College Football 26 Road To Glory Guide for Beginners

We created a College Football 26 Road To Glory Guide to help players create their future Heisman-winner and NFL star. Overall, Road to Glory is a mode where you can control a single player as opposed to the entire team in Dynasty. You need to manage your activities off the field while winning games and completing other objectives to maintain your spot on the depth chart. Therefore, in this guide, we'll go over how to start your RTG Career, how to spend energy points, what the different menus do, and much more. Without further ado, let's dive right in.

College Football 26 Road To Glory Guide – What is Road To Glory?

College Football 26 Road To Glory is a mode where you create your own football player and live out their college career. But unlike last year's title, RTG in CFB 26 allows you to begin your career in high school. This five-game experience can vastly change who you are as a player, as well as the schools that take an interest in you. While the mode shares many similarities to last year, there's some new things we'd like to go over.

League Setup – College Football 26 Road To Glory Guide

Like Dynasty Mode, Road To Glory gives players the option to set their league up before playing. This includes the ability to create Custom Conferences, as well gameplay settings. If you're new to the series, don't be ashamed to start on Freshman or Varsity difficulty.

Additionally, we recommend you take a long look at the gameplay sliders. You don't need to change them right away, but feel free to adjust these over time if you want to see certain things like:

Better/worse pass or run block protection
Improved or worsened ability to catch (both WRs and DBs)
QB accuracy & more

You can adjust sliders for both CPU and User settings, so feel free to change these at any time. Furthermore, CFB 26 even lets you save some of your settings, allowing you to reload them in if you make a change you didn't like. Personally, I recommend increasing your run and pass block protection because sometimes the AI just refuses to do its job.

Lastly, this page lets you import a High School Team Builder. If you already know how to use Team Builder, feel free to use this feature. However, it isn't necessary for the full experience.

What Positions Can You Play in College Football 26 Road To Glory? Positions & Archetypes

Overall, College Football 26 Road To Glory lets you play as a QB, HB, WR, MIKE LB, or a CB. Furthermore, each position contains multiple archetypes, each one containing different strengths and weaknesses. For example, Pocket Passer QBs start off with the best accuracy. Meanwhile, Pure Runner and Dual Threat QBs move much faster.

Check out our full guide on all the archetypes in College Football 26.

What Journey Should You Choose in College Football 26 Road To Glory? – College Football 26 Road To Glory Guide

In College Football 26 Road To Glory, you select a journey (backstory) for your player. Like last year, you have the choice of starting anywhere between a two and five-star recruit. As the ratings suggest, players with more stars tend to get picked up by big schools, or at least schools that have convinced them to join through other means.

There is no “best” journey in College Football 26, as it's based entirely on preference. However, your star-rating may have an impact on your playing time and list of schools who want you. If you want to play for a big school like Georgia or Penn State, you're going to need to have a high star rating. But that's not the only way you can impress coaches.

College Football 26 adds an entirely brand new experience to start your career called “The High School Experience”. You can technically turn this setting off and go straight to college if you like, but it is highly recommended that you play through all five games of your high school experience. We'll dive more into that in just a bit.

Interview Phase – College Football 26 Road To Glory Guide

Near the beginning of your experience (regardless of whether you play in High School or not), you'll receive a text from a local TV Reporter. She'll ask you what you're looking for in a school. If you've played Dynasty, you already know that each school possesses a Team Prestige a well as different School Grades. A few examples of these include:

Home Proximity – Distance between player's home and school
Championship Contender – Is the school a contender for the national championship?
Playing Time – Will the player see the field early and often?

Like last year, some grades cannot be changed, like Home Proximity. However, other grades can change over time, like Coach Prestige or Championship contender.

During your interview, you need to pick three core values you want in a school. Therefore, take time to look through some school grades (available in modes like Dynasty), to see what your dream school's best grades are.

