NFL Head Coach 09 is the sequel to NFL Head Coach released back in 2006. It once again gives the player the opportunity to take the reigns of an NFL franchise and coach them to the Super Bowl and ultimately be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Once again the player will hire and release players, along with assistant coaches and various office personnel as well as edit plays to be used by their team.

Games are once again played out in real time, but the player has no control of their team, instead they coach their players, telling them what runs to play as well as make game breaking decisions such as going for the win on 4th and goal with only a few seconds on the clock or faking a field goal and going for two points to win rather than tie the game. Players can also control their team in the offseason, tracking future players in the NFL Draft.

Players can also go online and share their playbook for others to view as well as compete head-to-head, coaching their team against their opponents.