TL;DR: College Football 27 is adding a TON of cool stuff. Here's the short list: Coach Mode lets you run the whole game from the sidelines. Formation Shifting lets you fake one formation and snap into another. There are new tackle types. Lunge and Wrap. Defensive playbooks jump from 9 to 31. You get Roll Coverage and Cross Man to lock down receivers. Run Blocking Fits make the run game better. Over 1,500 new plays got added. Plus Halftime Shows, NIL week-to-week recruiting, custom high schools in Road to Glory, and two new teams. Sacramento State and North Dakota State.
Below I break down all 16. Read the whole thing or jump to the one you care about. Each one stands on its own.
What is Coach Mode in College Football 27?
Coach Mode lets you run the entire game from the sidelines. You're not controlling one player anymore. You're controlling the whole team. You still call hot routes and make plays, just like a real coach.
You get control over:
- Whether YOU snap the ball or let the CPU do it
- Whether YOU control the quarterback or the CPU does
- Whether you use coach suggestions or let the game call your plays
There's a pre-play cutoff. This decides how long you can make pre-play adjustments before communication gets cut off. It's built to copy real life. Once the play clock hits 15 seconds, communication is done. No more adjustments. You're at the mercy of whatever your team does.
It also comes with a coach perspective camera. You literally watch the game from the sidelines like a real coach.
How does Formation Shifting work in CFB 27?
Formation Shifting lets you come out in a fake formation, then shift into the one you actually want to run. You pick it at the play call screen.
Here's how it works:
- At the play call screen, use the right stick to change your formation shift
- You'll come out in that fake formation
- Tap A or X to snap the ball
- Your players shift into the real formation you want to run
This keeps the defense off guard. It gives you a big edge in the numbers game.
Example: Come out strong to the LEFT as a decoy. Then shift into your main formation strong to the RIGHT. Defense is stuck reacting.
Can you change the crowd in College Football 27?
Yes. You can change your crowd to match whatever vibe you want. You do this before loading into a game. In Play Now AND Dynasty.
The crowd themes:
- Whiteout
- Blackout
- Stripeout
There have been some funny memes about this too. A few examples:
- Oklahoma State, banana costumes / shirtless men pattern
- University of Texas, throwing trash on the field pattern
- Texas Tech. Throwing batteries (not totally familiar with it, but pretty funny)
Those three were memes. But maybe next year they give us more options and I can actually have my fans throw trash onto the field.
What are the new tackle stick options in CFB 27?
There are two brand new tackle types coming. Lunge and Wrap. The tackle stick is the right analog stick.
Right now you only have two:
- Right stick UP, Hit stick (pure hit)
- Right stick DOWN, Cut stick (takes out the halfback's legs)
In College Football 27, two new directions get added:
- Right stick LEFT, Lunge tackle
- Right stick RIGHT, Wrap tackle
How good are they? We don't know yet. But we know they trigger new animations and could change the way you make every single tackle.
How many defensive playbooks are in College Football 27?
Right now there are only 9 defensive playbooks. College Football 27 is bringing 31 defensive playbooks. Plus a ton of new formations.
This list comes from a Reddit post by Gloomy Ads 699, pulled from the CF27 beta. Not 100% confirmed, but it looks correct-ish.
New formations to know
- 2-5. Brand new formation and set. Includes Over Wide. Not sure how good it'll be yet, but worth checking out.
- 3-3-5. Several three-high sets in here.
- 4-2-5. Includes a three-high set as well.
- Dime. Not all of it is brand new. But Nickel 3-3 Over Jack. That one is worth noting. I've already messed around with it and think it's incredibly cool.
These new formations slot into those new playbooks. That means you can play defense in ways that just weren't possible before. Especially when you pair it with the new settings EA gave us to control how our defense plays.
This is one free tip on the new defensive playbooks. Members get the full defensive scheme with 50+ more strategies, updated weekly. → civil.gg/become-a-member
What is the Roll Coverage feature in CFB 27?
As a defensive player in 27, you can lock up a specific receiver. You set it up in Coaching Adjustments.
You roll your coverage toward a specific player. You choose who to target:
- Fastest player on offense
- Highest overall player
- Position specific. WR1, WR2, WR3, and so on
What does rolling coverage actually do?
- Thing 1: Any roll defensive play you choose, like Cover 2 Roll or Cover 3 Roll, your coverage rolls toward the player you picked.
- Thing 2 (the secret one): It seems to make your zone players drift a little closer to that player.
Example: You have a deep middle third. You set the roll to WR1. WR1 is on the right side. That middle third now plays a little further to the right.
It also lets you adjust how your zones play pre-snap. Including doubling specific players. Example: Opponent has a great receiver to the right. You're in Tampa 2. You can tell your players to double-team that guy. Two defenders leave their zones and go double him.
What is Cross Man in College Football 27?
Cross man is a new defensive feature. And it's something we flat out CANNOT do in College Football 26.
Cross man lets you take ANY defender and man them up onto ANY receiver. No matter what side of the field either of them is on. That includes:
- Slot corners
- Outside corners
- Defensive ends
- Even a nose tackle
In College Football 26, if you try to man a defender onto someone on the opposite side of the field, you can't. You're stuck with receivers on that defender's side, or a halfback. The old workaround, flip-flopping both slot corners, is a hack. In 27, cross manning is built right into the game.
