Just over two weeks ago, everyone in the New York Knicks organization was smiling as Mike D’Antoni was introduced as the team’s new head coach -- the same can't be said for the media. The Knicks feel that D’Antoni could play an important role in reestablishing a once proud franchise; they have enough faith in him to pay him $24 million over four years.

Coaches are a critical part of a franchise. They are praised when their tactics work; they are slammed by media and fans alike when their tactics result in a loss. Their leadership abilities, personnel decisions, strategies and tactics go a long way in determining how much success a team will achieve. But in sports videogames, coaches are unimportant “extras” that may or may not look like their real-life counterparts. If game developers are aiming to represent their real-life sport's counterparts, shouldn’t coaches be more prominent? EA decided to give football coaches their own game (NFL Head Coach 09), but what can be done for the regular sports games?

There are several things that developers need to do in order to better capture the importance and influence of coaches. First of all, coaches should resemble their real-life counterparts in appearance, skills and tendencies. In NBA 2K8, there is a stark contrast between the appearance of players -- with photo-realistic faces, tattoos, and body types -- and coaches, who, aside from skin tone and hair color, don’t look realistic at all. In NCAA Football, coaches don’t have ratings other than “prestige” and “experience,” which only come into play while recruiting. Why should Pete Carroll and Houston Nutt have the same game-management abilities? In-game attributes such as clock management (I’m looking at you, Herm Edwards), player morale, player confidence, aggressiveness, and playcalling are just some of the things that can set the good coaches apart from the rest. Coaches could also have personalities (laid-back, disciplinarian, controlling, etc.) that can either mesh or clash with the players on their team.

The next challenge for developers will be to find a balance between user control and realistic performance. For example, if I am controlling the Chiefs in Madden, how does Herm’s clock management ineptitude affect me if I am the one calling the timeouts? This is where tradeoffs can come into play. Here’s an idea: perhaps if I control the Herm-led Chiefs, I lose the ability to call timeouts when I see fit; but is the big boost he gives my defense’s ratings worth that cost? Adding these kinds of “abilities” to coaches would make them more important and would add realism to the game. If the user wants to avoid the influence of pre-existing coaches, there should be an option to create a coach and start from scratch (think College Hoops’ open legacy).

A growing trend in sports videogames is the “be-the-player” type modes, such as Madden’s “Superstar,” NCAA Football’s “Campus Legend,” and MLB The Show’s “Road to the Show.” Another mode that is popular with some is coach mode or “manage-only” mode. Developers should explore the possibility of combining these two ideas into a “be-the-coach” mode. This mode could be a nice change of pace for those gamers who are more strategists than stick jockeys. Imagine the ability to create your coach using a rich, detailed editor, having the power to decide the appearance, skills, and coaching style. This mode could allow you to coach the game through a first-person perspective, giving you the opportunity to fill out lineup cards, give pre-game and halftime speeches, work the referees or argue calls with umpires, organize practices, and meet with general managers to discuss personnel issues. Something like this could be a dream come true for those who already like to do "manage-only" modes. This mode could exist within a pre-existing game instead of making it a full-blown title like NFL Head Coach 09.

It may take several attempts to find the right balance of attributes and functions, but sports game developers should focus on capturing the importance of coaches in professional and college sports. The Knicks’ front office understands it, and hopefully, so too will gamers.