We are barreling rapidly towards College Football 26 and its July 10 release date. Among the many improvements in the latest installment are 300 real college football coaches and their likeness included in the sports sim. As is often the case with these, some look a little bit better than others. Ohio State Coach Ryan Day's likeness, well I'll just let you see:
Ohio State HC Ryan Day IRL vs in EA CFB 26 🌰
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) May 28, 2025
Coaches were officially confirmed to be in the game by EA yesterday pic.twitter.com/VZptFlumR3
One X user declared this was Ryan Day's evil twin, "Brian Night." Every year there are several player and coach likenesses that look as if EA ran out of time before the game launched. Last year, I wrote about this hideous interpretation of Marvin Harrison Jr. in Madden 25.
It's now customary for patches and game updates to include redone player models. You expect them not to care about the guys at the end of the bench. But somehow, there are always really famous coaches and athletes who look as if the cloning process got interrupted before completion.
In any case, EA Sports College Football 26 includes hundreds of real coaches and their authentic playbooks, if not their actual appearance. This twisted vision of Ryan Day joins Dan Lanning, Kirby Smart, and a host of other coaching legends for a more authentic experience, in theory.
There are also 10,000 real players, 2,700 new plays, and a revamped Stadium Pulse experience to capture the feeling of being overwhelmed by the opposing crowd noise. And I get the feeling that not too long after launch, we'll get an update that fixes at least one coach's player likeness.