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(This story has been updated to add new information.)

The latest deep dive into College Football 26 is here, and it’s one players have been eagerly anticipating. EA Sports revealed details into its Road to Glory mode, which lets gamers create a player and bring him up through a high school recruit into a college football champion or Heisman Trophy winner.

Fans of the popular video game have been clamoring for details since the Orlando-based company announced a high school football component would be part of CFB 26. There won’t be full games or any real high school teams in the game — though you could create one in Team Builder — but players will be able to make their highlight tape to land a spot on the college team of their choice.

“In listening to our players, a few clear themes emerged,” EA Sports said in its Campus Huddle news release. “First, players wanted a more meaningful recruiting experience — more agency in deciding where they go to school, and more control over the moments that lead there. Second, while Coach Trust was a strong foundation for getting on the field, players wanted more tension, more rewards, and more to chase once they earned the starting job. And third, players wanted a better way to track their achievements and celebrate everything they’d earned across their career.”

After they play their way through their on- and off-field journey in college, players can choose to continue their careers in the NFL by exporting them to Superstar mode of Madden 26.

Watch College Football 26 Road to Glory deep dive

Here’s a look at the new features in Road to Glory:

Road to Glory create-a-player options

Players can choose start anywhere from an elite five-star recruit to an unheralded two-star who will have to work his way up to stardom. There are five positions available with a variety of archetypes for each:

• Quarterback
• Running back
• Wide receiver
• MIKE linebacker
• Cornerback

Your player type and choice in high school will determine what schools will be interested in recruiting you. Teams in your player’s home state will have higher interest.

There are more customization options when creating your player, including more than 40 throw styles and different ways for players to run and carry the ball.

High school football in College Football 26

Road to Glory begins with your player building his college recruiting tape. Players will play five high school games made up of four moments with specific goals. How well you perform in those moments, as well as how you answer questions from coaches scouting you, will determine how successful you will be in getting a scholarship offer from the college of your choice.

Here’s how it works:

• High School Moments: In each game, players can choose four moments to play out on the field. To carry them out, you can choose the plays from a playbook tailored to your player’s archetype and make whatever pre-snap adjustments you need. The Campus Huddle laid out one quarterback scenario in which the player’s arm is tested against the area’s top cornerback. There were two goals for the situation early in the quarter:
  1. Avoid an interception and pass breakup by cross-regional rival (worth 50 points)
  2. Complete passes from the pocket for 30+ yards total (200 points)
• Assessed Tape Score: How well players hit their goals throughout the high school games will determine their tape score with each college. To earn an offer from that school, players will have to reach the team’s required score. Different college styles will invoke different multipliers for each goal in high school moments.
• Highlight Moments: Schools will send specialized moments that, if achieved in games, will significantly boost your player’s chance of landing an offer from them. These challenges are tougher than the standard high school moments. The example in the Campus Huddle for a quarterback was to complete a 50-yard pass.
• Recruiting Board: Players can have up to 10 teams on their favorites list, which can be altered throughout the high school process. Check out each team’s evaluation of your player to see their projected role, coach boosts and tendencies, and the other recruits they’re pursuing among 4,100 in the system.
• Star rating: Players can rise from a two-star recruit all the way to a five-star throughout high school mode, and vice versa. After the five games, your final rating will determine the attributes and offers your player will have in college. Those who finish as four- or five-star recruits will gain an extra ability.
• High School Scenarios: Players will face dynamic interactions with coaches and classmates, as well as off-field challenges that will count toward what schools will take them. For instance, telling a coach his team is your top choice will boost your odds with them, but hurt your chances at the others recruiting you. You can also choose how to want to study for a test or who to take to homecoming.
• Senior Night: Your last game in high school includes a special runout and ends with a decision for your final three colleges to choose from. That will determine the hats on the table at your player’s signing day.

Road to Glory recruiting, signing day in College Football 26

Initial scholarship offers in CFB 26 can improve or deteriorate depending on how players perform over the course of the high school portion. Higher-tier scholarships come with more bonuses in college, both on and off the field. Offers can be revoked if your play diminishes or if the school gets a commitment from another player at your position.

To secure a scholarship tier from a school, you can verbally commit to their offer. After that, bonuses can’t change for better or worse. You can decommit to improve your bonuses, but it will increase the Tape Score required for the next school to extend its offer.

