• Madden NFL 18 - New Mechanic: Coaching Adjustments

    Coaching Adjustments, a popular feature from the NCAA Football franchise, will be coming to Madden NFL 18. The feature will be very similar, but with some additions and updates since we saw it last.

    One of the bigger additions is another highly requested community request, Cornerback Matchups. Users now have the ability to select from one of five ways for their CBs to be assigned to WRs: By Overall, By Speed, By Height, By Route Running, or By Depth Chart.

    In addition, the CPU will also utilize the Coaching Adjustments feature in specific situations.

    Continue on to read the blog from EA SPORTS on the new Coaching Adjustments feature.


    Coaching Adjustments was a popular feature in our NCAA Football series. It now makes a debut in Madden NFL 18.

    For those of you who’ve played NCAA Football, you'll recognize elements of this feature and will have a general idea of how it works. But, there are some key additions and updates we've made specifically for Madden.

    The Coaching Adjustments option is located on the front page of the play call screen. This is for both offense and defense. Once the user selects the Coaching Adjustment option, they'll be taken to the next page, which contains the list of Coaching Adjustments available for the side of the ball they’re playing.

    By default, each adjustment is set to Balanced. This means standard gameplay conditions apply based on the mode the user is in. Here's the complete list of Coaching Adjustments, as well as the descriptions on what they do.

    Defensive Adjustments

    • Auto Flip Defense
      • On - The CPU will flip your defensive play to best match the offensive formation
      • Off - Disables auto flip defensive play call

    • Ball In Air Defense
      • Play Ball -- AI will play the ball in two-man catch situations
        • Pro: Increased chance of an interception
        • Con: Increased chance of WR catching ball and increased chance of a broken tackle

      • Play Receiver – AI will play the receiver in two-man catch situations
        • Pro: Decreased chance of a broken tackle
        • Con: No chance of an interception

      • Swat Ball –AI will attempt a swat in two-man catch situations
        • Pro: Increased chance of knocking out ball
        • Con: No chance of an interception

    • Option
      • Conservative
        • Pro: Focused on QB on the option
        • Con: Dive and Pitch left open on the option

      • Aggressive
        • Pro: Focused on the Dive and Pitch on the option
        • Con: QB left open on the option

    • Pass Rush
      • Conservative
        • Pro: Outside rushers play QB Contain and AI defensive line will look to swat passes
        • Con: No Jump Snap bonus and more time in pocket for QB

      • Aggressive
        • Pro: AI pass rushers will attempt to jump the snap
        • Con: Higher chance of off sides penalty versus hard count
        • New Addition: Pass Rushers also see an increase in fatigue

    • Strip Ball
      • Conservative
        • Pro: Lowers break tackle chances
        • Con: AI will not attempt to strip

      • Aggressive
        • Pro: Higher chance for AI to attempt a strip for a higher fumble chance
        • Con: Higher chance of a broken tackle and face mask penalty

    • Tackling
      • Conservative
        • Pro: AI defenders tackle conservatively
        • Con: Increases chances of allowing yards after contact

      • Aggressive:
        • Pro: AI defenders attempt Hit Stick tackles for higher fumble chance
        • Con: Higher chances of missed tackles


    Offensive Adjustments

    • Ball Carrier
      • Conservative
        • Pro: Ball carrier protects the ball, decreased fumble chances
        • Con: Decreased ability to break tackles

      • Aggressive
        • Pro: Higher chance of triggering auto break tackles
        • Con: Increased fumble chances

    • Blocking
      • Conservative:
        • Pro: Decreased chances of holding penalty
        • Con: Hold blocks less for run and pass

      • Aggressive:
        • Hold blocks longer for run and pass
        • Increased chances of holding penalty

    • Deep Pass Catching
      • Conservative:
        • Pro: Receivers will attempt a RAC catch, increases run after catch chances
        • Con: Increased interception chance

      • Aggressive:
        • Pro: Receivers will attempt an Aggressive catch
        • Con: Decreases run after catch chance

    • Intermediate Pass Catching
      • Conservative:
        • Pro: Receivers will attempt a Possession catch
        • Con: Decreased run after catch chance

      • Aggressive:
        • Pro: Receivers will attempt a RAC or Aggressive catch
        • Con: Increased chances of ball being knocked out


    Cornerback Matchups

    Cornerback Matchups is a Coaching Adjustment that allows the player to set what criteria they want to use to determine which wide receivers their CBs matchup against. Cornerback Matchups work for both man and zone defenses. To maximize the effectiveness of this feature, users ideally want to make sure the number of CBs on the field is equal to or greater than the number of WRs.

