JRR III

EA SPORTS / Technical Design / 2023–Present

Football
gameplay.

This page covers my work on Madden NFL and EA SPORTS College Football: quarterback AI, player traits, feature prototypes, Coach Mode, and football play implementation.

Role
Technical Designer
Team
Central Football Gameplay
Titles
Madden NFL / College Football

Selected work

What I worked on

A public overview of my work across gameplay AI, player systems, feature development, and football content.

Madden NFL 27 key art

01 / AI & gameplay systems

QB AI & Behavior Trees

Quarterback AI became my primary area of gameplay work. I reworked most of the existing behavior tree to improve QB behaivor. I also adjusted the trees so it could support the Traits system and give us better control over how quarterbacks make decisions.

The work covered pocket movement, pressure response, scrambling, throwaways, read progression, target selection, situational awareness, and intentional out-of-bounds behavior. I authored the behavior-tree changes, worked with gameplay engineers to define the nodes the system needed, created some nodes myself, and implemented supporting C++ gameplay logic.

Areas of contribution

  • Behavior-tree architecture, authoring, and tuning
  • Quarterback decision-making across pocket and scramble states
  • Engineering requirements and node implementation support
  • C++ improvements to gameplay behavior
  • Frostbite
  • Behavior Trees
  • Gameplay AI
  • C++
QB Traits / Inside Madden NFL 26 X Facebook

02 / Player systems

Player Traits

I designed Traits as a set of small, composable behaviors that can be combined to represent how an individual player approaches the game. More than 50 Traits were supported in Madden NFL 26, with additional traits added for 27.

A single Trait changes one decision or tendency. The value comes from combining them.

Example

Risk Taker increases passing aggression, Hero Ball encourages a quarterback to run when a first down is available, and Run Over increases the chance of attempting a truck. Together, those behaviors create a recognizable Josh Allen-style play pattern without relying on one broad archetype.

Areas of contribution

  • System design and implementation for 50+ behavioral Traits
  • Coordination with UI, Franchise, and Dynasty teams
  • Systems Design
  • Gameplay AI
  • Behavior Trees
  • Cross-team Design
  • Blueprints
Coach Mode introduction / Madden NFL X Facebook

03 / Feature ownership

Coach Mode

Coach Mode began as a request to repair the existing autoplay setting for a title update. After we determined that a small patch would be risky, I designed it as a full feature for Madden NFL 27 and College Football 27.

I designed the pre-play communication cutoff, options for calling plays without coach suggestions, sideline and booth camera views, and coach-only multiplayer leagues in Franchise and Dynasty. To deliver the camera feature within our constraints, I reused a system being built for Road to Glory and hand-placed coach views in more than 200 stadiums across both franchises. I also implemented the pre-play cutoff UI when the UI/XD teams did not have capacity.

Areas of contribution

  • Feature design from initial pitch through implementation
  • Coach-perspective cameras and stadium placement
  • Pre-play communication rules and UI implementation
  • Franchise, Dynasty, presentation, audio, and UI/XD integration
  • Feature Design
  • UI Implementation
  • Cameras
  • Multiplayer Modes
Madden NFL kickoff gameplay
Dynamic kickoff rules explained using Madden / NFL

04 / Rapid prototyping

NFL Kickoff

The NFL changed its kickoff rule in the middle of alpha. I learned the new rules, worked through how they should function in the game, and built a convincing playable prototype before the specialized feature code existed.

I made the prototype by using our existing play-creation tools beyond their original purpose. That gave the team something concrete to evaluate and helped identify the strategy, AI behavior, tool support, and engineering requirements needed for the final feature. I designed out the feature and how it should look and work. I then worked with gameplay engineering, animation, presentation, and NFL partners as the design moved into production.

Public context

The feature’s development appears in the Amazon documentary series It’s in the Game: Madden NFL. The NFL also captured educational footage that was shown in stadiums to explain the redesigned kickoff to fans.

Areas of contribution

  • Gameplay design
  • Rapid prototype built with existing play-design tools
  • AI strategy and technical requirement definition
  • Coordination across engineering, animation, presentation, and NFL partners
  • Rapid Prototyping
  • Gameplay AI
  • Rules Design
  • Frostbite Tools
Madden gameplay showing a designed offensive play and receiver routes

05 / Content implementation

Football Play Creation

I studied real playbooks and recreated more than 100 football plays with proprietary design tools. The work was not always a direct translation; some plays required using existing systems in ways they had not been used before.

When a play needed a sequence the standard tools could not produce, I combined and blended existing animation assets into custom multi-actor interactions.

Areas of contribution

  • Research and implementation of 100+ real football plays
  • Solutions for scenarios unsupported by standard tools
  • Multi-actor animation blending and tagging
  • Playbook and animation-team collaboration
  • Content Tools
  • Play Design
  • Animation
  • Technical Problem-solving
Madden target-passing minigame

06 / Gameplay content

Minigames

Early in my time on Central Football Gameplay, I worked on minigames used across the football titles as well as mode-specific experiences for Road to Glory and Franchise.

The work involved implementing smaller gameplay concepts inside established football systems, then adapting them to the goals and constraints of each mode. I also had to think of fun gameplay scenerios using existing mechanics.

Areas of contribution

  • General-purpose football minigames
  • Road to Glory content
  • Franchise mode content
  • Gameplay implementation within established systems
  • Gameplay Content
  • Mode Integration
  • Frostbite
  • Production