EA Sports’ College Football 26 video game is set to be released on July 10th, a little over a month ahead of the start of the upcoming season. Those that purchased the Deluxe Edition or MVP bundles got early access on July 7th.

Players made an interesting discovery involving the likeness of a number of college football coaches. Bill Belichick and Deion Sanders are two notable names that are not featured in the game.

That duo represents arguably the most popular pair of coaches in the sport. Sanders is gearing up for Year 3 in Boulder while Belichick is prepping for his first season in Chapel Hill.

Neither will be seen in the next College Football 26 video game. They’ve reportedly refused to give EA Sports their likeness.

A number of others followed suit, including Mario Cristobal at Miami, Bronco Mendenhall at Utah State, and Trent Dilfer at UAB. The reasoning behind Sanders’ and Belichick’s rejections are unknown, though some speculate that their NFL pasts came into play. It’s worth noting that Belichick also refused asks to be featured in the Madden video game franchise.

Could Deion Sanders and Bill Belichick’s EA Sports College Football 26 refusals negatively impact their programs?

It’s a legitimate question given their insane national popularity and a newly introduced royalty structure regarding gameplay. Schools will be paid based on how many times their teams are used by players.

“For each CFB product released by EA SPORTS, we (CLC Learfield) will provide a percentage for each institution based on the games played for that institution as a percentage of the total games played across all institutions.

“This percentage of games played will become the final allocation percentage for each school that will be applied to the total gross royalties for all institutions received.”

A reported $5 million is in the pot. Should Colorado or North Carolina be picked by users in 2% of gameplay, a six-figure check could be the result.

Coaches are far from the most important factor in team selection. Video game players are far more likely to choose a team in which they have direct ties (alma mater, favorite team, favorite player). Still, Deion Sanders and Bill Belichick are different than most coaches.

Their real-life presence on the sidelines, which is a new addition to the ’26 edition, might’ve swayed a few fans when choosing a team to play with. Who wouldn’t want to see Coach Prime celebrating a Buffaloes victory in his patented shades, or Belichick hoisting a national championship trophy in a cutoff UNC sweatshirt?

Players won’t get that opportunity. Instead, they’ll see Kirk Patrick and Hector Luna roaming the sidelines in Boulder and Chapel Hill, respectively.

No Deion Sanders or Bill Belichick among the real coaches in #CFB26, as expected.

Belichick didn’t do Madden, either. pic.twitter.com/GPkl3lcX87

— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) July 7, 2025

Again, coaches are not the biggest needle movers in terms of EA Sports College Football 26 fandom. Still, their refusals to be featured in the video game would seemingly be more of a negative than a positive.

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