NFL Head Coach 09

by Electronic Arts

Product Features

• Create new plays and use them in your playbooks. Create plays in-game to defend against unexpected plays from your opponent.
• Custom plays you save to your playbook are seamlessly imported into Madden NFL 09, and are available to share online.
• Utilize game planning and assistant coach’s input to make the decisions that will define not only the game, but your career.
• You to make key decisions like free agents, trades, and hiring new assistant coaches.
• Every decision you make from who you draft, to how you react on the sideline will impact your approval rating with the media, fans, players, coaches and your team owner.

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0018Z2PXQ
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches ; 3.5 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: September 3, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,362 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #12 in Video Games > Xbox 360 > Sports > Football
  • #53 in Sports & Outdoors > Fan Shop > Video Games & Accessories

Product Description

Platform: Xbox 360

In the NFL, the right coaching decisions combined with focused preparation can turn a last place team into a championship contender. NFL Head Coach 09 gives you the opportunity to make the decisions that can turn your favorite NFL franchise into a perennial champion. Not only can you design and call plays, but NFL Head Coach 09 puts you in the thick of managing players, coaches, and the front office. And of course your team will have to perform on the field if you intend to keep your job. Do you have what it takes to be an NFL Head Coach?

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Addicting, Even with Bugs, December 5, 2008

By 

Arthur L - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: NFL Head Coach 09 (Video Game)

This is the direction in which I always hoped Madden would go, giving the player more control and depth in running an NFL franchise. Scouting, salary cap and player/coach management, a solid draft experience, game planning - this game almost has it all. Unfortunately that also includes bugs. If any other game had as many bugs as this one, it would break it, but no matter how many times the game freezes up in the 4th quarter, I keep coming back.

No matter how much experience you have in football and sim games, there is insufficient official guidance on how to actually play the game, along with a very steep learning curve which may discourage the average gamer or football fan. It took me seven do-overs in my first franchise before I didn't completely mess up. Fortunately for those who like to read, there are hardcore fans of this game and external guides and advice are available. The best site for game information is, in my opinion, Operation Sports. The developers of the game actually read and respond to posts put up by gamers. Great community there - that could be a review in itself.

In general, the game paces itself nicely by having a constant clock/calendar running with only a limited amount of time to make decisions. My favorite part of the game is how much time and effort the developers put into the draft classes. To increase replayability and the connection you feel with the game, the developers have created four separate "draft tracks." You are put into one randomly when you start a new franchise. I believe a franchise lasts ten seasons. Each year's draft class has its own stars whose stories are told by in-game pop-ups from the menu screen by Adam Schefter as if it is coming from NFL Network. They've created stories for each draft's star players, going into where they are from, etc. Some are also based on real players (Johnny English = John Elway - same school, description, etc.). Long-time fans of the NFL definitely appreciate this.

When it's time for the actual draft, there is definitely a sense of urgency, even with 10 real minutes to make your pick. Do you go with the GM recommendation, or do you go over his head and pick someone else? Are you going to get the late round sleeper of this year's draft? Did you do enough scouting in the positions you need? Again, during the draft itself, Adam Schefter will be popping up frequently to let you know if a team's pick was good, a bust, or the "steal of the draft." Even stories behind the sleeper picks and the busts are here to add character to the players and dimension to the overall experience. Every time you make a pick and you hear the "Dadada, dadada" and Adam Schefter pops up, you're on the edge of your seat to find out if you made a good pick.

There are many bugs and issues with this game that can be a real pain, which keep it from a 5-star rating. Not everything was fixed with patches on either the 360 or PS3 version, but the game is at least playable. You need to constantly save in case of random freezing (most of which happens during an actual game). When actually coaching a game, it is hard to find successful plays, and even with an unbelievable RB and OL, I can rush for positive yards only once or twice a game. When simming games, stats are more realistic. Another issue is general menu navigation. Once you are in certain screens, critical information becomes unavailable and you can't cancel out of the screen to go find it. Also, with coach hiring/firing, you have very little idea of who will be available when you decide to fire or retain your coaching and support staff. And if you make the playoffs, all the other teams get first dibs. So if the owner wants you to fire the GM and you agree, you might end up with a complete piece of garbage as a replacement.

