The Franchise mode is a lot of fun and is, pretty much, the main reason that I buy the game but there are a couple of things that really irk me about it.

a) Winning coaches should not automatically retire after winning 3 consecutive Superbowls. That it can be done consistantly with 2005 is a whole nother issue all together but what I'm talking about is young coaches that are successful. There's nothing more aggravating than grooming a young coach, watching him finally reach his statistical peak, and then having him retire because he won too many games and got bored. We should at least have the option to negotiate with them, much like we should have the option to negotiate with players who retire before they're in their 40s.

b) I desperately want a GM Mode. In NBA LIVE when you're franchise is successful you get offers to take over other franchises. In MADDEN you either get bored and move on or you go bankrupt and you have to sell the team. Pretty negative, don't you think? Why not allow us to hire GM's and Scouts to help us with our drafting and free agent decisions and/or give us a GM Mode? Now a days a good GM is just as valuable as a good coach. It would be far more interesting if, once we proved ourselves as personel people, we began to get offers and had to choose between sticking with a proven winner or going someplace new that's struggling for more money and/or resources. This could also add a new dimension to hiring proven coaches. Right now all you have to do to hire a winning coach is throw the most money at him, what if you could offer them other things as well like GM control. It'd be a lot riskier to hire a proven coach if you have to hand him control of your team. Plus, some good coaches aren't necessirely good personel guys so the quality of your GM/Coach's scouting abilities could dramatically affect the quality of your drafts. Add an attitude stat onto their ratings that affects how well they take pushy owners and you've got yourself a new level of complexity in staff hirings.

c) We also should be able to hire more coaches for our teams like secondary, RB, QB, DL/OL. This would provide a bigger pool for potential coaching candidates. (It also wouldn't hurt if you'd throw in the occasional college coach here and there. Maybe make them a little lax on knowledge but awsome at scouting and work ethic)

Other than that, I look forward to 2006!