**NFL Head Coach 09 Developer Q&A Thread**

[Josh_Looman]

Quote: Originally Posted by stormfront

Sweet...it's like Moneyball for football. Seriously, that sounds excellent, as do all the other features you've included in this title. Last year I swore off purchasing anything new from EA Sports due to the huge disappointments in both NCAA and Madden. But after reading through all of these threads, I went down to Gamestop yesterday and plunked down my deposit on the Madden/Head Coach combo --- solely to get Head Coach early. I'm that excited after hearing you guys talk about this game. This is an extremely minor aspect of the game (and very unimportant --- I'm far more concerned with the actual gameplay mechanics), but I was wondering if we'd be able to use alternate jerseys with the teams that have them? I'd love to coach the Broncos and have them sporting the baby blue helmets again. Thanks for taking the time to answer questions.

yes. We had to put it in late but we added the ability to choose your uniform before any game. This was due in part to my frustration during MLB 08 franchise games of not being able to choose my jersey. Sometimes my team wears alternates, sometimes they don't.

[Mauler97]

Quote: Originally Posted by Josh_Looman

Actually, that's one of the things we haven't talked about at all but we added some new stats we are tracking this year. On defense, we track hurries, blocks defeated, missed tackles, big hits, thrown at, catches allowed, rec. yards allowed, rec. tds allowed and yards per catch allowed. On offense we added a ton, including wins (for Qbs), touches, attempts and avg per run type and missed assignments (how many mistakes they make per game).

I wish more people would come to this board and see this, you guys are a dream come true to me as a gamer. You've added more to football for EA in 1 year than Madden has in several years.
I love having QB hurries, they are a great way to judge pass rushers, and missed assignments.. Wow
On a side note I don't want to "play" this game, I want to coach.

[stormfront]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mauler97

I wih more people would come to this board and see this, you guys are a dream come true to me as a gamer. You've added more to football for EA in 1 year than Madden has in several years. I love having QB hurries, they are a great way to judge pass rushers, and missed assignments.. Wow On a side note I don't want to "play" this games, I want to coach.

I'm with you on that...and I think more and more people will start to realize how fun coaching the games is once they have a GOOD coaching sim to play with.

See, I didn't start off playing Madden and NCAA like so many of the folks that you see on OS. My first-ever sports gaming experience was a game called NFL Challenge. It was just a simple, X's and O's coaching sim for DOS-based PC's, but it was an incredible amount of fun. I've been looking for 20 years for something that approached that level of coaching realism for football.

[Josh_Looman]

Quote: Originally Posted by stormfront

I'm with you on that...and I think more and more people will start to realize how fun coaching the games is once they have a GOOD coaching sim to play with. See, I didn't start off playing Madden and NCAA like so many of the folks that you see on OS. My first-ever sports gaming experience was a game called NFL Challenge. It was just a simple, X's and O's coaching sim for DOS-based PC's, but it was an incredible amount of fun. I've been looking for 20 years for something that approached that level of coaching realism for football.

It's funny. We all had reservations at the start of this game whether a game where you didn't control the players could actually be 'fun'.

Now, we find ourselves sitting and playing the games screaming at the top of our lungs when a big play happens. I had a game the other day where I was the Panthers and I hadn't been able to move the ball for the entire first quarter. At the start of the 2nd quarter, they blitzed their corner and I picked a pass play where Steve Smith ran a streak as the primary receiver. Next thing you know...boom! 85 yard touchdown!

The thing Donny and I keep saying is that we that we find ourselves cheering during big plays more than I ever have playing other football games before. It's sort of like watching a real NFL game...you don't control the players so you feel more like a fan....and evenly matched games are exciting. They always seem to come down to the last 2 minutes of the 4th quarter.

[Mauler97]

Quote: Originally Posted by Josh_Looman

It's funny. We all had reservations at the start of this game whether a game where you didn't control the players could actually be 'fun'. Now, we find ourselves sitting and playing the games screaming at the top of our lungs when a big play happens. I had a game the other day where I was the Panthers and I hadn't been able to move the ball for the entire first quarter. At the start of the 2nd quarter, they blitzed their corner and I picked a pass play where Steve Smith ran a streak as the primary receiver. Next thing you know...boom! 85 yard touchdown! The thing Donny and I keep saying is that we that we find ourselves cheering during big plays more than I ever have playing other football games before. It's sort of like watching a real NFL game...you don't control the players so you feel more like a fan....and evenly matched games are exciting. They always seem to come down to the last 2 minutes of the 4th quarter.

This is EXACTLY what I am looking forward to, Realism!, if this game makes me "feel" like I'm managing real players and a real team I will be in video game heaven.

[bigmoe]

Quote: Originally Posted by Josh_Looman

It's sort of like watching a real NFL game...you don't control the players so you feel more like a fan....and evenly matched games are exciting. They always seem to come down to the last 2 minutes of the 4th quarter.

You know what, I didn't intend to get this game ,but now I cant wait for it!

[ryancorey]

Quote: Originally Posted by Josh_Looman

Guys, thought I'd come on here and answer any questions you have about NFL Head Coach '09. Please post your questions and I'll try to answer them the best that I can.

Saw some vids...why on Earth is the Camera BEHIND the QB?

[ahunter5]

Quote: Originally Posted by ryancorey

Saw some vids...why on Earth is the Camera BEHIND the QB?

There are different camera angles. You can pick whichever suits you.

[bkrich83]

Quote: Originally Posted by Josh_Looman

It's funny. We all had reservations at the start of this game whether a game where you didn't control the players could actually be 'fun'. Now, we find ourselves sitting and playing the games screaming at the top of our lungs when a big play happens. I had a game the other day where I was the Panthers and I hadn't been able to move the ball for the entire first quarter. At the start of the 2nd quarter, they blitzed their corner and I picked a pass play where Steve Smith ran a streak as the primary receiver. Next thing you know...boom! 85 yard touchdown! The thing Donny and I keep saying is that we that we find ourselves cheering during big plays more than I ever have playing other football games before. It's sort of like watching a real NFL game...you don't control the players so you feel more like a fan....and evenly matched games are exciting. They always seem to come down to the last 2 minutes of the 4th quarter.

This is the game I have been waiting years for.

[ahunter5]

Quote: Originally Posted by bkrich83

This is the game I have been waiting years for.

I'm right there with you, SoCal...