Building on the successful revival of the past two years, EA Sports College Football 27 is once again raising the bar, with a greater focus on authenticity ahead of its July 9 release.
But its trademark slogan, “It’s in the game,” does not entirely ring true, as several of college football’s most recognizable figures, including Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders, are once again absent.
Deion Sanders Drops Savage Reply Over His Absence From EA Sports College Football 27
The EA Sports College Football franchise returned after an 11-year hiatus in 2024 and was welcomed with tremendous fanfare upon the release of its latest installment. Last year’s edition took things a step further by introducing more than 300 real-world coaches with authentic playbooks, over 2,800 new plays, and enhanced gameplay mechanics that better captured the spirit of college football.
However, despite being one of the sport’s biggest coaching personalities, Sanders has declined to allow EA Sports to use his likeness in any of the three editions since the franchise’s return.
While there had been no specific explanation for his decision in previous years, the former NFL Defensive Player of the Year was asked directly about his absence on Tuesday at Big 12 Media Day, and, as always, his response was memorable.
“I don’t know about the video games,” Sanders said. “I have a wonderful team that handles a lot of business for me. If I’m not in the game, that means they weren’t paying enough. It probably didn’t fit where we’re going right now. That’s probably it. It was probably just that simplistic.”
That also sheds some light on why he has remained absent from the franchise over the past two seasons, and he is not the only high-profile coach to have opted out. North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick, Miami’s Mario Cristobal, Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, and Utah State’s Bronco Mendenhall are also missing from the game.
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While EA Sports pays players $1,500 and provides them with a free copy of the game for opting in, and schools receive between $10,000 and $100,000 depending on the success of their football programs over the past decade, coaches are included through unpaid licensing agreements. Unless that changes, it seems unlikely that coaches such as Sanders and Belichick will choose to participate.
Sanders began his college coaching career at Jackson State in 2020, transforming the Tigers into an HBCU powerhouse before taking over at Colorado in 2023. His second season in Boulder produced the program’s best record in years, but the 2025 campaign proved far more difficult.
With Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter, and several other key contributors departing for the NFL, Colorado managed just three wins. Even so, Sanders remains committed to turning things around. He overhauled his coaching staff ahead of the 2026 season, hiring new coordinators on both sides of the ball and bringing in 42 transfers through the portal.