For example, if you're from Alabama, and want to win a Championship, that may help you earn a spot on the Crimson Tide depth chart. Your answers may greatly influence who wants to play with you. However, don't expect Georgia to come knocking on your door if you're a two-star recruit just because you want to be a “Championship Contender.”

But how can you impress schools like Georgia to take you? Well, by building your tape in High School!

The High School Experience – College Football 26 Road To Glory Guide

College Football 26 Road To Glory allows players to undergo the High School Experience. Essentially, it's a five-game stretch where you play in a created High School. Check out our Team Builder guide to find how to you can create your own high school or college football team.

During your High School experience, you need to build up your tape score, create a list of schools you want to attend, and do other activities off the field that impact your character.

Building Tape is as straightforward as it sounds. If you play well during games, you'll have no issue impressing schools and increasing your star rating. However, you'll also need to complete Key Moments on each drive in order to gain a bonus Tape gain for schools. So, how does that all work?

Before a game begins, you'll have the option of picking 4 different moments, which are essentially objectives for you to complete on a drive. Additionally, they revolve around your position and archetype.

For example, as a Dual Threat QB, you may be asked to earn a certain number of yards scrambling. Or, you may need to gain a certain number of yards on one play. Therefore, take careful consideration in selecting which moments you want to complete.

Fortunately, if you fail a Moment, the game gives you retries. And in a worst case scenario, you can always just return to the Hub and restart from scratch. This also enables you the ability to re-select your moments, too.

Furthermore, when selecting your Moments, look at the bottom right box to see how much of a Tape bonus you gain with specific schools. For example, a school may gain 3x more interest in your tape because you completed an objective they were looking for. So, how can you use all this to get to the school you want to play for?

During your High School experience, you will create a list of 10 schools you'd like to attend. For this, we recommend dividing up your list as follows:

3 “Dream” Schools – Schools that you may not get into, but you really want to play for
4-5 Realistic Options – A School you can definitely start in for Year 1 (unless you want to Redshirt)
2-3 Backup Options – Schools that you'll definitely earn a scholarship for, even if they're low-ranked

Fortunately, you can always remove and add more schools during your experience until the end. Around the time of your final High School game, you'll need to reduce that list to just three schools. Don't worry, as you'll likely already know by then which schools want you the most.

The more tape score you earn, the more teams will be interested in you. Additionally, better performances yield more gains, such as an increase to your star rating. You could technically jump from a three-star recruit to a four or even five-star by the end of your experience. But what else can you do during your High School Days?

Off the field, you'll communicate with your coach, teammates, and even coaches from college teams. Overall, this allows you to get used to the decision making system you'll be seeing throughout your career.

Communications with coaches and players will be trivial for the most part. A teammate may ask if you're going to Homecoming, but you can decline this to go workout with your trainer if you wish. But the most important communications will be with coaches from colleges.

Highlight Moments are the most difficult moments to complete in High School. However, they also provide you with a massive Tape Score bonus (x6.0) for the College who gave you the challenge in the first place. For example, a Dual Threat QB may be asked to earn a 50+ yard run on a single play. Yikes!

These challenges are extremely difficult, and will require both skill and a bit of luck to complete. Therefore, think about the school that provided you the challenge. Was it a dream school? Or is it a school that already has a big interest in you?

Depending on how much tape you've already built up with a school, you may not need to go all the way with a Highlight Moment. Check your Top 10 Schools list to see your standing with each school. Additionally, you can also see their current recruiting class, as well as if they've offered a Scholarship.

Scholarships are the ultimate goal in High School during Road To Glory. Earning a scholarship with a team also nets you a scholarship bonus. These bonuses help determine your initial rating and abilities when starting in College.

How do you earn the best possible bonuses? By increasing your star rating, completing moments, and impressing schools. As long as you play well, and complete Moments that impress the schools you like, the scholarships will come rolling in. Overall, earning higher tier scholarships can net you:

Better Academics, Brand, Leadership, and Training Meter values
More XP
Extra Skill Points
A higher starting Coach Trust

Make sure to check out the recruiting board (specifically, the recruitment section) to see what scholarship bonuses a school is currently providing.

