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EA Sports College Football 26 drops first photos of coaches in video game

Nakos updated headshotby: Pete Nakos05/28/25PeteNakos_
EA Sports college football teaser

EA Sports College Football will drop its gameplay trailer on Thursday, the first real look at what the 2026 video game will look like. In anticipation of Thursday’s reveal, EA dropped photos teasing what the game will look like.

Notably, college football coaches will be in the 2026 edition of the game. When EA Sports College Football made its return after more than a decade, coaches were notably not in the game. Instead, generic coaches were on the sidelines with players.

In this year’s edition, which drops on July 10, real-life head coaches will be walking the sidelines. EA dropped a photo on Wednesday of Ryan Day in the Ohio Stadium tunnel walking out for pregame. EA dropped its standard and deluxe edition covers of the 2026 game on Tuesday. Alabama’s Ryan Williams and Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith are on the standard cover, while a slew of college football head coaches and players, along with former stars, are on the deluxe edition.

Sources have confirmed to On3 that a high school feature will be in the game. Whether that comes in Road to Glory or Dynasty Mode remains to be seen. Historically, users would be able to start the Road to Glory path in high school, picking up offers and leading to a college decision.

In Wednesday’s teaser, EA dropped photos of hats on a table. Typically, in recruiting, top recruits announce their decisions with a spread of hats on the table. The idea of users being able to pick their hat or have a live commitment would be a very cool development.

The original EA college football video game franchise ran from 1998 until 2013. Moving from the Bill Walsh College Football moniker to NCAA Football, the annual game was eventually discontinued. The game returned in July for the first time in more than a decade. Now the game is returning for its second consecutive year.

EA announced last fall that the College Football 25 franchise was the largest new console game launch in North America in 2024. EA also announced the video game had seen 6.5 million unique players to date. Quick math shows EA brought in more than $400 million in sales from the game.