Sweet 16: Coaching Carousel vs. Better Stadium Sound & Atmosphere

After voting, share your thoughts behind your vote and on each feature in this thread.
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Coaching Carousel

In the last fifteen years, all but one program (Penn State) has had to look for a new head coach to try and lead their program to the top of the college football world. Accordingly, some in the NCAA Football community have asked for a coaching carousel similar to that found in 2K Sports’ now-defunct College Hoops franchise. Each coach would have different ratings (OFF, DEF, ST) that would increase (or retard) progress on that side of the ball and also catch the ire of recruits at certain positions. Over time, these coaches would leave for jobs at other schools, get fired, or retire. The pool would constantly be replenished by assistant coaches who would have the same attribute ratings affecting players & teams. (This category does NOT include coaches being visible on the sideline as that would be a separate programming & design issue and is a different item in the tournament.) (Round 1 Discussion - Round 2 Discussion)


Better Stadium Sound & Atmosphere

With over 120,000 characters moving on-screen in some stadiums (among the most of any next-gen sports game), 3D and improved crowd visuals are unlikely. However, the current crowd could definitely use improvements in range of animation and audio. This would include improved crowd animation and items such as, but not limited to: recognition of touchdown scores (raising hands), doing the wave, fans in end zone waving arms when foe attempts FG, or school-specific movements at more schools (IE: Waving Song at Oklahoma State, Wave the Wheat at Kansas, etc.). This addition would also include smarter crowd audio, such as getting louder on breakaway plays & deep pass attempts (ball mid-flight), booing on some penalty calls against home team, being significantly louder overall to create a home-field advantage (particularly at bigger stadiums), and more audible crowd chants. Another possible addition under this category would be bands & student sections placed in the stands in the proper location. (Round 1 Discussion - Round 2 Discussion)

Carousel.

It looks like we are headed for a Defensive Playbooks v. Carousel showdown in the Semis with the winner taking home the title.

Yep, coach carousel.

Dang it, my favorite item is going to lose, but OVERALL SOUND AND ATMOSPHERE MUST be upgraded. So I gave it a vote.

However I would LOVE a carousel as much as anyone else.

Been wanting a carousel ride for a while now....and also to have it in the game.

Carousel. I mentioned it in a 2006 interview I had with EA, and I'll keep talking about it until we have it. The coaching carousel is such a major topic of the offseason (and, depending on the school, several of the final months of the season), that it absolutely should be part of the game. Coaches moving from one school to the next have such a drastic effect on programs in real life that it needs to be replicated in the game.

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Originally Posted by CLW

Carousel.

It looks like we are headed for a Defensive Playbooks v. Carousel showdown in the Semis with the winner taking home the title.

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I always figured it would be Carousel vs. Custom Playbooks but custom playbooks is actually in a dogfight right now.

My thing is, if we have a coaching carousel, then wouldn't it be necessary to have real coaches in the game? It's no point in having a Carousel if all we see is Air Force Coach now with UConn or something to that nature.

I think we are assuming they would either get the coaches license or allow us to name/edit the generic coach names.

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Originally Posted by Kingpin32

It's no point in having a Carousel if all we see is Air Force Coach now with UConn or something to that nature.

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Agree to disagree. If the coaches actually had something that differentiated them (i.e. attributes, play style, etc), then it's no different from having rosters with fake names versus named rosters. It's still fun using the fake names. It may not be AS fun, but it's still fun.

Whether Ohio State is coached by J. Tressel or M. Mitchell, if Ohio State's coach changes schools, that would be of interest to me.

Yeah, I don't really care if the real coaches are in or not. As long as they come and go and officially retire (don't want Joe Pa coaching 30 years into a dynasty) with generic names or former players who don't make it into the Madden draft class becoming assistants.

coaching carousel would be great, but i think it needs something else in order to make it known to us that this coach or that coach was fired. this could be viewed in a weekly highlight show or even as one of the old sports illustrated covers they used to have. just having coaching carousel by itself isnt enough, imo.

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Originally Posted by souljahbill

Yeah, I don't really care if the real coaches are in or not. As long as they come and go and officially retire (don't want Joe Pa coaching 30 years into a dynasty) with generic names or former players who don't make it into the Madden draft class becoming assistants.

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Yeah, my enjoyment level of the feature would not be impacted if I see the name Sal Turry rather than Steve Spurrier. Just sayin...

Better Stadium Sound & Atmosphere is definitely needed, but a Coaching Carousel is near the top, if not number one on my list. Coaches need their due in the franchise sooner or later and could also be a very immersive feature with coaches (and playstyles) changing (or maintaining) each program as coaches come and go.

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Originally Posted by cdj

Better Stadium Sound & Atmosphere is definitely needed, but a Coaching Carousel is near the top, if not number one on my list. Coaches need their due in the franchise sooner or later and could also be a very immersive feature with coaches (and playstyles) changing (or maintaining) each program as coaches come and go.

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I couldn't agree more.