Two of college football’s young stars will grace the cover of the sport’s next video game.
Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith and Alabama receiver Ryan Williams are the cover athletes for EA Sports College Football 26. The two players will be on the cover of the standard edition, while the deluxe edition features them and several stars, mascots and coaches from the past and present, including former cover stars in Reggie Bush and Tim Tebow, as well as Kirby Smart, Ryan Day and the Oregon Duck.
The game will come out July 10 for Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. The MVP bundle of College Football 26 and Madden 26 allows buyers to have three-day early access, meaning those who buy it would be able to play the college football video game on July 7. The full reveal for the game will be released Thursday, EA Sports said.
EA Sports said College Football 26 will celebrate ‘real-world coaches,’ indicating they will be in the game for the first time.
College Football 26 will be the second edition of EA Sports’ famed franchise after it was revived last year. Prior to the game’s hiatus from 2014-2023, the cover athletes were only players that completed their college careers. But with the franchise returning with player likeness in the game and compensation given for it, it has allowed for current athletes to be on the cover. The players for the College Football 25 cover were Travis Hunter, Quinn Ewers and Donovan Edwards.
Now for the 2026 version, the cover will feature two players coming off unforgettable freshman seasons.
Williams burst onto the scene in a September showdown against No. 1 Georgia, in which he had six catches for 177 yards, including the incredible 75-yard go-ahead touchdown catch in the fourth quarter. He finished the season with a team-high 865 yards and eight touchdowns.
Smith proved he was a star immediately in his time in Columbus, but he came up big in the postseason for the Buckeyes. He had six catches for 103 yards and two touchdowns in the College Football Playoff first-round win over Tennessee, and he followed it with a monster performance in the Rose Bowl victory against Oregon. He had seven catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns against the then-undefeated Ducks en route to the season ending with a national championship. He had 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns on the season.
‘A dream come true’
With the stellar start to their college careers, finding out they were selected was another thrilling moment for the young receivers.
‘Pretty much it’s a dream come true,’ Williams told USA TODAY Sports. ‘Just growing up and playing the game is something that you always dream about, so it definitely is super exciting.’
Williams added it’s one of the best accomplishments of his career so far, and it’s a tough one to rank for Smith; he did just win a national championship five months prior to the announcement.
‘Both is something special,’ he said. ‘I put the natty then the cover of the game because natty is something you’ve got to experience.’
Not only is it special to be a video game cover athlete, but it means a little more when it’s a game both stars frequently play. Both receivers said it was surreal to see themselves in a game and all of the little traits, like hometown and gear, be accurate in their presentation. Even if they’re in a real life Road to Glory, it doesn’t stop them from doing it virtually as well.
The game was positively received and extremely popular as EA Sports College Football 25 was the top-selling video game of 2024 and became the best-selling sports game in U.S. history, according to Inside Gaming. So popular that Williams said if he and his teammates weren’t at practice, meetings or class, they were playing the game in the team facility. Now they get to have some swagger when the next installment is released since the teammates of Williams and Smith will be playing a game with them on it.
Being a video game cover athlete is a great honor, but it also comes with some pressure. Prime example is the infamous ‘Madden’ curse from the NFL video game.
But in college football, it might be a blessing. Hunter went from cover star to Heisman Trophy winner, and Smith and Williams hope there’s some good juju awaiting them for the 2025 season. It’s hard to top a freshman season like they had, but they’re ready for the expectations that come with being the face of college football’s iconic franchise.
‘Going into the season, you know there’s going to be expectations because we’re cover athletes, we had good freshman seasons,’ Williams said. ‘Whatever the expectation, or whatever they think, pretty much I believe it’s going to happen on its own just because of the way we play football.’
(This story was updated to add a video.)