[mierk]

I also play coach mode and went to 08. The pass defense is much better, DBs and LBs will actually catch the ball if it hits them in the hands, so you see alot more interceptions. The downside of this is...you see a lot more interceptions. I'm sure you've seen all the posts trying to figure the issue out, but it's probably different for coach moders than for stick jockeys.

I can deal alot better with passes getting picked that should be picked. I get frustrated when my senior QB with good accuracy and awareness ratings is throwing 2-3 picks a game -- horrific, running one way and throwing lobs across his body off his back foot to the other side of the field type stuff. In 2 seasons I had 30-35 picks, and that was with mostly turning to a power running offense to mitigate all the interceptions by pounding the rock 35 times a game.

On your question with the pursuit angles, they are pretty crappy at times, you'll see guys who are dead ahead of you wheel around and run towards the spot you just vacated sometimes, but I haven't done any checking to see how much of that is related to the players awareness rating, and it's not an every single time deal so it hasn't been a gamekiller for me.

The recruiting has a couple of new tweaks but it's pretty much the same system -- you can make promises to players who ask for something special, like playing time or a particular position or even a particular jersey number, and pick activities for him to do on inseason recruiting. These all seem to be mostly window dressing though, as the system is largely unchanged from previous years.

Overall, I'm enjoying the game, I think the biggest change overall is that it seems to be weighted more towards the defense than in previous years which will definitely make you adjust your playing style. If you're good at strategy and not relying on tricking the computer with money plays and exploits though, you can still be successful, which I think is all any of us are wanting
from the game.