Cole Kozlowski’s path back to UCF has hit another legal wall, and the timing could hardly be worse for the Knights.
After being granted a fifth year of eligibility and telling reporters, "Good to be back," on Aug. 8, the All-Big 12 linebacker is once again out of the picture for now. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals granted the NCAA a stay on Judge Charlotte Sweeney of the U.S. District Court of Colorado’s July 31 ruling, which had given athletes who used up their fourth year of eligibility this past spring an extra season.
That means Kozlowski, who had been officially listed on UCF’s roster, has now been ruled ineligible to return. The situation remains fluid and could change again.
Coach Scott Frost described the whiplash bluntly on Aug. 10: "The rules are changing faster than Mario Brothers when you go through warp zones," Frost told local reporters. "He was cleared to be back and is enrolled in classes, but we’re waiting on a final decision."
For UCF, the uncertainty lands right in the middle of a defense that was already leaning on Kozlowski as a major piece. His return would have altered the depth chart and given the Knights another proven linebacker in a group that already had experience.
Last season, after transferring from Colgate, Kozlowski earned All-Big 12 Third Team honors. He finished second on the team with 82 tackles, including 48 solo stops, and added 7.5 tackles for loss behind Lewis Carter.
Carter and Kozlowski had formed a tough pairing for defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, and UCF even hinted at the linebacker’s return on X with a photo of the two together on Aug. 5.
Even with Kozlowski’s status unsettled, the Knights did add help during January’s transfer portal window. Old Dominion transfer Jahleel Culbreath and Wisconsin transfer Tackett Curtis joined the defense, with Curtis reuniting with Grinch after spending one season with him at USC and Wisconsin.
Curtis said Grinch’s scheme hasn’t changed much, and that familiarity should help him pick up concepts faster.
Those additions may be the best answer UCF has if Kozlowski stays sidelined through the season. For now, his comeback remains tied up in the courts, and the Knights head toward their opener against Bethune-Cookman in two weeks still waiting to know whether one of their biggest defensive pieces will be available.
Kozlowski’s bid to return has already gone through a long legal grind. He first sought a preliminary injunction in the Patterson et al v.
NCAA Tennessee case, but Judge William L. Campbell Jr. denied it on Jan.
- Sweeney later reversed that outcome, only for the latest stay to put everything back into limbo.
The broader push for a fifth season after a player has exhausted eligibility has sparked mixed reactions on social media and remains a complicated legal fight.
In Other News...
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Locketts offseason also has put him on a more visible pro path, with a spot on the 2026 Panini Senior Bowl Top 300 drawing notice around the program. His journey to this point has not been straightforward, and the reason he chose to stay in Orlando when he had other options says plenty about what this season means to him and to UCF, even as the bigger question is how much he can give them now that he is healthy again. [Read more 🡒]
Lewis Carter Is Becoming The Standard For UCF's Defense
Lewis Carter has spent the offseason collecting the kind of recognition that usually follows a breakthrough year, not just another preseason. The UCF linebacker, who paced the Knights in tackles last season, has been placed on the Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List after posting a career-high 92 stops and earning a spot on the leagues radar with All-Big 12 Honorable Mention and preseason second-team nods from Phil Steele and Athlon Sports.
For UCF, the broader significance goes beyond the individual honors. Carter is starting to look like the standard by which the Knights measure their defense, the player opposing offenses have to account for first and the one his own team can point to when talking about consistency and production. The next step is where the real pressure comes in, because the watch lists are in place and the accolades are stacking up, but the season will determine whether Carter can turn that status into something even bigger. [Read more 🡒]