By Mark Pszonak
Head coaches were given the option of being included in the upcoming release of EA Sports College Football 26. 124 said yes, which means that only 12 declined the opportunity.
Full list of Head Coaches NOT in CFB 26:
— CFBudge (@CF_Budge) July 7, 2025
– Mario Cristobal (Miami)
– Deion Sanders (Colorado)
– Kirk Ferentz (Iowa)
– Bill Belichick (UNC)
– Bronco Mendenhall (Utah State)
– Tyson Helton (WKU)
– Charles Kelly (JVST)
– Frank Reich (Stan)
– Trent Dilfer (UAB)
– Bryant Vincent…
Of the 12, only five are FBS coaches. Most notably missing from the game are Deion Sanders (Colorado), Bill Belichick (North Carolina), Mario Cristobal (Miami) and Kirk Ferentz (Iowa). The fifth is Frank Reich (Stanford), who was hired as an interim coach for the 2025 season after the sudden firing of Troy Taylor in late March.
The lack of a few coaches is never going to make or break the game, but not seeing Sanders and Belichick is disappointing. It also shouldn’t be surprising, especially for Belichick, who hadn’t been included in EA Sports Madden game since 2002. This was when he stopped being a member of the NFL Coaches Association, which had a deal with EA Sports.
As for the G5 head coaches, there may be some explanations for a few of them. Similar to Coach Reich, Mark Carney will serve as the interim coach at Kent State after the firing of Kenni Burns during the spring, while Jason Eck (New Mexico), Charles Kelly (Jacksonville State) and Bronco Mendenhall (Utah State) were all winter hires.
The remaining three are more of a guessing game. Trent Dilfer (UAB) is on an extremely hot seat so his priorities may have been elsewhere, while Tyson Helton (Western Kentucky) and Bryant Vincent (Louisiana-Monroe) likely didn’t check their email.
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