Two Words, One Answer.
Head Coach
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I only played a part of another season before I had the guide in my hand and I've not looked back. One could say that the list of 50 future stars alone pays for the guide. It's nice to have that peak into the future, to know a certain player will be another Dan Marino or LT. But the real value, in my opinion, is in the advice the book offers. There is a useful discussion of coaching skills at the beginning, as well as a discussion about choosing playbooks (when you should and when you should not) and some advice about whether or not to start before or after the '08 draft. There is an in-depth discussion of the off-season, for example, how free agency works, your cap, "free agency tactics", trades - and valuable trading tips as well as a very useful chart which details the philosophies of the starting GMs (how often they trade, their mindset - over offer or low ball), spending philosophy, etc). There are also some helpful tips on contract negotiations and player grades (see note below). The draft is discussed in depth. The most useful part of this portion of the book is how to look for sleepers (outside of simply consulting the "Future 50". Knowing to look for "double" or "triple 90's" was a huge help. No longer do the later rounds seem quite so pointless. Knowing you might be able to find another Houshmandzadeh makes those later rounds something to look forward to rather than dread. The pre-season gets a brief discussion and then we get into the "playbook strategy" section, which discusses creating/editing plays, play creator options, other playbooks, and provides a breakdown of the playbooks used by each team. This last is very helpful when choosing a team to coach as it gives you a peak of the strengths and weaknesses of each team's existing system. For example, in choosing to coach the 49ers I decided to keep the Martz Air Attack while dumping the weak Nolan 3-4 and adopting the Spagnuolo Pressure in its place (which has worked very well so far). Finally there are the team profiles, another useful tool in determining which team to play. These offer such information as the teams strengths and weaknesses, coaching staff skill ratings (another nice tidbit to examine before choosing a team to coach), and offensive and defensive depth charts. For each team there is a discussion about redoing the 2008 off-season (what your team needs) as well as a list of who the team actually drafted in '08. The team's available salary cap room is also provided and for me, this is one of the most important determinants: just how much money am I going to have to fix the team's problems? The last part of the book has a chart showing team position philosophies (here you can find out what the Bengals look for in a QB, for example) as well as a nifty little list of which NFL players will become coaches when they retire (in the game). For example, Ray Lewis will become a linebacker coach (surprise!). The guide is not perfect. There are gaps. For example, many things go unexplained. "Intangibles" is defined in one place as "ball carrier vision, man-to-man pass coverage or throw accuracy" while in another it is simply defined as "awareness". Clearly, there is some confusion here unless it is all these things. So while the book is not perfect, I've found it far more useful than I was led to believe and the thin pages do not bother me at all.  NFL Head Coach 09 $29.99 Let me begin by saying that I typically enjoy games like this. Football (soccer) Manager, Eastside Hockey Manager, even the original Head Coach... I enjoy them all. But for a game that gives you "total control" of an NFL franchise, this game takes an awful lot out of your hands. My main complaints are in free agent / rookie signing periods, as well as the trading process. I'll start with the free agent / rookie signings. Unlike other games, which let you build your own packages (i.e. you choose the amount of money offered and the length of the contract offered), Head Coach 09 presents you with pre-determined packages, which only vary slightly from one another, and typically give you ZERO say in the length of the contract. For instance, I tried to sign Marcus Trufant as a free agent. I had about 15 options I could offer him, but every single one was for 5 years, and paid him between 4.5 - 5 M per year, with signing bonuses that varied no more than 1.5 M from each other. In a game like this, I expect a lot more flexibility. Hypothetically, if I wanted to offer Trufant a 6th year and pay him an absurd amount of money for that 6th year, he would accept it, guaranteed. And I should be able to do that. But I can't. Trading works much the same way. I can't select a team and build a package of players from that team to trade for. I can only target one player at a time from a team, and then that team will respond with several 'packages' which mix my draft picks with players that I currently have on the trading block. Similarly, if I want to get rid of a certain player in particular, all I can do is place him on the trading block and hope that his name shows up in one of the computer-generated 'packages'. I have a problem with this because one of the first things I like to do in a 'GM' game like this is get rid of all of my over-paid players to clear salary cap space for younger talent. And while I understand that no one else wants my over-paid players any more than I do, I should at least have the option of offering a few over-priced veterans for a low-round draft pick or two. But Head Coach 09 doesn't even give you the freedom to do that. Realistically, if I wanted to trade Bobby Engram for a 7th round pick to clear cap space, teams would be lining up to make that trade. But in this game, I can't even offer a deal like that because of how things are setup. This game does have its good parts... I enjoy the scouting process and draft day. The free agent bidding is a good idea but, as mentioned before, could be executed a lot better. In the end, this game focuses a lot more on coaching than it does on the GM aspects of running a team. I suppose I should've seen that coming, as the title of the game is HEAD COACH, but for a game that promises total control over an NFL team, Head Coach 09 falls well short of expectations. |
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