Is there a way to set a league up and do "fast play" to build some historical data before actually taking over a team as a coach/gm? If so, what all should be done each year to make this happen?

thanks!

Just create a new league in whatever year you want, say 1940. Then proceed to the first week of the season and choose "quick sim".

thanks for the reply. So i need to do the GM stuff and then just sim the season, or if i "fast forward" through these things does the computer do the GM work when simming?
appreciating the help

What you probably want to do is start a sandbox game, then sim multiple seasons all as CPU teams, then "Convert To Career Mode" from the League settings screen and move on with your career from there.