Colorado assistant Trevor Reilly has rare nostalgia with College Football 25

Colorado Buffaloes assistant coach watches history being repeated

Jason Jones/ SI

Trevor Reilly waited over a decade for EA Sports to release a new version of the timeless classic college football video game. It seems like yesterday he was in Salt Lake City talking trash with former Utah teammates over NCAA 14. With controllers in their hands, it was a tradition players relished at the start of each season because—even if their in-game avatars were represented by either a fake name or by number alone—it gave them the chance to be in the game they grew up playing.

“We (Utah) weren’t a very good team then,” Reilly told the Salt Lake Tribune. “We were 5-7. I still have that game. It’s fun for my kids to have. They can still play that game with me in it.”

That sense of imagination, connecting college football fans, players, and even coaches alike, went on an 11-year hiatus following the release of NCAA 14. A lawsuit arose from former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon surrounding issues with name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights, and EA Sports stopped making college sports video games.

“I guess what was disappointing is that they didn’t figure it out earlier, right? A lot of kids missed out on a great opportunity of being in a video game,” Reilly said while reflecting on the game’s hiatus.

For years following the game’s discontinuation, NCAA 14 fans gathered in online forums, creating up-to-date rosters and hoping for the game’s eventual return. Others opted to send off their Xbox 360s and PS3s to console hackers, so they could download NCAA 14 Revamped, a modded version with updated graphics and uniforms.

Reilly, now a special teams assistant with Deion Sanders and Colorado, feels nostalgic seeing Travis Hunter on the cover of College Football 25. The Buffaloes two-way star celebrated his accomplishment last week by schooling a few lucky fans at the release party outside of Boulder.

Former Utah quarterback Brian Johnson, who was a teammate of Reilly's graced the cover of NCAA 10, which was released 15 years ago. Now, as he watches one his own proteges garner the same glory, he can’t help but feel ecstatic watching CU players use the game as a uniting tool. Hunter can be seen streaming the game with his CU teammates on YouTube.

“It adds more excitement,” Reilly said about Hunter being on the cover. “It kind of puts some pressure on everybody, like ‘Yo man, we’re the talk of the town.’ We’re gonna have a target on our back.”

Those dark times are now over. College Football 25 officially released on July 19. Unlike in the past, current college athletes will see their names in the game. As part of an NIL deal to include players’ names, images, and likenesses in the game, they received a one-time payout of $600 and a free copy of the game.

College football fans rejoiced and united over the return of the gaming franchise, with over 2.8 million unique players playing the game during its early access period, even before the game was generally released.