diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-ubuntu-coverage.yml b/.github/workflows/build-ubuntu-coverage.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 680481ba82..0000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/build-ubuntu-coverage.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,97 +0,0 @@
-# This workflow generates C code coverage information from the unit test
-# suite. Note that for intrinsics, it only runs what gets compiled
-# and would naturally run. It also is limited to what can run in
-# a CI environment
-# IMPORTANT: binaries are not to be uploaded from this workflow!
-
-name: Ubuntu coverage
-
-# Run CI only on changes to main branch, or any PR to main.
-# Do not run CI on any other branch. Also, skip any non-source changes
-# from running on CI
-on:
-  push:
-    branches: main
-    paths-ignore:
-      - 'docs/**'
-      - 'examples/**'
-      - '.gitignore'
-      - '*.rst'
-      - '*.md'
-      - '.github/workflows/*.yml'
-      # gcov/lcov only gets C coverage
-      - 'src_py/**'
-      # re-include current file to not be excluded
-      - '!.github/workflows/build-ubuntu-coverage.yml'
-
-  pull_request:
-    branches: main
-    paths-ignore:
-      - 'docs/**'
-      - 'examples/**'
-      - '.gitignore'
-      - '*.rst'
-      - '*.md'
-      - '.github/workflows/*.yml'
-      # gcov/lcov only gets C coverage
-      - 'src_py/**'
-      # re-include current file to not be excluded
-      - '!.github/workflows/build-ubuntu-coverage.yml'
-
-concurrency:
-  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}-ubuntu-coverage
-  cancel-in-progress: true
-
-jobs:
-  gen_coverage:
-    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
-    strategy:
-      fail-fast: false  # if a particular matrix build fails, don't skip the rest
-      matrix:
-        os: [ubuntu-24.04]
-
-    env:
-      # Pip now forces us to either make a venv or set this flag, so we will do
-      # this
-      PIP_BREAK_SYSTEM_PACKAGES: 1
-      # We are using dependencies installed from apt
-      PG_DEPS_FROM_SYSTEM: 1
-
-    steps:
-    - uses: actions/checkout@v4.2.2
-
-    - name: Install deps
-      # https://github.com/actions/runner-images/issues/7192
-      # https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/47863
-      run: |
-        sudo apt-get update --fix-missing
-        sudo apt-get install lcov -y
-        sudo apt-get install libsdl2-dev libsdl2-image-dev libsdl2-mixer-dev libsdl2-ttf-dev libfreetype6-dev libportmidi-dev python3-dev -y
-
-    - name: Build with coverage hooks and install
-      id: build
-      run: |
-        python3 dev.py build --coverage
-
-    - name: Run tests
-      env:
-        SDL_VIDEODRIVER: "dummy"
-        SDL_AUDIODRIVER: "disk"
-      run: python3 -m pygame.tests -v --exclude opengl,music,timing --time_out 300
-
-    - name: Generate coverage
-      id: gen-coverage
-      # want to continue regardless of whether a test failed or not as long as the job wasn't cancelled
-      if: ${{ steps.build.conclusion == 'success' && !cancelled() }}
-      run: |
-        lcov --capture --directory . --output-file ./coverage.info
-        genhtml ./coverage.info --output-directory ./out
-
-    # We upload the generated files under github actions assets
-    - name: Upload coverage html
-      # want to continue only if the coverage generation was successful
-      if: ${{ steps.gen-coverage.conclusion == 'success' && !cancelled() }}
-      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
-      with:
-        name: pygame-wheels-coverage
-        path: ./out
diff --git a/.github/workflows/cppcheck.yml b/.github/workflows/cppcheck.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 2594db25d7..0000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/cppcheck.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,41 +0,0 @@
-name: cppcheck Static Analysis
-
-# Run cppcheck on src_c changes to main branch, or any PR to main.
-on:
-  push:
-    branches: main
-    paths:
-      - 'src_c/**'
-
-  pull_request:
-    branches: main
-    paths:
-      - 'src_c/**'
-
-concurrency:
-  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}-cppcheck
-  cancel-in-progress: true
-
-# TODO: Any more static checkers can be added here
-jobs:
-  run-cppcheck:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
-
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4.2.2
-
-      - name: Install deps
-        # https://github.com/actions/runner-images/issues/7192
-        # https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/47863
-        run: |
-          sudo apt-get update --fix-missing
-          sudo apt install cppcheck
-
-      - name: Run Static Checker
-        # skip cppcheck on SDL_gfx, scrap, scale_mm* and ft_cache for now
-        # suppress missingReturn and syntaxError because it gives many false positives
-        run: cppcheck src_c --enable=performance,portability,warning \
-          --suppress=*:src_c/freetype/ft_cache.c --suppress=*:src_c/scrap* \
-          --suppress=*:src_c/scale_mmx*.c --suppress=*:src_c/SDL_gfx/* \
-          --suppress=missingReturn --suppress=syntaxError -DWITH_THREAD -j $(nproc) \
-          -DPG_MAJOR_VERSION -DPG_MINOR_VERSION -DPG_PATCH_VERSION -DPG_VERSION_TAG
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-ubuntu-debug-python.yml b/.github/workflows/run-ubuntu-checks.yml
similarity index 57%
rename from .github/workflows/build-ubuntu-debug-python.yml
rename to .github/workflows/run-ubuntu-checks.yml
index b1c24766e5..06eb1ccbd6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-ubuntu-debug-python.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/run-ubuntu-checks.yml
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
-# This workflow runs a build with a python version that has debug symbols
+# This workflow runs a build with a python version that has debug symbols.
+# Also generates coverage information from unit tests. Note that for intrinsics,
+# it only runs what gets compiled and would naturally run. It also is limited to
+# what can run in a CI environment.
 # Update this workflow when our min/max python minor versions update
 # This workflow is necessary to ensure that we can build and run with
 # a debug python build without too much worrying about SIGABRT being thrown
 # IMPORTANT: binaries are not to be uploaded from this workflow!
 
