defensive interceptions and sacks.Interceptions and sacks are KEY. Your defense needs to get interceptionsto make up for the interceptions that your QB is gonna throw - and he'sgonna throw 'em.

The key players to this strategy are QB, WR,MLB, FS and CB. (Yes, I know. You traded off your good FS.

Sometimes youjust have to do what you have to do in the game of football. Be sure toscout for a FS in the 2007 draft. But for now- life givesyou lemons-make lemonade.) Once you have a good lead (about 21 points),you can have some fun offensively! You will almost always overrule yourOC's play choice with passing plays to Reggie Bush and the other WRsunless he calls a good passing play himself.

The AI will almost alwaysplay conservatively until after the 2 minute warning in the 4th quarter.You can be on top by 35 points with 3 minutes left in the 4th quarter, andthe AI will usually punt on 4th down. If you have a nice lead, don't beafraid to go for it on 4th down (unless you are in your own territory).There are some tips for game day listed at the end of this guide.BETWEEN GAMES: Between games I usually go directly to my computer, go to'Roster' then 'Injury Report' to see if I missed any injuries or to checkhow long someone will be out with an injury. You should then sim to thefirst 'Office Hours' after the 'Management Meeting' and save. (You canskip this meeting, especially if you have been winning.) Later in thegame, you will have trust problems with your RB coach. This is because youwill only use your RB to get short gains for a 1st down or a touchdown.You should get into the habit of taking this time to go into the 'DepthChart' and change your starting HB. This will lead to the RB coachrecommending a change of the roster and, when you agree, you will get atrust boost for him.

Now go to the weekly staff meeting. Don't be afraidto grill your staff members that had a bad game. This is how their statsincrease but you will have to give up some of their trust. Praise them iftheir squad did well. They may make recommendations for depth chartchanges.

I usually agree to get the trust increase. If I don't agree Iwill still OK it for the trust boost and then just go into the depth chartbefore the next game and change it back.

A quick note here: I have foundthat it doesn't help to grill a coach who has a 99 rating. He doesn't getany better and loses more trust than if you didn't.

You should keep trackof which of your coaches are maxed out later in the game. When done withthis meeting, go to the next office hours. Go to the computer and then'Calendar'.

Look at the last three practices before game day. They need tobe OFF VS DEF CON - OFF VS DEF CON - PASS SKELETON CON (in that order).

Dothese three practices, in that order, before your regular season games. Ifthey need changed, just highlight the session on the calendar that youwant to change and hit 'X'. Choose 'Swap Task' and change it to the abovepractice types. Once the practices are set, sim to 'Scout Players' andscout from the incoming draft class.

I usually sort the players by speedor strength-depending on what position it is. (Remember that players willnot improve much in these two categories.) After scouting the 8 players ofyour choice, sim to the second from last OFF VS DEF CON practice. Use thetwo practices to develop your 'money plays' for the next game. It is bestto do the (2) OFF VS DEF CON practices so you will have at least 4offensive and 4 defensive money plays. You sometimes get one moreoffensive and defensive money play from the PASS SKELETON CON practice.Now, check your depth chart and make sure that it is the way that you wantit for game day and then sim to 'Game Day' and save.OVERVIEW: If you are a die-hard fan of the Madden game's Owner/Franchisemode and have lots of patience, you will make it through the first season.The second season will be much easier and gratifying. Don't sweat it ifyou lose some games the first year.

You will be honing your coaching skillsto take the league by storm in 2007! Using these guidelines, I took theTexans from being a 2-14 team in 2005 to a 12-4 team in 2006 with a SuperBowl win. The Texan's 2007 season was absolutely phenomenal. You can hearthe crowd: REGGIE - REGGIE - REGGIE.

Sorry, got a little carried awaythere! In 2007, my Texans had a perfect season (16-0) including anotherSuper Bowl win (19-0). In the final game of the season we played the Billsat their stadium. The final score was 91-10! (personal high score) MattLeinart had 631 passing yards with a whopping 11 TDs!

For the season thenumbers were phenomenal. Reggie Bush had 3116 yards and 22 touchdowns.Matt Leinart had 6226 yards passing and 64 touchdowns for the 2007 season.The Texans also lead the NFL in defensive interceptions, having the top 4players on the list for the year. I should note that Matt Leinart alsolead the NFL in interceptions in 2007. This is just the 'cost of doingbusiness' in an aggressive vertical offense. All of the interceptions andforced punts that my defense racks up more than make up for theinterceptions thrown by my QB. I am just now starting the 2008 season andI am confident that we will take it all again this year.

