UCF Adds Linebacker Cole Kozlowski as College Eligibility Rule Shuffle Continues

UCF is reportedly adding linebacker Cole Kozlowski to its roster, a decision connected to the ongoing eligibility scramble sweeping through college football. The development comes as players and programs continue to navigate a major shift allowing athletes to potentially compete for five full seasons, an NCAA change that has produced lawsuits and competing interpretations about which players are eligible to return.

According to Yahoo Sports, Kozlowski’s addition is part of the broader ripple effect from a controversial court ruling issued in Colorado involving players from the Class of 2022. The reporting frames the move as another step toward participation under the expanded eligibility possibility, rather than as a routine offseason roster tweak.

In practical terms, a player’s ability to return for additional seasons can affect more than just the depth chart. It changes roster construction, scholarship planning, and the balance between younger developmental players and older, more experienced bodies who can immediately contribute. For a program like UCF, which operates within the competitive pressure of the American Athletic Conference, each additional year of eligibility can alter how quickly the staff reloads at key positions.

For Kozlowski specifically, the announcement is presented as an “add” to UCF’s roster following that legal and eligibility landscape. Beyond his position, however, the publicly available information in the current report is limited, so details such as his prior school, exact role projections, and timing for when he will be available are not fully established here. That means UCF’s official roster release and academic/eligibility status checks remain the most important confirmation points.

The larger story is that college football is no longer only adjusting to typical offseason variables like recruiting and transfers. Eligibility changes driven by court involvement are creating an additional moving target that programs must track daily, especially for schools trying to plan multiple layers ahead. Even when a player is cleared to return, the downstream effect on other recruits and transfers can be significant, because roster slots are finite.

What to watch next is whether UCF makes a formal roster and eligibility update through its athletics communications channels, and whether the NCAA’s broader response to the legal environment results in further clarification or renewed uncertainty. If more players follow a similar pathway, the competitive landscape could shift again across conferences, particularly among teams building for the next two seasons rather than just the next one.