Head coach

A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports such as association football, the head coach is usually called the manager, while in other sports such as Australian rules football they are generally termed a senior coach.

Other coaches are usually subordinate to the head coach, often in offensive positions or defensive positions, and occasionally proceeding down into individualized position coaches.

American football

Head coaches in American football have different responsibilities depending on what level of the sport they are coaching.

High school football

The head coach has a much more complete hold on the intricacies of the team. He may have to perform the duties of a defensive or offensive coordinator.

Often, high school head coaches have to do more work off the field than on. It is important that head coaches in high school hire a competent and proactive coaching staff because when the head coach is pulled away from practice then he must be confident that his team is in good hands with his other coaches and staff. One of the most difficult issues, off the field, that head coaches must deal with is the parent although many coaches do not allow parental interactions in many casess. He must be able to handle any issues that parents may have with the way that the head coach is running the program, all along while staying professional and not being demeaning. Furthermore, a high school's head football coach often serves as his school's Athletic Coordinator or Director, which adds even further responsibilities to his job. In some jurisdictions, a high school head coach must also have a paying job within the school, almost always as a teacher.

Manager (baseball)

In baseball, the field manager (commonly referred to as the manager) is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized. A manager is essentially equivalent to the head coach in other North American professional sports leagues.

Duties

The manager chooses the batting order and starting pitcher before each game, and makes substitutions throughout the game – among the most significant being those decisions regarding when to bring in a relief pitcher. How much control a manager takes in a game's strategy varies from manager to manager and from game to game. Some managers control pitch selection, defensive positioning, decisions to bunt, steal, pitch out, etc., while others designate an assistant coach or a player (often the catcher) to make some or all of these decisions.

Some managers choose to act as their team's first base or third base coach while their team is batting in order to more closely communicate with baserunners, but most managers delegate this responsibility to an assistant. Managers are typically assisted by two or more coaches.

NFL Head Coach 09

NFL Head Coach 09 is the follow-up to NFL Head Coach for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game was released on August 12, 2008. The game is available in the 20th Anniversary Special Edition of Madden NFL 09, and was released as a standalone game on September 2, 2008.

Tony Dungy from Indianapolis Colts replaces Bill Cowher as the cover head coach while Adam Schefter and Todd McShay provide commentary on upcoming draft picks and Adam Schefter provides the only commentary after and before the off-season and during the season including pre-season. Todd McShay only commentates during the Mock Draft and the NFL Draft.

Bundle with Madden NFL 09

Electronic Arts announced in a press release that NFL Head Coach 09 would be available in the Madden NFL 09 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition, claiming, "If we shipped Head Coach alone, it would be a full-priced SKU. But if we pack it in, we can reduce the price and make it a bonus to our fans... On the first Head Coach, we think it was a great concept, and as far as we've taken it, to be able to pack that in and pass on those savings to our consumers, if you can have one awesome pack like this -- we're really fired up." Two weeks later, EA announced a standalone version would be available three weeks after Madden's release.