In Coach 77 Handheld coach plan, you play the newly-hired head coach at your college of choice. As head coach, it will be your responsibility to manage your teams strategy, simulate through seasons, recruit new players, and above all, win championships.
Playing a Season: Your team will play 12 games in the regular season, which consist of playing all 9 of your conference opponents once and three out-of-conference games. The most important game of the regular season is your rivalry game, which you gain prestige if won or lose prestige if lost.
At the end of the regular season, the Conference Championship is played between the two teams with the best in-conference record. If two teams have the same record, a head-to-head tiebreaker is used. If three or more teams have the same record, the one with the highest poll ranking is chosen. After the Conference Championships, Bowl Games are played. Only the top 16 teams get chosen for a bowl, with the most important being the National Semifinals between the #1 and #4 team, and the #2 and #3 team. The winner of these two games advance to the National Championship where an undisputed champion is crowned.
After the season, your team will gain or lose prestige based on their results versus their expectations.