EA Sports needed each college football coach to opt in; these two chose not to do so.
Two Major Head Coaches Not Featured In EA Sports College Football 26 originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Like EA Sports' motto says, "It's in the game," unless it's not.
College Football 26 won't officially be released until Thursday, but some parties have early access if they purchased the Deluxe Edition of the coveted game.
It's already been noted that two of college football's biggest head coaches do not appear in the game. Neither Colorado's Deion Sanders nor North Carolina's Bill Belichick is a part of College Football 26. Instead, they have been replaced with fake characters.
At Colorado, the Buffaloes have Kirk Patrick, a level 40 elite recruiter graded as an A+ coach. He's noted for his spread offense, preference for a 4-2-5 defense and recruiting pipeline to East Texas.
No Deion Sanders or Bill Belichick among the real coaches in #CFB26, as expected.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) July 7, 2025
Belichick didn't do Madden, either. pic.twitter.com/GPkl3lcX87
The Tar Heels have Hector Luna as coach, a level 30 scheme guru graded as a B+. His offensive scheme is described as "multiple offense." Luna uses a 3-4 Multiple defensive scheme and has a recruiting pipeline to Central Florida.
The absence of Belichick shouldn't come as a surprise, as he was never in the Madden franchise either.
There were no coaches in College Football 25. This year's game marks the first time coaches will be included.
Like players, coaches were not a part of the game series before its discontinuation after the release of NCAA Football 2014. Players and coaches were typically vaguely modeled after their real-life counterparts and given comparable abilities.
While in the NFL, Belichick ceased being part of the Coaches Association, which held the licensing deal for their appearances in games, media, and other related activities. Since he wasn't in the union, EA Sports couldn't include him, despite his appearance in "Madden" during the early 2000s.
EA Sports needed to secure the rights from each coach individually to include them in the game. Sanders did not opt in, so he isn't in College Football 26.
Related: Deion Sanders’ Daughter Has Four-Word Reaction to Father’s Surprise
Related: Early Review of Bill Belichick's 'The Art of Winning' Reveals Several Notable Omissions
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 7, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: General Sports