What's it good for? Stopping crossers, drags, and stuff like that.
Example: Their left receiver (number five) runs a crosser a lot. You know it's coming. You cross man right there to slow it down. The defender won't be in a perfect spot every time. But he's CLOSE. And close matters.
This works best when:
- Your defender is a good man coverage player
- The overall ratings / matchups are in your favor
- You're in College Football 27 where the feature is actually built in
How do Run Blocking Fits work in CFB 27?
This got added mid-year in College Football 26. And it's coming to 27 too. Hold the left trigger to see all your run blocking assignments. When you ID the mic or untarget somebody, your line's assignments change.
Untargeting a defender
- Untarget a defensive end, the blocker on him now ignores him
- That blocker may double team someone else or work to the second level
- BUT, if you untarget somebody, they may come free
- Use this as you see fit
ID the Mic on a user defender
This is the method I love most. Say your opponent is a user defender. Shooting the gap, blowing up your runs in the backfield. ID the mic on him and it does two things:
- Makes your offensive line more aware of that guy
- Can change the blocking so someone else picks him up. Especially if he was unblocked before
Using both of these together will make the run game in College Football 27 SIGNIFICANTLY better from day one. From my time in the beta early access, I can attest that's true.
What are Community Plays in College Football 27?
They add new plays every year. And this year is no exception. Developers told me over 1,500 brand new plays have been added. New formations AND community plays.
Here's what that means: they took the most popular plays that guys like me and other YouTubers ran last year and turned them into stock play calls. So if I had a play that was really popular, say, four hot routes, there's a chance that play is just in the game now. Stock. No adjustments needed.
I got to see some of these out of playbooks like Fresno State and Boise State. It's kind of ridiculous. These are plays we used to build by hand. Now you just use them.
Some people won't like this. But here's the reality:
- Every year there are good plays and bad plays
- A lot of the BASE play calls in the game aren't great
- If you call them, you're likely not having success before the ball's even snapped
Adding plays that top players already use, and letting anybody run them without making 50 adjustments, that's a really awesome add for the offense.
Can you watch from the sideline in Road to Glory?
Yes. Similar to Coach Mode on the Dynasty side. In Road to Glory, you can now watch your team play from the sidelines.
So if you're subbed out, maybe you got benched, or maybe you're the quarterback and your field goal unit just came on, you can watch the game-winning field goal from the sideline's point of view.
No more super sim screen where everything is flying by fast. You watch it in real time. This was in NCAA 14. Now it's back in College Football 27. FINALLY.
What new equipment customization is in CFB 27?
New gear is coming: and you can use a lot of it to customize your player.
What's included:
- Towels
- Smaller shoulder pads
- Rolled up jerseys and undershirts
- Clear reflective visors
- Waist worn play call sheets
- Captain patches
- And a lot more
Zoom in on that picture: what is that bad boy? That's a hanging mouthpiece right there. All of this is customizable. When you're in your Dynasty, you'll actually be able to use it.
What is the Halftime Show in College Football 27?
At halftime of your game, you can now see what's going on around the league in real time.
Here's an example of what it looks like:
- Ole Miss popping Texas (Texas likely comes back and wins, Hook 'em brother)
- Pittsburgh beat Miami, great upset
- OU lost to Mississippi State
This shows up at halftime of EVERY single game. You keep up to date with your whole league without leaving your game.
How does NIL recruiting work week to week in CFB 27?
On a week-to-week basis in College Football 27 Dynasty, you can go in and tinker with how much NIL you're giving each individual recruit.
- If you end up not liking someone as much, you could go down in their NIL
- If a player you really like is getting a lot of traction from another school, you could up their NIL
This is something you manage every single week. Meaning you'll have to keep a constant eye on it.
Can you customize the camera in College Football 27?
Yes. You can change the presentation pretty dramatically. I haven't talked about this a ton, and honestly I haven't even fully tested it myself, but there's a lot going on here.
In the camera screen, you have:
- Offensive camera preset
- Defensive camera preset
- Toggles to go through options
- Modular camera settings
The new modular camera lets you build your own gameplay camera package with over 16 options. You can change individual moments like:
- Drop back camera
- Hand off
- Pass in the air
To use it. Switch these options to modular, then go into your modular camera settings. This will let you play and see the game in a totally different experience.
Can you make custom high schools in Road to Glory?
Yes. In Road to Glory, you can replace all six high school teams with a custom Team Builder high school. Want to recreate your own high school conference? You can do exactly that.
- Build your high school with the exact colors you want
- Play against your actual real high schools if you choose
- Create a fictional college. And then commit to that school
You can even have a Team Builder program be a college, then commit to that fictional school if you want. This would have been the coolest thing in the world to me at age 15, playing small town Michigan high school football.
What are the two new teams in College Football 27?
Two brand new teams you can use. Sacramento State and North Dakota State.
I played Mills using North Dakota State. Pretty cool. Obviously no one's ever used this team before, so it's a brand new experience. They have an awesome playbook.