When the player has selected their top three colleges and have their Signing Day ceremony, they can choose to just pick up the hat of their choice, fake out the audience or even make a big show before finally heading off to the college portion of Road to Glory.

New Road to Glory features: Coach happiness, wear and tear

In college, there are a host of new features, especially in the off-field portions. Here’s a rundown:

• Coach Trust: In College Football 25, the mechanic helped get players on the field and into the starting lineup. This year, accumulating trust lets players call audibles, pick more plays until the full playbook is unlocked and more. Coach Trust is gained through practice and games, both played and simulated.
• Coach Happiness: The new week-to-week system reacts to in-game performance and off-field decisions. High happiness lets players earn Coach Trust faster. Low happiness could lead to the player getting benched or demoted. That would unlock a position battle to get their spot back, but only once the Coach Happiness returns to at least neutral. Happiness is determined by on-field performance, practice performance, GPA and leadership ratings, and how you respond in off-field scenarios.
• Wear and Tear: Player health now deteriorates over the course of the season and can also carry over into future seasons. Season and career health pools will determine how much injuries weigh on players, and the size of your pool at the end of the season will determine how full it gets next year. Making certain decisions in your weekly agenda will determine how well your player holds up with injuries.
• NIL: Signing NIL deals can now give players skill points, meaning you can improve your stats without risking injury in training or in games. However, accepting NIL deals also means spending energy points during the week, meaning you’ll have to sacrifice other activities, like school.
• Scenarios and dilemmas: Off-field choices players are confronted with will be reflected in Coach Trust and Happiness, among other meters, and in-game coach challenges now offer XP as a potential reward.
• First-person runout: Before games, players will be treated to a first-person vantage point for the team’s runout onto the field. The Campus Huddle showed off a Virginia Tech player running out to “Enter Sandman,” replete with fans chanting the chorus. Those who made a player for Florida will get to rub the gator head before taking the field.

College Football 26 release date

College Football 26 will have its wide release Thursday, July 10. Early access will be available for those who pre-order the Deluxe Edition or MVP Bundle on Monday, July 7.

College Football 26 price

The Standard Edition of College Football 26 will cost $69.99. The Deluxe Edition costs $99.99, and the MVP Bundle, which includes the Deluxe Edition of both CFB 26 and Madden 26, is $149.99.

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Jay Johnson and the LSU Tigers continue navigating a critical offseason in Baton Rouge with the program looking to retool following a National Championship victory in 2025.

Johnson and Co. have utilized the NCAA Transfer Portal to the program’s advantage in the past with LSU once again set to hit the free agent market this offseason to stack talent.

But the Transfer Portal works both ways with the Tigers also losing members each offseason in order to pursue opportunities elsewhere.

Last summer, LSU right-hander Aiden Moffett elected to hit the portal after two seasons in Baton Rouge.

The No. 1 pitcher in Mississippi signed with the Tigers out of high school in the 2022 Recruiting Cycle where he was a Top-60 overall pitcher in his class.

Following limited action in 2023 as a true freshman, Moffett saw more time out of the LSU bullpen during his sophomore season in 2024.

He went 0-1 with a 5.60 ERA in 16 appearances, striking out 21 and walking 12 in 17 2/3 innings.

Despite seeing playing time in 2024, Moffett made the decision to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal and head to the Lone Star State where he committed to the Texas Longhorns.

Moffett pitched 4.0 innings for the Longhorns in 2025 with seven strikeouts and a 2.25 ERA during his time with Texas.

Now, after a two-year stint with LSU and one season with the Texas Longhorns, Moffett is back in the NCAA Transfer Portal in search of his third program.

For the LSU Tigers, the program has added a pair of left-handers to the pitching over the last 24 hours after signing two southpaws via the NCAA Transfer Portal.

No. 1: Danny Lachenmayer – North Dakota State

Lachenmayer, a coveted freshman in the NCAA Transfer Portal, selected the National Champion LSU Tigers over the Arkansas Razorbacks after visiting Fayetteville this week.

The talented southpaw was used as a relief option in 2025 for the Bison where he made 24 appearances and recorded nine saves for North Dakota State.

Lachenmayer pitched 38 innings with a 2.37 ERA, 56 strikeouts, 18 walks and a .192 batting average against him during his freshman campaign.