You can tell the developers put a lot of heart into this game, and I could gush on for much longer. While far from perfect, it's the best thing us fans of running franchises with real players may ever have on console. If you've ever bought a copy of Madden just to run a franchise and sim all the games (I don't think I played a single actual game of Madden 2005 for PS2), but you want more than what the next-gen console versions EA is giving you, then this game is for you. If I could pick only one game to play over the next several years, this would be it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Addicting, July 1, 2009

By 

Hrafnkell Haraldsson (Indiana) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: NFL Head Coach 09 (Video Game)

I have waited to write this review. Now that I have some dozen seasons with several teams under my belt, I believe I have seen most of what this game has to offer.

First of all, as other reviewers have said, it is a vast improvement over the first, flawed version of the game. Everything that was most aggravating about that game, including running practices and following appointments in your calendar, have been removed. In its place is a clipboard, which rotates to reveal several different menus. Through these you can check almost every aspect of your team at any time.

Speaking of time...though you no longer have an appointment book you do have to manage your time. It is always ticking. When you access some menus, time will stand still for you. At others, for example, when it is game time, it will not. If the game time message comes up on the clip board, you do not have much time. Any final preparations you wish to make, such as adjusting your depth chart or playbook, you should have done before now. If you try to do anything at all, you will miss the game and be rewarded with its results.

At times, there is a rush of events and they all seem to come at once. It is, at times, impossible to look at them all because as you do, the timers on the other items on your clipboard are expiring. This can be frustrating, if, as so often happens, the game is moving slowly. And it is not only outside of games that this happens. During games too you can be overwhelmed with tasks to see to. At times, you will find yourself without time to choose a play and will have to let your coordinator make the call. At times, you will suffer because of it.

That said, the game is a great deal of fun. If a football game is more to you than hand-eye coordination, then play Head Coach '09. You get to run your franchise pretty much how you want it. There are consequences to all your decisions, in game and out, but you can do pretty much what you choose until you lose the owner's approval. Though you are only the head coach, you have GM powers, including even choosing to fire the GM if you wish.

The game is not without flaws. There are some strange graphical things which take place from time to time, including phantom tackles, where a player will suddenly jerk to one side as if struck, and go down. The player who apparently tackled him might already be on the ground and in no position to have laid on the hit. Then there are the times your pass rusher will be on top of the quarterback, only to suddenly turn to the side to block an offensive lineman. I'm thinking this is meant to be an offensive lineman stepping in front of the pass rusher but it doesn't appear this way. It's frustrating, especially if the quarterback then throws a 70-yard touchdown pass. It happens.

Still there are many good things to be said about this game:

* Scouting for the draft is much improved. Before you could narrow the range of their Overall score with repeated scoutings of individual players; now you can see some of their strengths and weaknesses, whether they have strong arms, are tough or durable or well conditioned, etc. This gives you a better idea of what you're going to get.

* You can trade on draft day. Hooray! You can even trade future draft picks, and you can trade players.

* Free Agency is much improved. You bid against other teams now and the management of those teams is much more intelligent. In the old game you could pick up some very good players in free agency, then trade them to other teams for draft picks and make a killing. You can't do that here.

* Screen passes work! Yet, they actually work. Not always, and not always to great effect, but they do work.

* There are now actually punt returns. In the original game, this almost never happened. Now you can even get touch downs on a punt return.

* The salary cap works in a much more realistic manner than in the first game. You could have a superstar lineup and never be strapped for cash. Now you have to make decisions - and cuts - to stay solvent. And watch those penalties, they can get you fired!

* Game Changers. I love these. These are little things that pop up now and again, out of the blue. Some affect your team, some don't. For example, before one play off game I had my kicker, Alexis Serna, take off to Mexico with his "Hollywood girlfriend." It didn't really affect the game and it was not like I could bench him in punishment, but it made me think of Tony and Jessica and gave me a good laugh. Others might cause an injured player to miraculously recover or to improve their learning skills. Other times a player might criticize the team; I even had my coach lose fan support because of apparently criticizing the owner (I swear I didn't do it!).

