Cole Hutson’s push for one more year at Texas picked up real momentum Wednesday, when the offensive lineman reached an agreement with the NCAA that places him inside the federal case involving 2022 student-athletes seeking a fifth year of eligibility.
That development wipes out the need for the Aug. 10 hearing that had been set in state district court in Austin in the lawsuit Hutson filed on July 17.
Court records filed Wednesday show attorneys for the NCAA, the defendant in Hutson’s case, signed off on the move, which means Hutson now qualifies as part of the federal Wisne class-action case involving 2022 student-athletes pursuing that extra season.
The Wisne case already produced a major ruling last Friday, when U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney in Denver issued an injunction that granted a fifth year of eligibility to student-athletes who enrolled in college in the fall of 2022 and finished their eligibility in the spring of 2026.
Hutson, a fifth-year senior with one semester left in his master’s program at Texas’ McCombs School of Business, has been training all spring and summer while keeping an eye on possible pro opportunities, according to a source close to him.
He was not selected in April’s NFL Draft, then worked out at rookie minicamps with the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns without landing a free-agent deal.
On Wednesday, the first day of Texas training camp, Hutson was not on the field for practice.
“I don't really have much of an update yet,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said when asked about Hutson’s situation. “I think we'll find out more about Cole here probably within the next week or so. I think there's some positive signs that thing coming to fruition, but we'll see what happens.”
Hutson’s case stands out because he is the first known football player to challenge the NCAA’s newly adopted age-based eligibility rule. That rule starts counting from a player’s first college enrollment or the academic year after the player turns 19.
The change takes effect in August and does not apply to athletes whose eligibility expired at the end of the 2025-26 school year.
Sarkisian had already addressed Hutson’s situation at SEC Media Days in Tampa last month, making clear what Texas could gain if the legal fight ends in Hutson’s favor.
“If it ultimately all goes through, we're getting a veteran player, right?. At the end of the day, there's nothing like having an experienced player on your team, in your locker room, in the offensive line room.
What does the future hold? I don't know.
I haven't seen Cole. It's been seven months since the last time we played.
So there's a lot that we have to kind of sort through and unpack. But if we're fortunate enough to have him back, it'd be great.”
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