New Mexico fires fake coach in EA Sports College Football 26 Credit: New Mexico
By Sean Keeley on

When EA Sports’ College Football 26 launched in July, one of the new features it brought with it was the addition of real-life coaches to the sidelines.

However, not every college coach granted their likeness to the game, including North Carolina’s Bill Belichick, Colorado’s Deion Sanders, Miami’s Mario Cristobal, Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, and Utah State’s Bronco Mendenhall. That meant generic coaches replaced them in the gameplay.

New Mexico head coach Jason Eck was among those who weren’t in the initial release of the game. According to The Athletic’s Chris Vannini, the request to opt in was sent to the wrong people, so he didn’t see it in time for initial inclusion. EA Sports replaced him with a generic coach named Wyatt Emmett.

However, as part of a roster update that added over 1,000 new players to the game, Eck will now roam the sidelines for the Lobos.

That, of course, means Emmett is now out of a job, and perhaps more importantly, existence.

The school decided to have some fun with the update, announcing on social media that Eck was now in the game. However, the way they approached it confused a lot of college football fans.

At a glance, the first thing you notice is a giant, red “FIRED” graphic. The second thing you see is the visual of a coach. The third thing you notice is Eck’s handle in the post. So you would not have been blamed for taking a double- or triple-take and wondering if the Lobos had just fired their head coach.

Now, the coach in the graphic does look just a little different from Jason Eck, so New Mexico fans probably weren’t confused on that front. Still, the juxtaposition of saying Eck is in the game and pairing it with a graphic that reads “FIRED” must have been jarring.

To be fair, Eck and the school have been having some fun with Emmett’s inclusion for some time. Eck briefly changed his name on X to “Wyatt Emmett” after the game came out.

Alas, Emmett’s time at UNM is done. But good news, he’s already apparently resurfaced not too far away.

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.

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