* Players will decide not to renegotiate with your team and become free agents instead. Usually, these are the materialistic, self-focused players. I make a habit these days of not drafting such players. One year, my Dolphins drafted Josh Johnson (QB), Josh Morgan (WR) and Alexis Serna (K). All are very talented. All are materialistic and self-focused. All three became free agents and left my team. At the time, I had developed Johnson into a premier QB (OVR 91). Needless to say, I had to start from scratch and draft a new QB. Since you don't even get a chance to approach these players yourself but must wait for them to approach you, I recommend not drafting them to begin with. It's not worth it.

* Levels of control. You can be a real NFL coach and get your team ready, then let your coordinators call the players. I typically let my defensive coordinator call defense while I run the offense. But you can do it all or delegate.

* Rate of development. One complaint about the original game was that players developed too fast. That is no longer true. Players develop at different rates and much of this depends upon your coaching staff. Some players, like Matt Ryan, come into the league nearly fully developed (speaking of which - and it's too soon to tell in real life - Matt Ryan isn't that much of a steal. I typically avoid drafting him after my one experience with him as QB and wait for another draft to solve my QB issues. There are some great ones down the road! But back to my point: You won't see every player reach max potential during his first season, sometimes not even his second. Some will, some won't, and it's something you DO have some control over.

* Staff Development: You and your coaches all gain skills. You get to buy them after games when you've accumulated enough points to spend. Not all coaches are equal. I hired one defensive back coach who had a skill that improves the likelihood of interceptions. He did not have the prerequisites for that skill, however. It was a nice touch that this guy had that special ability. Some have more potential than others. Some are good at development and some are not. Sometimes, as a result, you will want to fire a coach the owner wants you to keep. Do it if you feel the need and try to get somebody better in if you can afford the approval hit. And remember, think twice before firing a coach when you've reached the playoffs. By then, all the real talented coaches have found jobs. You'll get the dregs to choose from and probably won't end up helping your team.

Along with the good there is the bad. There are some problems with the game, which I will list below:

* In the old Head Coach game your QB might suddenly turn around the throw the ball backwards, down towards his own end zone, as far as he could. In the new game, your QB might suddenly throw the ball as far up as he can. I had my QB do this twice in a row, on the exact same play. I didn't want to risk him doing it a third time, having been lucky enough not to have it intercepted the previous two times.

* Player ratings seem to sometimes mean nothing. For example, a player who should almost never fumble will fumble several times a game. There was a glitch in the release edition of the game which a patch supposedly later corrected, but I'm not convinced. A player who is 99's on every stat that matters, speed, acceleration, agility, etc, will still repeatedly run head on into the first defensive player he sees and fall down. No attempt to dodge or juke or spin or stiff arm. Down he goes. And he seems to make a beeline for the player. Ozzie Jones, supposedly a reincarnation of Barry Sanders, does this regularly for me. I watched Barry Sanders play. I don't remember him doing that. Other players, who are supposedly almost indestructible, are, contrary to their ratings, injured all the time. It happens too often to simply be a case of bad luck.

* Some kickers cannot kick a field goal even from the 10-yard-line. I've yet to see an NFL kicker who cannot at least kick this far. If he couldn't, he wouldn't be in the NFL.

* You cannot direct your punter to kick for the sidelines to pin the other team against the end zone. You just have to hope he decides to try to do it.

* Quarterbacks do not really scramble. They will either stand there and be sacked, or they will sprint for a first down, but they do not maneuver to find time to throw. In other words, you will not see a quarterback pull a Fran Tarkenton or a Tony Romo and run around in circles looking for a receiver.

* Though the drafting system has been improved, some information is still hidden from you. For example, the knowledge that a player (in this case, Demetrius Grimes - you'll remember him from the original game) has had two ACL surgeries, one on each leg. You can see that durability is a question mark for him but the actual nature of the reason why isn't told you until Adam Shefter fills you in - AFTER... Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What an improvement, October 8, 2008

By 

P. J. Seguin (minnetonka, mn USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: NFL Head Coach 09 (Video Game)

I was one of those unfortunates who bought, and struggled, and struggled with the predecessor. This version is light-years ahead. My only concern is that the game is essentially inscrutible without buying the "Game Guide." The instructions enclosed with the game are horribly inadequate.

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