If you’ve decided to buy College Football 26 coins to enhance your Dynasty mode roster, you should know about some major issues with player progression this year—and workarounds you can try. The game’s player progression system, especially with manual XP gain settings and reduction penalties, is currently broken during the regular season. This issue causes players to earn significantly fewer skill points than intended, which can severely limit your team’s growth if not managed carefully.

Extensive community testing has revealed that when manual progression is set with a penalty percentage (commonly 25%), in-season player skill gains approach zero or near-zero. This hurts player development for anyone who manually controls progression during active play or simulations. The math behind it doesn’t add up: players are losing far more points than the intended 25%, sometimes receiving only a fraction of the expected XP.

In contrast, auto progression mode provides a much more stable and generous skill point gain throughout the season, enabling players to develop several times faster than manual progression allows. The catch is that auto progression assigns XP upgrades randomly, removing the ability to fully direct skill point allocation yourself.

Given this broken state, one of the best current community recommendations is to keep auto progression on during the regular season and then switch back to manual progression once the season ends. This approach allows players to maximize skill gains during the period where manual progression is broken, then regain customization in the offseason. However, this workaround might feel like a compromise for competitive leagues wanting full control at all times.

Another point to keep in mind is the impact of active gameplay. Players who actually play through games earn more coaching points, bonuses, and XP, helping increase skill progression beyond what a pure simulator can achieve. So the greatest gains come from mixing active play with smart progression mode settings.

Beyond that, some tiers of player development packages, like the “talent developer,” can further boost skill XP, helping offset some of the progression loss when applied effectively. Combining these packages with the right progression mode setup is crucial to reach maximum player growth.

If you are in a league or community where progression penalties are unavoidable, consider advocating for zero-percent penalty settings or allowing toggle progression modes. This minimizes the steep progression restrictions many are feeling now.

If you want to fully leverage your investment when you buy College Football 26 coins, adjusting progression settings and understanding this flaw is critical for leveling up your dynasty and avoiding falling behind in skill growth compared to auto progression users.

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