Today, EA Sports College Football 26 revealed its covers for this year’s version of the hit series. Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith and Alabama’s Ryan Williams are the cover athletes for CFB 26, and the duo is joined by several top players from the past and present on the deluxe edition. However, the most notable reveal from the cover is that EA Sports College Football 26 has listened to the fans and is making a major change everyone’s been asking about.
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No, we aren’t getting Mascot Mode. At least, not yet. We’ll have to wait for the full reveal to be sure. Instead, the developer announced that real-world coaches will be roaming the sidelines this year. In College Football 25, EA Sports used generic coaches to focus more on locking down player rights with NIL deals. Now that they’ve seemingly locked down player likenesses, EA has moved to coaches, making this year’s game feel even more true-to-life.
Seven coaches feature on the deluxe edition cover to celebrate the announcement. Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman, Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham, Ole Miss’s Lane Kiffin, Penn State’s James Franklin, Ohio State’s Ryan Day, and Oregon’s Dan Lanning can all be found on the cover.
RELATED: 8 Must-Have Features for EA Sports College Football 26
College football fans will likely notice one marquee name missing from that list. While Colorado’s Deion Sanders isn’t on the cover, that doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t be in the game. After all, he’s not the only big-name coach missing from the cover. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is a two-time national champion, and Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy has been with the program for longer than almost anybody. We don’t know the specifics of the deals offered to coaches, but if the money’s right, these guys will all probably be in the game.
One coach who might not join College Football 26 is the new head coach at North Carolina. Famously, Bill Belichek refused to join the NFL coaches’ union, which means he was seldom featured in the Madden NFL series. Again, we’ll have to wait to learn more about the deals EA Sports struck with coaches to know for sure, but don’t be surprised if good old Chad Masters is on the UNC sideline this year.
Thankfully, we won’t have to wait much longer for more information about EA Sports College Football 26. The team announced today that a full reveal trailer is coming on May 29th. Following that, fans can expect several more info drops over the next month as EA gears up for launch.
EA Sports College Football 26 is set to release on July 10th for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. However, if you preorder the deluxe edition, you’ll get three days of early access, starting on July 7th. You can get the same benefit if you order the MVP bundle, which includes College Football 26 and Madden NFL 26. The two games will seemingly have more crossover this year via the Road to Glory mode, so it might be worth picking them up if you want to continue your player’s journey into the pros.
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