When you reach the end of your High School career, you can “Verbally Commit” to a team. Doing so locks in your current scholarship bonus, meaning it can't increase or decrease any more. But keep in mind that a school can still revoke an offer if they like someone else, too.

You are allowed to De-commit at any time. However, doing so comes with a price. A school may increase their tape score threshold, making it harder to join the team. Additionally, they might not offer you the same bonuses anymore, meaning you won't receive max scholarship bonuses.

About 2-3 weeks in your experience, you may already know which school you want to play for. By the end of Week 4, Committing to a school may be a good idea, especially if they:

Offer a great Scholarship Bonus
Offer you a Starting, or at least Second String Position

So, how do you finally pick the school you want to play for? On Signing Day, you'll see your player at a table with three hats, representing your top three schools. Before this moment, you need to reduce that list of 10 schools to three.

We recommend signing with a school that will either:

Start you in Year 1 OR
Redshirt you in Year 1 to make you a Starter in Year 2.

Redshirting comes with its advantages, but not everyone wants to simulate a full year. Check out the full list of pros and cons of Redshirting in College Football 26.

Have fun as you select your school, as your College experience has finally begun.

How to Increase your Attributes in College Football 26 – College Football 26 Road To Glory Guide

To increase your Attributes in College Football 26 Road To Glory, you must earn XP and level up to earn Skill Points. You can spend these skill points on increasing any of your core ratings. Increasing a rating increases the ratings of multiple attributes at once.

For example, spending skill Points on a QB's accuracy rating improves their:

Short, Medium, & Deep Throw Accuracy
Throw on the run
Throw Under Pressure

Each player possesses six core ratings, some of which are capped at certain levels due to your archetype. For example, the Dual Threat QB can only have a maximum IQ rating of 18/20.

How to Increase Coach Trust & Happiness in College Football 26 Road to Glory

In College Football 26, you need to improve your Coach Trust Meter, as well as the new Coach Happiness meter. Essentially you now need to keep your coach happy in order to earn Coach Trust. If a coach is Unhappy, or Neutral, with you, you'll either lose or not gain any coach trust.

This can cause a number of problems, like a Position Battle between you and the other player. Therefore, keep your coaches happy by:

Spending Energy Points on Leadership
Performing well during games and practice
Doing random activities that will impress your coach
Completing Specific in-game moments
Performing well Academically

The higher your Coach Happiness is, the higher a bonus you receive in Coach Trust. For example, a Happy Coach may give you a 1.15x Coach Trust Bonus to start. It's not a lot, but the happier your coach, the more you'll see the difference.

Why is Coach Trust so important? Because it helps you maintain your status as a starter. Furthermore, it helps you unlock more plays as well as the ability to adjust Hot Routes, Pass Protections, Audibles, and much more. Additionally, Coach Trust also impacts how many Play Counts and Extra Plays you can use in a game.

Moreover, Second String players can use Coach Trust and Happiness to gain on their competition and start a Position Battle. During this session you play three mini-games based around your position. You need to win at least two of these three battles in order to climb to the top. We recommend saving your game before initiating a position battle. Furthermore, you must have a Happy Coach in order to begin one.

Keep in mind that teammates can also increase their coach trust throughout the year. So play well, suck up to your coach, and perform well in school to give yourself the boost you need to take the reigns.

You can check your Coach Trust and Happiness meters in the Weekly Agenda within the Coach Tab.

