Cohen Fuller’s collegiate football career has been a roller coaster of twists and turns, but he’s still hoping for one more ride.
Fuller, a 6-foot-3-inch, 300-pound defensive lineman out of Inglewood, California, played for UNLV last year, but his hopes for a 2026-27 season are currently pending the results of a lawsuit filed Monday in Nevada’s U.S. District Court.
He played for UNLV, Coastal Carolina, El Camino College (California), and Graceland University (Iowa). The NCAA says he has exhausted his eligibility, but Fuller’s legal team says otherwise.
Attorney Tim O’Reilly, a former UNLV football player and past president and current board member of the UNLV Football Foundation, is representing Fuller along with Geoffrey Tabor. They are challenging the NCAA’s five-year rule based on the fact that Fuller played one of his seasons at the junior college level (El Camino) and another at the NAIA level (Graceland).
“It is Fuller’s understanding that if the NCAA does not grant him a waiver or he is not otherwise deemed eligible prior to the start of summer training, the schools that have offered him a spot on their team will be forced to replace him with another player and he will lose his opportunity to play for next season,” they recently wrote. “There is also enormous benefit to summer training and the beginning of fall camp before the UNLV season starts.”
Fuller personally expressed his feelings in the lawsuit and noted that the NCAA denying his request for a waiver in January had already caused him to miss out on UNLV practice.
“I have not yet exhausted my four seasons of NCAA Division I eligibility,” he said. “The NCAA’s denial is based on my prior participation at non-NCAA institutions.”
It is unclear which schools offered spots, but there are multiple indications that Fuller wants to return to the Rebels’ roster for at least another season. Maybe two.
Besides the lawsuit’s mentions of the UNLV practices and season, earlier this month the program’s press release on Phil Steele’s preseason All-Mountain West teams included mention of the fourth-teamer Fuller as a “fifth-year defensive tackle.” Fuller’s UNLV bio webpage includes the 2026 entry of the recognition from Steele.
“As a result of the NCAA’s decision, I stand to lose pending NIL opportunities and available revenue-sharing compensation through UNLV’s athletic program, which UNLV has made available to me contingent on my eligibility,” Fuller said in the suit.
Fuller’s lawsuit is not unprecedented, as he is the fourth former UNLV football player to challenge the NCAA’s five-year rule. Tatuo Martinson and Jett Elad won injunctions to play their fifth year at San Diego State and Rutgers, respectively.
Fuller is hoping to do the same, and he could be a key part of a promising Rebels team. He had nine solo tackles and 18 assisted tackles last season, along with 3.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, and one pass breakup. He would be joining standouts Lucas Conti and Landen Thomas as part of a potentially dominant defensive line.
Contact Jeff Wollard at jwollard@reviewjournal.com.
