NFL Head Coach 09

Head Coach fans are a special breed, and for good reason. It takes a certain kind of gamer to want to play a football game without ever setting foot on the field.

Like the first iteration released on Xbox in 2006, Head Coach 09 puts you in charge of an NFL team and all the responsibilities that come with it — scouting, trading, creating depth charts, assembling playbooks, and yes, coaching your team — though you decide how hands-on you get. To date, we can’t think of a coaching sim (especially on an Xbox platform) that offers such an overwhelming number of options, tasks, and tweakery. Accordingly, this game isn’t for everyone; football whisperers will eat it up like a hot plate of Astroturf, but your typical Madden players may get bored fast, so be advised.

Overall, the interface is considerably easier to navigate than the menu-heavy original Head Coach, thanks in large measure to the Clipboard, which organizes your tasks and options handily. In Season Mode, you can spend your February in off-season, buffing and re-jiggering your free agency and draft as if you were playing an RTS, while arming your team with the players and plays (your playbook is totally customizable) you’ll need to win.

If an entire season isn’t for you, you can jump into a game with minimal set-up, either off- or online. Sadly, online doesn’t give you the choice of swapping between one of six camera angles; you’re stuck in super-sim mode the whole game, which frankly is fun but lame to watch. Ultimately, EA’s done a good job with Head Coach 09, making the Madden 09 Collector’s Edition easily worth the price of admission.