What to Do During The Weekly Agenda in College Football 26 Road To Glory

The Weekly Agenda is the first thing you'll want to focus on every week during RTG. Every week, you must spend a limited number of Energy Points to spend on different activities, which include:

Academics – Increases GPA
- A GPA below 2.0 prevents you from playing
- Higher Academic scores result in higher Coach Happiness gains
- Preparedness earns you the Fan Favorite Ability
- Graduate early if you maintain a high GPA throughout your career
Leadership – Spend time with the team and earn the following:
- Increased Coach Happiness, Team XP gains, and Composure
- A new Mental Ability
Health – Indicates level of Wear & Tear
- Manage your Season & Career Health Pools (Check your health pools in the Health Section of Upgrade Player)
XP – Train your player
- Puts Wear & Tear on your body
Brand – Increase Brand awareness leads to more rewards
- New Mental Ability, Deal Tiers, and fan engagements

Overall, we recommend spending your Energy Points on Academics and Leadership first. If you actually want to play football, you need to go to class. And if you want the whole team to improve, Leadership can net you increased Team XP gains. Plus, the Mental Abilities are very useful early on if you can activate them.

But sometimes, you'll be forced to spend energy points on certain things like:

Brand Deals
School Work
Team Activities
Resting Your Player

Brand Deals are good if you want to increase your brand awareness. Personally, we think you should focus on your brand later, once you have a solid GPA and Leadership rating.

However, sometimes you may need to use Energy Points to maintain other ratings. Your Academic Advisor may recommend you study for an upcoming test, or your teammates may ask if you want to practice or hang out. Choose carefully, as depending on what you choose, you may have less points to spend in a given week.

On average, you earn six energy points on a normal week, seven on a bye, and five on a short week. Your team's schedule plays a role in how much time you have per week.

Practice – College Football 26 Road To Glory Guide

Practices in Road To Glory are mini-games that you can complete to increase your Coach Trust. Each position has their own unique practice mini-games, which we recommend you participate in every week.

When you complete a practice, you can receive a Bronze, Silver, or Gold rank. If you play poorly enough, you won't receive a rank and the bonus that comes with. Fortunately, you can restart a practice at any time as long as it hasn't finished. So if you know you won't complete it in time, just restart, or return to the hub and pick a new game.

While you can simulate Practice, we recommend doing it anyway. It's a nice way to be experimental with your play style. Furthermore, it just adds more depth to the mode and weekly agenda.

Gameday – College Football 26 Road To Glory Guide

We finally arrive to Gameday. There's some major differences between gameplay in RTG as opposed to Dynasty.

Firstly, Play-Calling is limited to your Coach Trust Levels. When you first begin, you're at the mercy of your coach's play-calling. However, depending on your Coach Trust level, you can gain more control of your offense, which includes:

Audibles
Hot Routes
Pass Protections
Extra Play Options (recycles all play suggestions)
Play Count (How many plays are available to choose from every time you huddle up)

Essentially, the more work you put in, the more control you earn. But your play-call recommendations are still suggested by the coach. For example, if you're winning by 31 points with 20 seconds left, your coach will almost always recommend a run play or kneel-down.

There is actually a workaround to all of this. By using a hurry-up offense, you can audible and select one of multiple different plays. Keep in mind, though, that repeated use of hurry-up may cause wear & tear on you and your teammates.

Wear & Tear – College Football 26 Road To Glory Guide

Every hit counts in College Football, so you need to maintain your player health. While you can turn this setting off before creating your league, we'll explain how it works anyway.

Wear & Tear is a system where players actually perform worse depending on several factors like:

How much damage they take (tackles)
How often they play (# of Snaps)
Injuries

In RTG, you have a season and career health pool, which you need to maintain during your career. If you end the year with a low season health pool, you'll actually start with less health the following year.

Therefore, manage your health, don't take reckless hits, and protect yourself. Nasty hits can cause wear & tear, as well as unexpected injuries. Furthermore, the amount of plays you run also affects your health.

Overall, that wraps up our College Football 26 Road To Glory Guide for beginners. We hope this mode helps you understand how RTG works. Furthermore, we wish you the best of luck in bringing glory to your school and getting drafted into the NFL. By the way, you'll be able to import your player to Madden NFL 26 when you finish your career.

Lastly, for more gaming and NCAAF news, visit ClutchPoints. Furthermore, subscribe to our gaming newsletter for more weekly info.

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