    If, for example, the offense has more receivers on the field than cornerbacks, the CBs will still follow the matchup criteria set by the user. But only the CBs who are projected to matchup against a WR will swap positions with one another.

    The options the user has available are:

    • By Overall – Highest-rated cornerback will matchup vs. highest rated receiver
    • By Speed – Fastest cornerback will matchup vs. fastest receiver
    • By Height – Tallest cornerback will matchup vs. tallest receiver
    • By Route Running – Highest-rated man coverage cornerback will matchup vs. highest rated route run receiver
    • By Depth Chart – Matchup based on cornerback's depth chart position vs. receivers overall rating


    By Depth Chart gives the user the ability to set specific cornerbacks to a specific receiver. For example, if a user wants their highest-rated cornerback to matchup vs. the second highest overall-rated receiver, they can simply go to the team depth chart and place their highest rated cornerback into the CB2 slot.

    AI Usage and Game Styles

    Coaching Adjustments are available with all Game Styles and all play modes except for Practice. Therefore, when a Coaching Adjustment is set, the assumption is that the user is willing to accept the inherent risks and rewards of that Coaching Adjustment. Penalties and other various outcomes can occur as a result of a Coaching Adjustment in any game mode.

    An added element is that the AI in the Simulation game style will use Coaching Adjustments. When the AI uses a Coaching Adjustment, and if that adjustment had an impact on the play result, a drop-down banner will appear under the in-game scoreboard HUD displaying the adjustment that triggered.

    The Coaching Adjustments that the AI will use are:

    • Ball Carrier Conservative
      • When ahead, late in the game, and running the ball in an effort to keep the clock running

    • Cornerback Matchups
      • By Overall rating, when it has a cornerback on its team with at least a 90 OVR, and the offense has a receiver with at least a 90 OVR

    • Pass Rush Aggressive
      • In certain passing situations.

    • Strip Ball Aggressive
      • When trailing late in a close game, when the offense is trying to keep the clock running

    • Strip Ball Conservative
      • During late-game, two-minute situations, when ahead

    • Tackling Aggressive
      • In some short yardage situations, also late in games when trailing in a close game

    • Tackling Conservative
      • During late-game, two-minute situations, when ahead
    This article was originally published in forum thread: Madden NFL 18 - New Mechanic: Coaching Adjustments started by cdj View original post
    Comments 6 Comments
    1. souljahbill's Avatar
      souljahbill -
      All of that sounds good.


      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      I like the CB stuff.
    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 -
      A great feature from NCAA football. Didn't NCAA originally have this back in NCAA Football 10?
    1. cdj's Avatar
      cdj -
      Quote Originally Posted by jaymo76 View Post
      A great feature from NCAA football. Didn't NCAA originally have this back in NCAA Football 10?
      I was trying to determine what year it was added to NCAA Football and struggled to find out for sure. Initially, I thought it was 12, but maybe not. NCAA 10 focused on Season Showdown and I didn't think Coaching Adjustments were the same year, but maybe they were.
    1. skipwondah33's Avatar
      skipwondah33 -
      Hopefully there is an actual downside to setting blocking to Aggressive. There wasn't really in NCAA...despite the penalty sliders being tweaked.

      I haven't seen a holding penalty in a ranked or unranked Madden game in the past 7+ years.
    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 -
      Quote Originally Posted by skipwondah33 View Post
      Hopefully there is an actual downside to setting blocking to Aggressive. There wasn't really in NCAA...despite the penalty sliders being tweaked.

      I haven't seen a holding penalty in a ranked or unranked Madden game in the past 7+ years.
      Yeah the NCAA logic was somewhat flawed at times... often if you would set tackle to aggressive, you would get a facemask penalty.