Texas is bringing Cole Hutson back.
As preseason camp continued into its second practice, word broke that the offensive lineman has reached an agreement with the NCAA to secure a fifth season of eligibility and return to the Forty Acres. His comeback process is set to begin on Friday.
“We are pleased to advise that Cole is rejoining the Texas Longhorns on the offensive line,” attorney David Ovard told On3. “Cole is thrilled to be playing with his beloved Longhorn teammates. We’re proud to work for him, and to have reached an agreement with the NCAA on this issue so that he can focus on being a student-athlete.”
The agreement appears to close the door on the legal fight Hutson started last month, when he filed a lawsuit in Travis County seeking emergency injunctive relief after the NCAA put in place a five-for-five eligibility model for athletes from the 2023 class onward. Hutson had already received a temporary restraining order in that case, before a ruling in Colorado last week went in favor of athletes over the NCAA and granted extra eligibility to members of the 2022 recruiting class.
Hutson came to Texas as part of the 2022 recruiting class out of Frisco, where he was a consensus four-star prospect. He was ranked No. 362 nationally and No. 13 among interior offensive linemen.
Texas now has a roster spot for the 6-foot-5, 308-pound lineman after the scholarship expansion went into effect this year. Over four seasons, Hutson appeared in 48 games and made 23 starts for the Longhorns.
He opened his college career in 2022 by starting all 13 games at right guard, then spent the next two seasons in a reserve role. In 2025, he began as the starting center, missed three games with an injury, then returned to start the final five games at left guard after classmate Connor Robertson took over at center.
Those changes helped settle the Texas offensive line after a rocky stretch for much of the year.
Hutson’s 2025 tape was a mixed bag. He was a strong run blocker, but pass protection was an issue, as he allowed two sacks, four quarterback hits and 14 pressures while posting a 43.7 pass-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus.
He went unselected in the 2026 NFL Draft and later took part in rookie minicamps with the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns.
If he does make it back onto the Texas roster, Hutson should give the Longhorns useful interior depth.
“Cole’s a guy with a lot of experience, played a lot of football for us, and he’s a guy that unfortunately didn’t get drafted, and so he puts himself in a bit of a different situation than maybe most guys that got done playing their fourth year in college,” Sarkisian said last month.
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