I also got the'Coach of the Year' award for 2007. I am now the 14th greatest coach ofall-time.

I will be #1 some day.COMPLAINT DEPARTMENT: OK there's a few things that I have to get off of mychest about the short-comings of this game. Just skip this part if youdon't want to hear me whine.1) Good players make a good coach. This game lacks proper respect for theplayers and their achievements. There is no game, season or career recordlist. There is no Hall of Fame for the players. I realize this is agame about coaching but what about the players that you, as a coach,hand-picked and shaped into super star legends?

They made you.2) I don't have control of the stadium upgrades and renovations like inMadden. This tied the game together because it forced me to make a profitand made the game more realistic. In Madden, if my team lost money forthree consecutive years, I lost my job/team.3) There are no college stats for the players available in the draft.

What?4) There is no 'meter' during the trade process that lets you know if thetrade is likely to go through like in Madden. You just have to poke at itand hope for the best.5) You can only trade draft picks to and from other teams between thefirst of the off-season and the draft. You should be able to trade thefollowing year's picks up until week six of the regular season. If thereis a player that you want from another team, you should be able to sweetenthe deal with a future draft pick. Come on guys.6) The replay system in NFL HC sucks. If the clock is running, forget it.If the clock is stopped, the replay usually only includes the final fewseconds of the play. Geeeeez.7) The scouting director is a joke.

You should be able to tell him what todo and who to scout. During the season, he wants to scout the team you areabout to play and not the coming draft class. If there is a player onanother team that I am interested in, I will scout that player. Otherwise,I will scout the draft class. He's hard-wired to be a moron.8) This game makes it hard to look through your players to getinformation. I've learned to cope but I still don't like it.

(The depthchart is about the best place)9) Lineage. Lineage is your ranking for coaches that have worked under youand have gone on to be a head coach themselves. The better that they do,the more lineage points that you receive. OK, these are hard points to get.I keep my great coaches because it took quite some time to make them greatand I don't want to start over again. When you compare the time that ittakes to work up these points to the average lifespan of a human, you seethat it's an up-hill battle.

Lineage should also include great playersthat you have developed from rookies. Players make or break a coach.That's just my opinion.10) Loading times. Oh, loading times. Patience is a virtue with this game.Lucky for me, I have a passion for football and this helps to dull thepain. I bet that the PC version is much faster, but I don't know. Thefirst few times that I played a 'Game Day', I thought that the game hadlocked up afterwards.

It is actually simming other games in the league andthis just takes a while. OK- I'm done complaining. Every game has it'sshort-comings.

Description of NFL Head Coach 09EA's football coach simulator heads back to the gridiron in NFL Head Coach 09. With gameplay more akin to European-style 'Soccer Manager' games than the Madden NFL franchise from which it spawned, the original NFL Head Coach generally received lukewarm reviews from critics. But after a one-year hiatus - during which it presumably did a little TV and work spent some quality time with the family - the franchise returns with a new focus on depth and realism. Once again the coach's livelihood depends on his approval rating, and everything gamers do, from win/loss record, to going for it on fourth down, to choosing whether to yell at the QB after a bad interception, will affect approval rating.Key personnel decisions have been given an added sense of urgency with the new Live Event feature, which puts all trade, free agency, coaching, and contract negotiations up against a running timer. As in real life, the draft is the centerpiece of the NFL offseason, and gamers can prepare by scouting players in college all-star games, at the NFL combine, and during pro-day and individual workouts. Meanwhile, players can get running commentary on the lives and college careers of more than 20,000 unique draft prospects from NFL Network personality Adam Schefter.

Other additions intended to increase realism include: Non-drafted free agent rookies, 75-man preseason rosters, trades involving future draft picks, a new wear and tear injury system, and 300 new sideline animations.NFL Head Coach 09's online features allow gamers to upload created plays and download, rate, or view any play available. Two players can also go head-to-head in a quick test of coaching acumen.

Offline, gamers can adjust their plays in the middle of a game and save the new formations, or create entire playbooks using the coach clipboard user interface. All created plays can then be exported and used in Madden NFL 09.

Christopher Brown, All Game Guide.