no current football game approaches the level of immersion as a coach that front page football had. The Madden series is fantastic for gameplay, but it has yet to approach the complexity in play calling/creation that FPS had (except for audibles, I hated FPS 98 audibles.) You could create your own plays in madden 2001, but not with the same flexibility you could in the FPS series.
That being said, neither Madden 2001 or FPS 98 are installed on my machine now. I get my football fix on the PS2 with NCAA 2002. I prefer college ball over pro ball anyways. It'd be nice if I could design my own plays, but at least the dynasty and recruiting is interesting.

As for the original post... I seriously hope this isn't a ploy for more money. If Gruden's agent feels he deserves more money from the Raiders he should say so. Saying there's 0 chance of him returning in 2003 should mean just that. If it's just a move to get more money, sheesh, I thought Gruden had more integrity than that. That's something I'd expect from Butch Davis. Butch outright said he was staying at Miami to his recruits and current players, then immediately bolts for Cleveland. I guess his players and Miami's current coach don't care. They got a ring and he had a losing season.

Spurrier, on the other hand, handled leaving Florida with class. Maybe he learned something from watching Butch the year before.