Unlike College Football 25, the next installment in EA Sports’ long-awaited reboot will feature real, active head coaches and coordinators.
That’s just one of the many new elements coming to College Football 26, a game that builds on what Awful Announcing’s Ben Axelrod called “the best video game I’ve ever played.” The follow-up aims even higher. Whether you want to build a dynasty with Ryan Day, Dabo Swinney, Kirby Smart, or nearly any other FBS head coach, this year’s version finally lets you do it with the real sideline leaders.
Well… almost any coach.
According to The Athletic’s Chris Vannini, who got early access to the highly anticipated game, neither Colorado’s Deion Sanders nor North Carolina’s Bill Belichick will appear in College Football 26. Instead, the roles of Sanders and Belichick are filled by creatively named generics: “Kirk Patrick” and “Hector Luna,” respectively.
And no, Belichick’s absence isn’t some PR tactic meant to soften the optics of his relationship with a 24-year-old former college cheerleader in Jordon Hudson. This is business as usual for the six-time Super Bowl winner. He famously declined to join the NFL Coaches Association during his tenure with the Patriots, which kept him out of Madden games for years. That’s why you may remember facing off against a guy named “Chad Masters” instead of Belichick in franchise mode.
College football coaches don’t have a formal union like the NFL Coaches Association, which collectively negotiates licensing for Madden. Instead, there’s the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), a professional group that provides advocacy and resources, but doesn’t have the same bargaining power when it comes to video game likeness rights.
As for Sanders? He marches to his own beat, and while there may not be a contractual explanation like with Belichick, it’s probably just Coach Prime being Coach Prime. But, he’ll undoubtedly be asked about it before the college football regular season kicks off.
Until then, gamers can look forward to running the option with real coaches on the sideline… just not the Coach or Coach Prime.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.