NFL Head Coach 06: A guide for learning how to play the game

[TheButter]

NFL Head Coach: The game that requires you to learn how to play it, while learning to play it.

This will be a guide on learning how to play the game, rather than learning how to win/succeed in the game.

First lets start with my background on it. I've played NFL Head Coach for a few years, religiously. Multiple careers, schemes, players, coaches, etc. I learned how to edit the game from within while learning about all the factors that come into play while doing so. And finally, I created the r/NFLHeadCoachSeries subreddit that is the largest active HC community there is. Here's a link, join us! https://www.reddit.com/r/NFLHeadCoachSeries/

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

One of the major things about NFL Head Coach is that it's only playable on PC. That means no PS2, XBOX, emulation, etc. Only the legitimate PC version of the game.

The reason for this is that there's no sliders on console. The AI is way way too broken to be played without sliders. NFL HOF QB's (like Peyton Manning) will routinely throw 5INTs against a offensive ROOKIE Head Coach and the road to becoming the greatest coach of all time is easily handed to you within your first 5 seasons.

The OG Madden PC modding community (Football-Freaks.com, now known as Footballidiot.com) created a slider program after HC released in 2006. (And after the game completely flopped due to horrid AI and no sliders)

This program allows you to adjust everything Madden would, with a few bonuses like "sim injuries" and QTR length. (NOTE: It's not recommended to change the QTR length because it exploits the total yards per game. Your defensive staff will be impossible to retain, and your offensive coaches will get their attributes cheesed. I haven't been able to find the values of how many yards each coach expects to earn/allow, if i find them I'll make a separate post on here.)



HERE'S THE SLIDER PROGRAM: HCSettings-20210716T021817Z-001.zip

HERE'S A VIDEO ON INSTALLING THEM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMf34hnIsa8

HERE'S TEXT BASED INSTRUCTIONS: https://www.footballidiot.com/forum/...?f=122&t=22749

HERE'S THE RECOMMENED CONFIGS: https://www.footballidiot.com/forum/...?f=122&t=22677


WHAT DO YOU MEAN I NEED TO HOW LEARN TO PLAY NFL HEAD COACH?

This is a major reason why the HC franchise died, people didn't know how to play the game and when they were losing they thought the game was broken. EA did a terrible job promoting both of them, and left way too many features to be swept under the rug.

NFL Head Coach is not broken. (with the sliders added at least)

The AI isn't great that's for sure, but there's a reason for everything that happens in either of the games. The issue is the game doesn't tell you there's an issue.

FOR EXAMPLE:

You have a noodle arm QB in a "SPREAD" system.

He keeps scrambling despite being only a moderately quick QB. (say 70-77 speed)

You tell him "Stay in the pocket", and then "Wait for the play to develop" for even more emphasis on making him throw instead of scrambling.

He scrambles anyway.

This happened because, even though the QB could be 85+ overall, the scheme plays to his weakness with arm strength. In real life, we say the QB didn't trust his arm to make the throw. Coaching cues will not change a players fundamental play styles.

THE VARIABLES AT PLAY:

Even though NFL Head Coach uses Madden 06's engine, it's heavily modified. Think of a wolf-dog (half Wolf, half German Sheppard) and then a legit Gray Wolf. That's the differences between Madden 06 and Head Coach 06.

The players are tailored to fit Head Coach exclusive play schemes.

HC has multiple offensive and defensive schemes for each coach. The AI differs from each other in each of these schemes, meaning the play styles aren't just Madden AI. Each scheme utilizes certain attributes more so than others, creating a unique AI.

Since a "West Coast" QB's strength would be short accuracy and weakness would be arm strength, he will never ever throw the outside fade route because that doesn't fit his play style. (HC is dated in this btw, a west coast system is like the 80s 49ers, not modern day.)NFL Head Coach 10_19_2021 3_12_30 PM.jpg

It's similar to Madden play types like "Strong Arm QB, Balanced, Scrambler" etc, but NFL Head Coach doesn't tell you that information. It's up to you to scout players "personalities"/play styles. NFL Head Coach 10_19_2021 3_12_26 PM.jpg

A "Vertical" QB's strength would be arm strength and deep accuracy. These QB's are programed to take multiple deep shots per game because their system glorifies their best attributes, and so on and so forth for each position in the game.



HOW TO ACTUALLY PLAY THE FOOTBALL ASPECT OF THE GAME:

The main thing about playing NFL Head Coach is understanding that it's not at all like it's successor NFL Head Coach 09. 06 is a Madden type RPG while 09 is a management simulator.

NFL Head Coach is not meant to be played like management strategies.

While there are some factors that could imply management sim for HC06 (like LBs reading heavily used run plays pre snap), at the end of the day it's Madden.

The playcalling AI isn't nearly as advanced as it would need to be to be played as a game similar to FOF or HC09. Each coach has a philosophy that correlates with their playbook, and with multiple coaches on a staff sharing philosophies of the teams main philosophy it increases the percentage of success for each play. That's about as far as the management strategy AI goes.

75% OF THIS GAME HAPPENS IN PRACTICE.




Practice is deeper than just prepare players and raising attributes. This is where the game is actually played. The OFF vs DEFF practices are where you give your instructions for the upcoming game, NOT DURING GAMEDAY.

You raise your players attributes with the individual drills, and create a cohesive, poetry in motion type of game plan in the team practices.

EVERY PLAY YOU DON'T TEACH THROUGHLY PLAYERS WON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING.

The biggest reason HC06 can't qualify as a management strategy. Coaches start will 10 reps per practice and need to fine tune specific plays each week in practice. If you gave your players thorough cues but the play resulted in an incompletion, you'll need to re teach the player what to do.

Calling a play you having ever ran in practice, or coached up on the previous week is a major risk. I rarely ever do this, but if it's a must I stick to dink and dunk passes to minimize that risk. (Coach 3rd person camera is awesome for practices btw)NFL Head Coach 10_15_2021 6_06_37 PM.png


COACHING YOUR TEAM ON GAMEDAY:

Being a coach is like being a parent. You coach up your kids (players) throughout their childhood (week of practice) and then set them free into adulthood. (gameday)

After the long and tedious week of practice, you're rewarded a gameday. It's a major relief after working so hard all week to get to let your team do their thing on Sundays. You'd think gameday would be the hardest part, but that's practice.

Gameday you sit back, and call the plays you worked on all week with minimal on the fly instructions. The most coaching you'll need to do on gameday is giving cues to position groups for situational football.

Things like telling your QB to "Look to throw deep down the field" during a 2 minute drill, or telling you LBs to "Focus on stopping the run" when the CPU is running out the clock on you. Motivating players on gameday is a another factor buts that's simple. NFL Head Coach 10_20_2021 5_33_32 PM.png


Now that you understand how to play the game that gives invisible instructions, you're better suited to win a championship!

[tarek]

This is an absolutely amazing write up! Thank you Butter!