-name: Ubuntu debug python
+name: Ubuntu Checks
 defaults:
   run:
     shell: bash -leo pipefail {0}
@@ -23,7 +26,7 @@ on:
       - '*.md'
       - '.github/workflows/*.yml'
       # re-include current file to not be excluded
-      - '!.github/workflows/build-ubuntu-debug-python.yml'
+      - '!.github/workflows/run-ubuntu-checks.yml'
 
   pull_request:
     branches: main
@@ -35,14 +38,14 @@ on:
       - '*.md'
       - '.github/workflows/*.yml'
       # re-include current file to not be excluded
-      - '!.github/workflows/build-ubuntu-debug-python.yml'
+      - '!.github/workflows/run-ubuntu-checks.yml'
 
 concurrency:
-  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}-ubuntu-debug-python
+  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}-ubuntu-checks
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
-  debug_python:
+  debug_coverage:
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false  # if a particular matrix build fails, don't skip the rest
@@ -69,7 +72,7 @@ jobs:
       # https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/47863
       run: |
         sudo apt-get update --fix-missing
-
+        sudo apt-get install lcov -y
         sudo apt-get install libsdl2-dev libsdl2-image-dev libsdl2-mixer-dev libsdl2-ttf-dev libfreetype6-dev libportmidi-dev -y
 
     - name: Install pyenv
@@ -98,7 +101,7 @@ jobs:
       id: build-pygame-ce
       run: |
         pyenv global ${{ matrix.python }}-debug
-        python dev.py build --lax
+        python dev.py build --lax --coverage
 
     - name: Run tests
       env:
@@ -107,3 +110,50 @@ jobs:
       run: |
         pyenv global ${{ matrix.python }}-debug
         python -m pygame.tests -v --exclude opengl,music,timing --time_out 300
+
+    - name: Generate coverage
+      id: gen-coverage
+      # want to continue regardless of whether a test failed or not as long as the job wasn't cancelled
+      if: ${{ steps.build-pygame-ce.conclusion == 'success' && !cancelled() }}
+      run: |
+        lcov --capture --directory . --output-file ./coverage.info
+        genhtml ./coverage.info --output-directory ./out
+
+    # We upload the generated files under github actions assets
+    - name: Upload coverage html
+      # want to continue only if the coverage generation was successful
+      if: ${{ steps.gen-coverage.conclusion == 'success' && !cancelled() }}
+      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+      with:
+        name: pygame-coverage-${{ matrix.os }}-${{ matrix.python }}
+        path: ./out
+
+  # Run cppcheck static analysis on src_c changes
+  run-cppcheck:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    needs: debug_coverage
+
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4.2.2
+
+    - name: Check if any src_c files changed
+      id: check-changes
+      run: |
+        git fetch origin ${{ github.base_ref }} --depth=1 || true
+        git checkout ${{ github.base_ref }}
+        CHANGED_FILES=$(git diff --name-only origin/${{ github.base_ref }}...HEAD)
+        echo "$CHANGED_FILES" | grep '^src_c/' || echo "skip=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+    - name: Install cppcheck
+      if: steps.check-changes.outputs.skip != 'true'
+      run: |
+        sudo apt-get update --fix-missing
+        sudo apt install cppcheck
+
+    - name: Run Static Checker
+      if: steps.check-changes.outputs.skip != 'true'
+      run: cppcheck src_c --enable=performance,portability,warning \
+        --suppress=*:src_c/freetype/ft_cache.c --suppress=*:src_c/scrap* \
+        --suppress=*:src_c/scale_mmx*.c --suppress=*:src_c/SDL_gfx/* \
+        --suppress=missingReturn --suppress=syntaxError -DWITH_THREAD -j $(nproc) \
+        -DPG_MAJOR_VERSION -DPG_MINOR_VERSION -DPG_PATCH_VERSION -DPG_VERSION_TAG