When the NFL approved the new kickoff rules, it was a philosophical shift for special teams coaches everywhere. It was also uncharted ground for the Madden football game developers at EA. So Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin naturally had questions for the development team.
That turned into a partnership between Tomlin and EA where he provided nuanced answers to the developers’ questions while in turn receiving the ability to simulate the new style of kickoffs. NFL.com’s Nick Shook took a deep dive into the partnership between NFL head coach and Madden developers, and Tomlin himself weighed in.
“We’re going into uncharted territory with this kickoff concept,” Tomlin said, per EA Sports. “There’s actually no real visuals of the concept. My sons play all the EA Sports games. I have a lot of respect for the realism of their product. We reached out to those guys and wanted to just kind of get a visual, maybe, of some of the schematics — how the alignment might affect the timing of blocks and so forth.
“That game is more than entertainment from my perspective — it is a real simulator. As we all move into uncharted territory in terms of not knowing what these concepts look like, I viewed it as a potential tool to aid us in teaching and gaining some understanding and experience where there is none.”
Madden is the only NFL-licensed football game on video game consoles. It’s one of the biggest titles released every year. Regardless of your personal feelings, Madden is a video game icon. And that means the development team has to try to pivot anytime the NFL announces rule changes.
However, the new kickoff rules presented a challenge. They had to come to an understanding of just exactly how kickoffs would work. They needed to understand how to implement the new rules properly so the game would mirror real life as much as possible. That’s where Tomlin came in early in the process. He could bring knowledge of how the NFL coaches were approaching the change.
So Tomlin helped the Madden team navigate those uncharted waters. Then Tomlin helped the developers understand that once everyone understood the new rules, the real strategic battle on NFL fields would begin.
“When we first started talking to Coach Tomlin, it was about rules application and just making sure the basic black-and-white application was correct,” EA Sports’ Clint Oldenburg said. “But what he started talking about kind of blew our minds about that level of strategy. He said, ‘Initially, you’re gonna see small people against small people, and you’re gonna get a lot of big returns. And then the kicking team is gonna put big people out there, and the return team is going to have to start countering that with their own big people, and then it’s going to turn into an offensive play, and it’s going to do this and that.'”
It will be fascinating to see how NFL teams adapt to the new rules. Tomlin suggested to EA Sports that coaches could turn kickoffs into run plays. We’ve seen reserve offensive linemen on special teams before, and that is not likely to change with the new rules. That will certainly help kickoff returns look like offensive plays. But will special teams coaches start partnering with offensive coordinators or run game coordinators?
Tomlin even told the Madden crew he “might try to run a read option” on the kickoff. We’ve seen laterals and other trick plays on kickoffs before. But the new rules could lead to an explosion of strategy on a level we haven’t seen before.
That will be in Madden thanks in big part to Tomlin. And if the Steelers appear to have a leg up on kickoff returns, Steelers fans can thank Madden. It will still be an evolution for taking concepts from the screen to the field, though.
And to think of how upset people were when we saw the gameplay trailer featuring QB Justin Fields as a kick returner. Perhaps Madden isn’t such an evil this year after all. As Oldenburg suggests, NFL fans who play Madden before the start of the regular season will probably have a greater understanding of the new rules than those who don’t pick up a controller.
And for Steelers fans, Madden will give them the opportunity to pick and choose who their starting quarterback is. Or even put Fields as a kick returner.
