Team Philosophy: Coach Hiring

[BMFer]

I'm new to the game. Got a ton of questions, but I'll stick to just a few for starters...

When adjusting the philosophy for coach hiring, am I adjusting how much control I let other people have, or how much control my owner gives up? For example, when I set it to 'Give out no control', does that mean my coach has total control over coaching decisions, or that my owner has total control over coaching decisions?

Also, any way to adjust the staff in the first season? I'm a Bears fan, but the staff is awful, except for Lovie, who gets canned anyway when I create a coach. Or do all staff decisions wait until the playoffs in the first year?

Any adivice on the original playbook selection? I like balanced offenses, but they all seem weak in the selection screen. The only strong books seem to be pass happy. Should I stick with the default for player knowledge, or just go with the best book available?

Thanks!

[eaglescrzy]

first off, do some coach now games to get a hang of coaching

then i would run a few "test" offseasons to get used to drafting, FAs, etc. and when in the draft, DO NOT use the sim feature to go to your next pick, the GM will usually make bad trades then.

for your real career, are you starting off in the preseason or offseason?

i think the coach hire thing is that when you get new coaches and sim the event, your GM will not hire a OC who wants more control(such as calling plays, cutting certain players, switching playbooks). if you put some control, and you sim the event, the coaches you hire will take some power from you. you hire coaches based on the amount of control they have, not money. again im not sure if thats what it is, but thats what i think it is

i created a custom playbook based of mike shannahan's zone block playbook, and had it around 60-40 for run. you can add and take away plays to make it more balanced. default is definetly easier to start off with, as the players will already know most of it and you can get rookies some play time, but if you dont like the playbook and switch it, youll have to play your starters for at least a little in the preseason to build up their play knowlege. and if the bears default is weak, you can still make it "stronger" by creating new plays, downloading them, stealing them from other teams(happens at 2 min warning in 4th quarter) and deleting the ones you dont use so your players wont have to learn too much

[BMFer]

Quote: Originally Posted by eaglescrzy

for your real career, are you starting off in the preseason or offseason?

Thanks.
I plan on starting in the preseason, b/c I like to start with realistic and current rosters. Unless starting in the offseason would let me get rid of the Bears OC and DC.

I'll stick with the default playbook, and then add my own plays. Sounds like the best decision for me.

[eaglescrzy]

you can only get new coaches after the season, so it doesnt matter where you start for that. but if you start in the preseason, the player ratings will be more up to date and realistic.

[BMFer]

Got another quick one...

I've played a few 'Coach Now' games.
I have tried several screen passes and seen the CPU try a few as well. Every single one resulted in the QB standing around with a wide open RB and getting sacked?
Is this what everyone else is experiencing? Are screens worthless in this game? Or will it clear up once players learn the plays?

(I have the patch, PS3)

[Coredor]

Quote: Originally Posted by BMFer

Got another quick one... I've played a few 'Coach Now' games. I have tried several screen passes and seen the CPU try a few as well. Every single one resulted in the QB standing around with a wide open RB and getting sacked? Is this what everyone else is experiencing? Are screens worthless in this game? Or will it clear up once players learn the plays? (I have the patch, PS3)

What is your play knowledge? I used to have htat problem but now I run screens pretty well. Have you downloaded the patch from xbox live? It helps a lot.

[eaglescrzy]

what team? the eagles run screens perfectly 99% of the time for me

[Joab101]

Quote:

I've played a few 'Coach Now' games. I have tried several screen passes and seen the CPU try a few as well. Every single one resulted in the QB standing around with a wide open RB and getting sacked? Is this what everyone else is experiencing? Are screens worthless in this game? Or will it clear up once players learn the plays?

Same here.
Had one 50 yarder, the rest.... awful
Defense once called a delay safety-blitz, the field was wide open, O-line sets up the screen, RB in place and the QB just waits to get sacked

Knowledge at 50 at the mo.