Front Office Football Review

[Marva Richardt]

Thefootball offseason has begun, and with some free agents already signing with new teams, and the combine and then the draft coming this spring, there's plenty of work to be done on your franchise. For all you GMs ready to burn the midnight oil for your team, Front Office Football 8 is here to fill that need. The text simulator came out late last year on PC, and offers the kind of offseason and gameday options that any wanna-be GM and coach would appreciate.

The game features editable teams from all the NFL cities (you can also relocate your team or get a new stadium) with real-life player names, and fans of franchise management will appreciate that there are amenities such as multiple rounds of free agency (with multiple stages within each round), a coaching carousal, draft scouting, the ability to tweak salary offers, and other considerations. Players themselves can holdout, they have attitudes to consider, as well as various personality traits such as loyalty and fan popularity.

Playing through a season and offseason, I liked the info and options at my disposal, whether that was gauging a relatively weak free agent crop, picking through the players dropped later in the summer, gauging a draft prospects' potential and possible "volatility," and evaluating players before the draft and after they're on the team. I think the game does a good job of presenting the right kind of information such as a players' combine numbers, medical history, or contract wishes, without making drafting players or signing free agents a 100-percent done deal. There are few of such situations in real-life football, and the game replicates that fine line between giving you enough information to make informed decisions without making you swim in it. The game also comes with an in-depth guide, which is definitely worth studying.

Playing games seems pretty solid as well. I appreciate being able to see playart of the myriad plays available (you can construct your own playbooks from the plays at hand) as well as seeing which player is the principle target of the play. I also like how developer Solecismic has sprinkled some text descriptions for plays as they unfold such as telling you that a throw by the QB wasn't even close, or who made a key block on the play.

Stats wise, apart from EJ Manuel having the highest QB rating one season, I didn't see anything too glaringly off in terms of the stats showing up for players over the course of a year. I did think that some of the completion percentages during single games for average QBs were high, possibly padded out by the number of check downs I saw to the fullback. One of the cool things the game does with stats is that it shows you how many targets and catches a receiver has (and the carries/yards for a running back) before you call a play. Thus, you can get a quick look at who's hot and what's been working. Conversely, I didn't see a way to manage my depth chart during games, which was frustrating when I wanted to switch out my ineffective running back.

Steep's free Alaska update is now available, and apart from introducing a new mountain with 17 drop zones, 21 challenges, branded challenges, 37 points of interest, a mountain story, a raised level cap (25 to 30), and more, one of the things players will notice is that at least one of the new mountain's villages includes plenty of rails to grind and slide. This was possible in the original, but not a point of emphasis.

I tried out the Alaska villages' and while glad they were included in the update, found that they weren't quite as satisfying as I had hoped they would be. Games with rail grinding/sliding always face the dilemma of wanting to make it easy to let players get on a rail and stay on it, but without it feeling like they are being sucked or stuck to the rail. The problem I have with Steep's board slides currently is that it's easy to slip off of them and it feels floaty, like you're not really on the rail. I compare this with series like Skate and Tony Hawk, where grinds and board slides were very satisfying. You also don't score any extra points for what you do on a rail, which is disappointing. Hopefully this is something the team can keep working on, as I want to attack rails when I see them, not avoid them.

THE TICKER

A quick rundown of some of the sports news from the week.

MLB The Show 17's Presentation Info, Pave Your Path in Road to the Show & Quick Manage

A handful of new info has come out about the game, including making off-the-field decisions that can impact your Road to the Show career, a way to quickly manage and sim Franchise games, and a partnership with MLB Network with new announcers Harold Reynolds and Dan Plesac.

Bethesda's Todd Howard Has An Idea About How To Bring NCAA Back

I love that Howard is passionate about NCAA, but in my opinion, everything EA has said and done on this front shows that they are being extremely cautious about any return to college football. I think they are waiting for nothing short of the full legal resolution of the NCAA and players' student/athlete status before returning. EA's already had to settle one lawsuit on this front, and I doubt there's a lawyer in the building that's going to risk another.

Big 12 referee Mike Defee, who has officiated every major bowl game, and who gained fame during the 2017 College Football National Championship game, is retiring from active officiating to take a position in the NFL front office.

Defee got a late start in officiating, starting in 1995 at the age of 33, working high school football in Texas. He worked his way up through the college ranks, joining the Big 12 conference in 2006 as a back judge and became a Big 12 referee in 2010. The NFL considered Defee as a potential candidate years ago. But time, age and the number of NFL openings worked against him.

Defee officiated several high-profile Big 12 football games and post-season bowl games, but fans took notice during the 2017 national championships game. Defee has been a avid weight-lifter for decades and TV viewers took note of his physique.

Mark Schultz is a high school football official, freelance writer and journalist. He first became interested in officiating when he was six years old, was watching a NFL game with his father and asked the fateful question, "Dad, what are those guys in the striped shirts doing?"

The Senior Management Team is the group of closest advisors at the national office to President Charlie Baker. This group ensures accountability in management and operations as part of a dynamic and inclusive leadership structure. They also provide counsel to key governance leaders within the NCAA membership.

A former collegiate athlete at Harvard, Baker is credited with bringing bipartisan leadership to the state, successfully guiding Massachusetts through an exceptionally turbulent period for government officials. In addition to his two terms as governor, he has brought decades of experience spearheading transformations at high-profile institutions in the private and public sectors.

As executive vice president of regulatory affairs, Stan Wilcox oversees all NCAA regulatory functions, including academic and membership affairs, the Eligibility Center and enforcement. Wilcox provides strategic direction while continuing to foster strong relationships with NCAA colleges and universities, ensuring regulatory staffs within the national office work efficiently and collaboratively to best serve NCAA members.

Before joining the NCAA staff in October 2018, Wilcox oversaw the strategic planning and management of 20 varsity sports with more than 500 student-athletes at Florida State, where he was hired in 2013 as director of athletics and was promoted to vice president in 2016. Before his time at Florida State, he served in senior positions at Duke, Notre Dame and the Big East Conference.

Wilcox has held several national leadership positions, including membership on the NCAA Football Oversight Committee and LEAD1 board of trustees. He helped to create the Minority Opportunities Athletic Association and subsequently served as a member of its board. From 2003 to 2005, he was president of the Black Coaches Association.

The office of legal affairs handles numerous legal responsibilities for the Association, including managing litigation involving the national office and supporting its governance and sport committees, 90 championships, and national office staff in assisting the membership and student-athletes.

Prior to his service at the Big East, Gavitt was director of athletics and recreation at Bryant, which has one of the largest Division II athletics departments in the country. Earlier in his career, Gavitt ran his own sports marketing and event management firm, Craigville Sports Associates; served as an assistant basketball coach at Providence College; and ran the Rick Barnes basketball camp.

Brian Higgins was appointed senior vice president of business performance in September 2023. He came to the NCAA as an independent contractor to oversee the national office business review. Before that, Higgins worked at McKinsey & Co., a global management consulting firm, where he helped clients review data and analytics to improve decision-making.

A nationally recognized leader in intercollegiate athletics with an emphasis on NCAA policy, governance and regulatory affairs, Kevin Lennon is the NCAA senior vice president of policy and governance. With over 35 years of experience in intercollegiate athletics, Lennon most recently served as vice president of Division I governance and vice president of academic and membership affairs. He previously served as assistant commissioner of the Southwest Conference and worked at Notre Dame.

Lennon serves as strategic advisor to the NCAA president and leads the development of key policy initiatives to advance the collegiate model of sport and improve the lives of student-athletes. He supports the work of the three divisional and Association-wide governance groups and serves as the primary liaison for the Knight Commission.

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