The list of great coaches in professional sports is a short one when compared to the number of men and women that have led teams in the past century. Each of these coaches, whether good or bad, started off somewhere. Either as players in professional sports working their way to the coaching ranks or coaching their small alma-mater into the media's attention and jumping ship for more prestige and a bigger paycheck. Every coach has a past.

One name you'd probably never hear when watching your favorite sports network is legendary coach, John Matthews. Matthews is known for both his adaptability and coaching excellence. He has head coached at Navy's Basketball Program, managed San Francisco Giants' Affiliate San Jose, and led a struggling Professional Switzerland Hockey team. Each team benefitted from his attention to detail and incredible gift for handling several professional egos. All three organizations are better today and each time Matthews used his success to lead better recognizable franchises.

The above is an example of how titles like NCAA College Hoops 2k, Out of the Park Baseball, and Eastside Hockey have given me the opportunity to live the life of a coach. Sure it would be easier to start off as the Kansas Jayhawks, New York Yankees, or Detroit Red Wings but then I'd expect perfection and wouldn't gain the pleasure of watching my unstable team achieve greatness. There is a sense of pride and accomplishment in picking up that 3-star recruit that forever changes your program, watching that young highschool draft pick play 2B for your team, or signing an aging veteran right winger to bring fans to the arena.

Ultimately, however, we're all in it for one reason. We all want to someday lead that storied franchise that didn't want anything to do with us when we started our coaching careers. For those of us that scoff at the idea of loyalty we're hoping to build our resume. We aspire to climb the ranks and be responsible for the success of a stronger, more financially stable, recognizable organization. We want to succeed and success is measured in two ways. 1. How many championships we can win. 2. How many great programs and franchises have offered us lucrative deals.

I have to admit that I'm slightly disappointed that the new NFL Head Coach won't let us start off as a Running Backs Coach. It would be a nice challenge to not be able to call all the shots but still have a responsibility to the success of the team. Most of our work could be coded into drills. Perhaps, as a Running Backs Coach we could work with the Offensive Coordinator helping him draw up plays that work for our players. Sometimes he'll like our ideas. Most of the time he'll reject them. But succeed enough times with the plays you drew up and maybe the Head Coach starts to like you and if he doesn't like his Offensive Coordinator anymore he'll consider promoting you.

Maybe most gamers wouldn't like the idea but there are a small number of Manager-Only-Mode gamers out there that would love the chance to start off small. We see it happen a lot in CHoops and the trend is growing with the rise in text-simulation gaming.

So maybe you still have not heard of John Matthews but I will not let that stop him from continuing his legacy. Matthews fully expects to take on full-reigns of a struggling football franchise in August and another minor league organization in OOTP 9's release in June. Until then, he'll just stare at his lifetime achievement awards hanging in his virtual trophy case.