Johnson and Co. have their recruiting caps on this week with the program intensifying its pursuit for multiple top targets in the NCAA Transfer Portal.

No. 2: Ryler Smart – Pitcher [Tennessee]

Smart, a Top-25 rated left-hander in the 2024 Recruiting Cycle, signed with the Volunteers after prepping at Pearland (Tex.).

The 6-foot-4, 236-pounder redshirted during his lone season in Knoxville after recovering from injury.

Smart was rated as the No. 183 overall prospect in the 2024 Recruiting Cycle and the No. 25 left-handed pitcher prior to signing with the Volunteers.

Now, he heads to Baton Rouge after committing to Johnson and Co. following a visit with the program this week.

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Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and LSU Tigers On SI: @LSUTigersSI for all coverage surrounding the LSU Tigers.

With the introduction of legal NIL in college football in 2021 came the conversation of the revival of the beloved college football video game, which was discontinued following multiple lawsuits surrounding NIL in college football in 2014.

 

 

In 2024, college football video game fans’ dreams were recognized, with EA Sports returning the game under a new title, “EA Sports College Football”.

 

2024 was a huge success, with EA selling over five million copies of the game. Alabama was a fan favorite thanks to quarterback Jalen Milroe, who was categorized as “broken” in the game with his cannon of an arm and ability to run the football.

 

The game is officially returning for 2025, with many fans expected to play with the Crimson Tide once again, thanks to some high ratings for Kalen DeBoer’s team.

 

According to EA Sports, Alabama is the top-ranked team in the video game, with an overall rating of 89.

 

 

Four other SEC teams join Alabama in the top ten, with Texas being ranked an 88 overall, Georgia ranked an 88 overall, Texas A&M ranked an 88 overall, and LSU ranked an 86 overall.

 

Defensively, Alabama once again boasts the top rating in the game with a 96 overall ranking. The Crimson Tide returns several key starters on defense, including four players who started multiple games in the secondary last season.

 

On offense, Alabama will have some work to do to increase its ranking, with the Crimson Tide ranked as the No. 7 overall offense with an 89 overall rating. The lower rating on offense is likely due to replacing two-year starting quarterback Jalen Milroe, who flashed his dynamic playmaking ability in every game he played.

 

For the full top 25, check out EA Sports College Football here.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men’s basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.

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While college athletics prepares for the major shift of the Name, Image and Likeness space, there is a controversial NCAA rule that could shatter deals for athletes.

Before the House v. NCAA settlement, schools, collectives and brands basically operated in the NIL world freely. Agreements with brand sponsors – some eclipsing millions of dollars – weren’t lined with red tape.

However, beginning July 1, every deal totaling over $600 is subject to a clearinghouse process “NIL Go,” established by the College Sports Commission and ran by Deloitte.

The process itself isn’t the issue, but the confidentiality clauses within the NIL Go blueprint are causing some concerns among agents, according to NIL expert Darren Heitner.

“Every NIL deal over $600 goes into a Deloitte-managed database,” Heitner wrote. “But WHO gets access? The NCAA won’t say. Your athlete’s Nike deal details could be floating around for rivals to exploit. Zero data protection guarantees = zero trust.”

Heitner – a former law professor and one of the key figures in drafting Florida’s NIL legislation – found that “Section E” within the NCAA’s House Settlement documents could cause a serious issue.

The clearinghouse process requires all NIL deals worth over $600 to be reported alongside written documentation, clear agreement terms and compensation details. And that information is considered sensitive in nature, especially to agents and competing brands.

“Agents are worried this could deter some brands from engaging with college athletes altogether, especially if they fear their proprietary terms will be exposed,” Heitner wrote.

More and more brands have entered the NIL space, supporting some of the top college athletes in the country like Texas quarterback Arch Manning, who has partnered with major brands like Uber and Redbull, among others.

But the future has more questions than answers given the controversial confidentiality clauses surrounding NIL Go.

The NCAA can get ahead of the issue by instituting exemptions for true brand deals, clarifying data protections and addressing confidentiality conflicts, according to Heitner, who pleaded to the governing entity to listen to those who are already involved in the NIL world.

“The NCAA/Commission has a chance to get at least this portion of the clearinghouse right, but it’s going to take listening to the folks on the ground—agents, college athletes, and brands—who live this every day,” he wrote.