ORLANDO, Fla. — I have played an early edition of EA Sports College Football 26, and I’ve got some thoughts.
The return of the college football video game series last year was 11 years in the making, and it mostly lived up to the hype. CFB25 was a joy, but it was far from perfect with some obvious holes. Despite its flaws, it became the highest-selling sports video game of all time in total dollars because of that excitement and execution.
So what’s in store for Round 2? EA Sports announced some new features Thursday ahead of the July 10 launch, and The Athletic got to test out the gameplay in person for a few hours.
This is not a full game review, as I haven’t played the whole game, but here are the five biggest changes to the franchise for CFB26.
1. Real coaches are in the game (mostly) and the coaching carousel is deeper
Lane Kiffin said last year he’d be in the game for free, as coaches immediately realized its recruiting value. Now, more than 300 real coaches and their likenesses are here, including head coaches, offensive coordinators and defensive coordinators. Not everyone is signed up, either because they declined or haven’t responded yet. Bill Belichick is not in the game, which is not a big surprise since he didn’t make himself available for Madden either. I also didn’t see Deion Sanders when playing a game as Colorado.
Real coaches have their own tendencies and skills that show up in Dynasty mode. In the coaching carousel, you can see a G5 coach move up the ranks, a real college coach leave for the NFL or change coordinators. That was in the game last year, but now they’re real. It’s technically possible to see Kirby Smart struggle and stumble down the ranks to become a Group of 5 coordinator if things go poorly.
Ryan Day is among the coaches in the game. (Image / EA Sports)
2. High School Mode is back in Road to Glory, and it’s optional
This was one of the top demands from gamers, since High School was part of RTG in the old NCAA series. Developers told me they didn’t have time to fit it all in last year and felt most gamers just wanted to focus on the college experience. Indeed, they said Thursday that the feedback was mostly positive. Still, they planned to bring High School back and now they have, but players can skip it if they like.
After playing it briefly, I’ll tell you it looks very fun and creative, coming from someone like me who didn’t like the old High School mode. You pick 10 schools and play five high school weeks. In those weeks, you’re just trying to complete a few tasks in a game, like a certain kind of throw, to gain points for a “tape score.” When you earn enough points, you get a scholarship offer. But that point threshold is different from school to school. A “challenge” from a school is another point-boosting opportunity. You pick your star rating to start, but it can rise or fall depending on how you do in the tasks.
You can commit and decommit and see who else your suitors are recruiting. Schools also offer you certain skill bonuses that help your college player, which is the stand-in for NIL. You can get an offer from a school, but wait for it to increase the skill bonus based on your tape score. Developers said the goal is for High School mode to last about an hour of gameplay.
3. Online Dynasty cross-play
Xbox players rejoice. We won’t be left out of our PS5 friends’ online dynasties any longer. Cross-play allows gamers with Xbox and PS5 to compete against each other with up to 32 players. While cross-play was already playable for single games, it’s now available for Dynasty mode, which was already in place for Madden.
4. Formation subs and dynamic subs
This was the biggest in-game request from gamers, and it’s here. Formation subs allow you to set lineups in the pause menu for specific formations, like a power running back for short-yardage runs. Dynamic subs will allow you to make quick individual substitutions during the game using the D-pad, without needing the pause menu. It pulls up a little screen to let you know the status and overall rating of players at different positions. You can also work auto-sub sliders for each position, setting up a sub when a specific position reaches a certain wear-and-tear level.
Powerhouse Programs. Real World Coaches. Electric Traditions. Experience it all in #CFB26.
Coming July 10. Pre-Order Now🔗: https://t.co/PswZmDtrOF pic.twitter.com/FyQjPSTCj8
— EASPORTSCollege (@EASPORTSCollege) May 27, 2025
5. Gameplay is smoother, and a lot of the little annoyances are gone
When you first start playing a game, it mostly feels the same. This isn’t some big overhaul. Last year was an entirely new game, especially new for me as someone who got out of gaming when the NCAA series went away. So it’s not jarring anymore to jump on the sticks and see a real college quarterback making a throw. But the more I played over a few hours, I started to notice a lot of little improvements.
For example, your receivers will make more catches in contact. Developers told me they realized there were too many pass breakups on hits. That’s nice. Quarterback scrambles out of pass plays are much smoother and realistic-looking. Your QB doesn’t need to fully stand up in his throwing stance before you can start running around. Defensive linemen now have “block-steering” ability, where you can push an offensive lineman in a direction that you choose. It’s a nice addition for people who play with a DL.
Running the ball was my favorite part of CFB 25, and it’s even better in this game. Run-after-catch was also smoother. There’s a lot more you can do on defense, too. Developers heard the feedback that playing defense was too hard. It seems a bit easier with better tackling, but for the hardcores, you can now set custom DB zones (in response to custom receiver stems), you can commit to certain routes and guess the play, and you can call stunts and twists on the line by holding the play selection button and choosing from options.
Other notes:
• Oklahoma might be this year’s most popular team, thanks to the additions of quarterback John Mateer and running back Jaydn Ott. The Sooners were a lot of fun to use.
• There are more renovated stadiums, including Florida State, but Northwestern is still at the old Ryan Field. There are more, but not all, bowl stadiums. No Ireland, and still not every NFL stadium.
• Trophy Room is back in Dynasty Mode. Not only can you see the trophies and awards you’ve won, you can click and see the all-time history of trophy winners, like Wisconsin being the first Big Ten champion in 1896. That’s cool.
• Rivalry games and night games will have a greater impact on Stadium Pulse shaking. The rivalry trophies are also highlighted in the game menu. Yes, even the Civil ConFLiCT trophy is in this game.
• Protected games are in Dynasty after being pulled at the last minute out of CFB25.
• Wear-and-tear can last throughout the season in Dynasty and Road to Glory.
• Thankfully, the menu screen is no longer just that drumline over and over and over. It will include marching band covers of real songs.
• Speaking of real songs, “Enter Sandman” for Virginia Tech was the big one, as evident in the trailer. It also added “Mr. Brightside” at Michigan, “Seven Nation Army”, “FE!N” by Travis Scott, “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” at Notre Dame and the “2001: A Space Odyssey” song for South Carolina’s intro, among others.
• Dynamic lighting is here. Game light and shadows change throughout the game based on time of day and geography. Enjoy that Rose Bowl sunset in the second half.
Overall, my takeaway from these early pieces of CFB26 is that the game filled the major holes from CFB25. We’ll have the main modes and in-game adjustments that were needed. I’ll have a full review later in the summer when I get to play the whole game.
During a week in which leaders in college football again argued about the future of the College Football Playoff and threats to leave the NCAA, this game was once again a reminder of the celebration of all of college football. There are so many more stadium run-out shots and new school-specific songs/chants added, along with turnover celebrations. We got Akron’s tire celebration and Clemson’s bus entrance in the trailer. New additions Delaware and Missouri State look as good as everyone else (and I particularly liked the Delaware playbook).
CFB25 wasn’t a reskin of Madden, as many gamers feared. It was uniquely college football. The early returns look like CFB26 will be that once again.
(Top photo courtesy of EA Sports)
