Bill Belichick may be one of the most fascinating figures for the 2025 college football season, but you won't find him in the sport's biggest video game.

EA College Football 26 will not feature Belichick as the head coach at UNC despite him joining the Tar Heels following the 2024 season.

The game added real-life coaches to the sidelines this year, making it even more realistic to the current state of college football. But Belichick is among the few coaches who decided not to offer his likeness to the video game. 

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Here's why Belichick is absent from EA College Football 26.

MORE: Why Ryan Williams, Jeremiah Smith were named College Football 26 cover athletes

Why isn't Bill Belichick in EA College Football 26?

Although his participation wasn't very highly anticipated, Belichick isn't in College Football 26 simply because he declined to be in it.

The Athletic's Chris Vannini officially revealed Monday that neither Belichick nor Deion Sanders will be in the video game, each replaced by a coach that was just created for the game.

No Deion Sanders or Bill Belichick among the real coaches in #CFB26, as expected.

Belichick didn't do Madden, either. pic.twitter.com/GPkl3lcX87

— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) July 7, 2025

For Belichick, his refusal to offer his likeness to EA was only a continuation of his decisions while in the NFL. He never gave his likeness to the Madden franchise either, so his offseason move to the NCAA didn't change his opinion about being in a video game.

Belichick and Sanders are joined by Miami's Mario Cristobal, Iowa's Kirk Ferentz, Utah State's Bronco Mendenhall, WKU's Tyson Helton, Jacksonville State's Charles Kelly, Stanford's Frank Reich, UAB's Trent Dilfer, ULM's Bryant Vincent, UNM's Jason Eck, and Kent State's Mark Carney among coaches who aren't in College Football 26, per On3.

MORE: How much do players make from appearing in College Football 26?

Was Bill Belichick in Madden?

Belichick only ever appeared in one Madden game: Madden NFL 2002. After that, he never appeared in the game, with fake coaches replacing him on the Patriots' sideline.

With @EAMaddenNFL being released today, let's all remember that there was a time when Bill Belichick actually was in the game. pic.twitter.com/6jfX0SI4wg

— Pats Pulpit (@patspulpit) August 25, 2020

The reason Belichick rarely appeared in Madden is because he wasn't a member of the NFL Coaches Association, the group that licensed coaches' likenesses to EA Sports.

Asked why he wasn't in Madden in 2012, Belichick simply told Yahoo Sports: "I don't know."

Bill Belichick Madden replacements

Because Belichick has been absent from EA Sports' Madden series over the years, the game developers have had to use fake coaches to take his spot as New England's coach. Chad Masters and Griffin Murphy were two of the often-used fake names for the Patriots' head coach, or even sometimes just "NE Coach."

In 2024, Belichick was replaced in Madden with a coach named "Peter Gaffney."

BILL BELICHICK IN MADDEN 24 pic.twitter.com/G55W4YGRV9

— RBT (@SamuelBrownRBT) August 15, 2023

Is Hector Luna a real person?

Hector Luna, the name of the UNC coach in College Football 26, is not the name of a real college football coach. 

Coincidentally, though, Hector Luna is the name of a former MLB player who played in the big leagues from 2004-12, primarily with the Cardinals. The real Hector Luna racked up 208 hits and 15 home runs in his seven years in MLB. 

Of course, when the name Hector Luna was shared as the replacement for Belichick in the video game, some made the connection to the former baseball player.

Hector Luna? The baseball player? https://t.co/wmQHkmGxs7 pic.twitter.com/YSAF2WiAUl

— Justin Nguyen 🏈🏁 (@ZappaOMatic) July 7, 2025

Hector Luna was a solid second baseman till the Cardinals traded for Ronnie Belliard in the 2006 championship season. https://t.co/04UkWG6syR

— Greg Jansen (@GAJ13) July 7, 2025

How to create a coach in EA College Football 26

In College Football 26's Dynasty Mode, users can create their own head coach for their program.  EA Sports announced in June that the custom head coach feature was included, writing that in the game, "every decision, every upgrade, and every hire helps define your journey to the top of the college football world and the legacy you leave behind."

When one creates a new dynasty in the game, they can either create their own head coach or step into the role of an existing one. Each of the real-life head coaches has their authentic playbook, tendencies, schemes, etc.

However, if you create your own coach, you can customize everything from their appearance and clothes to their demeanor and the way they stand. With EA emphasizing that "no coach can be great at everything," managing the staff around the coach is important to complement the coach's strengths.

Difficulty in reaching the maximum level for a head coach also increased, including a max coach level of 100. There are three archetypes for coaches: Recruiter, Motivator, and Tactician. 

MORE: Everything to know about Dynasty Mode in College Football 26