Cole Hutson files suit against the NCAA looking for another year of eligibility

Former Texas offensive lineman Cole Hutson, who exhausted his eligibility after 48 games in the burnt orange, has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in Travis County seeking temporary injunctive relief that would provide for him an extra year of eligibility. Hutson joins a number of student-athletes from the high school class of 2022, including Texas men’s basketball alums Jordan Pope and Chendall Weaver, seeking extra years of eligibility after the NCAA implemented the five-to-play-five rule for members of the class of 2023 and younger. [Sign up for Inside Texas for $1 then get 50% off your first year!] According to the filing, Hutson has retained David Obard of Clark Hill’s Collin County office. Inside Texas reached out to Obard on Saturday morning for comment. Filed in Travis County, the filing reads that Hutson “challenges defendant’s Seasons of Competition Rule in NCAA Bylaw 12.6 as applied to him in light of defendant’s recent rule change allowing football players graduating high school after 2022 to compete in five seasons of competition without needing to redshirt.” The complaint continues to say “defendant’s arbitrary application of this bylaw to plaintiff unfairly limits the number of games he can participate in during his five-year eligibility window, restrains his ability to further develop, restrains his ability to earn scholarship money as a student athlete in pursuit of his Master’s Degree, and restrains his ability to earn money through the use of his name, image, and likeness (NIL).” In addition, the complaint reads that UT-Austin “has a roster position on the football team for the upcoming season waiting for Cole Hutson, but he will be prohibited from filling that position unless he can obtain immediate emergency injunctive relief allowing him to sign a scholarship as well as NIL agreements.” Hutson played in 13 games in 2022, nine games in 2023, 16 games in 2024, and 10 games in 2025. He has 23 starts in his career. Hutson was not selected in the 2026 NFL Draft. On Hutson’s official 2025 roster page, he is listed as having earned an undergraduate degree in Management and is pursuing a master’s degree in Sport Management. During the 2026 offseason, Texas added offensive linemen Paris Patterson, Laurence Seymore, Melvin Siani, Dylan Sikorski, and Jonte Newman via the portal. Hutson is looking to join fellow 2022 classmate Connor Robertson on the 2026 roster. Robertson redshirted in 2022 and is listed as a senior on the 2026 roster.