The depth chart settings let you determine who will be on the field in normal situations, and where they line up. This is probably the first thing you should do as a coach -- determine your starters and your reserves.

To set your depth charts, click on the button for the appropriate position and put players in order from starters to reserves to players you never want to see used (i.e. college redshirts). Keep in mind the variety of formations you plan to use; if you will alternate between 2-WR and 3-WR sets, your #3 WR will serve as both the backup in the 2-WR set and the third starter in the 3-WR set.

In addition to setting the player order, you will have some backups that deserve more playing time than others. This can be specified with the bench usage settings. "Least" means the reserve will see little action, while "most" should have him on the field as much as the starter.

Finally, you can choose what side of the field your players are on. This can have a variety of uses -- too many to describe in this brief help file. For most positions, your choices are no preference, top man strong/weak, and rested man strong/weak. Selecting "top man" means the #1 player on the depth chart or his replacement. Selecting "rested man" means the player most effective at that time. Normally this means the #1 player, or the #2 player if #1 is sitting out. A few notes:

• For FBs, the options are blocker and runner instead of strong and weak; this is because the only 2-FB set is the power I, in which a blocking back lines up to the strong side of the normal fullback.
• For CBs, options are "on key WR" and "opposite key WR". This allows you to put your better coverage on the better receiver, regardless of if he is lined up strong or weak. Thus, you will nearly always want "top man on key WR" or "rested man on key WR". The exception is double-1 defense, where the sides are flipped, which normally assigns your better corner on the opponent's weaker receiver while the key receiver is doubled. Note that if the specified receiver is in the slot or not on the field, your CB lineup will be selected at random.
• The weakside tackle guards the QB's blind side; it is recommended to put your better player on that side.

In addition to the options described above, there are specific assignments you can give your players. The first are "situational specialists" -- players you want to make starters in certain situations. An example is a pass-catching tailback, who might be your long-yardage specialist. A specialist will be moved up the depth chart when the situation comes into play, but only up enough to be a starter. (In other words, if you have a 3-WR formation and one long-yardage specialist WR, he will be moved up to #3 on the depth chart for that play.) Place kickers can be given short and long specialist settings as well. A "short" specialist kicks field goals (more than one can be defined and the sim will pick the best for the distance); a "long" specialist handles kickoff duties. Note that all specialist settings are ignored during game scrimmages.

You also must choose one punt returner and two kickoff returners. The primary kickoff returner will get the ball more often than the secondary one, but the ratio depends on the kicker's accuracy.

In college, you are allowed to designate players as redshirts. A redshirted player will not play in a regular game (he can play in scrimmages or exhibitions), but will gain an extra year of elibility. A player cannot redshirt if he is a junior or senior or has already redshirted a previous year.

In the pro game, you can assign a captain and an assitant captain. These settings are primarily for show in football.

The coaching option screen lets you set general preferences for your team. They are broken into three categories: offense/defense, special teams, and training.

Offense options are aggression, kneel on ball, attempt fourth-down conversions, attempt two-point conversions, and spike the ball (clock management). The lone defense option is aggression. Two more general options are when to bring in the reserves in a blowout win or loss.

Most of these are self-explanatory, and settings can be anywhere from least or never to most. Note that aggression is a tradeoff between increased effectiveness and increased tendency to commit penalties. A blowout is defined as a lead of 21 points + X points per minute, where X ranges from 1 to 2.5 depending on your blowout settings. Also note that setting "kneel on ball" to most will allow your team to kneel when there is a lead of over eight points, punt the ball away, and then (assuming no onside kick) be able to kneel the ball on an ensuing possession.

Special teams options are low-odds field goals, onside kicks, fake punts/field goals/PATs, and run on fake. Again, most of these are self-explanatory; they merely affect the likelihood that you will attempt any of these actions. The field goal setting determines the threshold where you will attempt a field goal; in general "least" means you will only attempt field goals is the odds are 85% or better, while "most" means 30% or better.

A final option in the situation settings is game training. Game training gives your players temporary ability boosts (for the game only); you can divide up to ten training points between pass and run offense and defense, conditioning, and films. Points are counted separately for offense and defense. Be adivsed that the more points used, the more fatigued your players start the game.

The offense play control screen allows you to set situation-specific coaching orders and the playbooks to be used in each situation. Options you can choose are as follows: