See Rich Rodriguez Back with WVU in College Football 26 Game

Not only will WVU fans be able to play as their beloved Mountaineers in EA Sports College Football 26, but Rich Rodriguez will make his return to the West Virginia sidelines in the game before even doing it in real life.

A brief video has been released that showed Rodriguez walking to the middle of the field to shake hands with an opposing coach.

🤝 @RealCoachRod @EASPORTSCollege pic.twitter.com/ibh8rpRDO6

— West Virginia Football (@WVUfootball) June 24, 2025

As fans anxiously anticipate the release of College Football 26, EA Sports unveiled a couple covers for the game on Tuesday. WVU fans were pleased to see their Mountaineers represented, even ever so slightly, on one of the covers.

The first thing most fans do when they see a new video game is look to see if their team is represented. And to the delight of Mountaineer Nation, the WVU logo is evident.

A WVU fan and a West Virginia flag are both noticeable in the corner of a cover.

WVU Football Evident on EA Sports’ College Football 26 Cover

And while some may wish WVU was even more present, some Power Four programs were completely omitted all together. In fact, Pitt, West Virginia’s Backyard Brawl rival, is nowhere to be found at all.

College Football 26 will be officially released to the general public on July 10. This year’s game marks a continuation in the new era of EA Sports’ College Football series.

EA Sports brought back the popular video game in 2025 after a decade long hiatus. A ruling allowing player’s names to be used with an NIL payment made the return of the video game possible in this era of the sport. Schools are also able to profit from the game.

Find more coverage of the return of the EA Sports College Football video game series at WV Sports Now.