Will Louisville have Hutchinson, Mack, Perry for 2026 football season?

Louisville football's afternoon scrimmage was the easiest part of head coach Jeff Brohm's day.

Figuring out which players were eligible, however, was the tricky part.

"It changes every day, so it's hard to keep track," Brohm said. "Pretty much every day, we just call over compliance. They tell us what we can do and not do, and we roll with it. ... If your guys are here, you'd like them to be able to practice and play. So we're hopeful that can happen."

On Friday morning, Aug. 21, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit granted the NCAA's stay request in the Wisne v. NCAA case, meaning the new "5-for-5" age-based eligibility rule will not broadly apply to all student-athletes who entered college in 2022, barring an appeal. That ruling made Cardinals linebacker  Kalib Perry , cornerback  Jabari Mack and safety D'Angelo Hutchinson ineligible for the 2026 season after the three defenders recently announced they would take advantage of the extra year of eligibility .

A couple hours later, Mack and Hutchinson were deemed eligible. They are two of 13 athletes granted a temporary restraining order on the Tenth Circuit's ruling after filing a lawsuit in the Jefferson County Circuit Court. The order is set to "remain in effect until further order of the court or until determination of plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction," according to the court document.

"Courts throughout the United States have consistently held in favor of student-athletes' rights in cases involving challenges to NCAA rules and regulations," Circuit Court Judge Brian Edwards wrote in his opinion. "Likewise, this Court cannot reconcile the NCAA's attempts to preclude the student-athletes involved in this action from attending the schools of their choice and competing for the same duration of time as their competitors with the NCAA's purported mission of supporting the right of student-athletes to compete against each other on a level playing field."

Perry was not named in the TRO and remains ineligible for now. He and Mack returned to the team this week and were active participants in fall camp. Hutchinson had just announced his return Tuesday, Aug. 18. He was back with the team and was expected to jump into fall camp within a week, while finishing general procedures to begin practicing.

"I hate that we had lost him in the beginning, and so I'm glad that he's back," safeties coach Brandon Sharp said about Hutchinson on Thursday, Aug. 20. "He had a great year his senior year, did a lot of good things. I'm always bragging about D'Angelo and the progress that I saw him from when we first got here in 2023 to the season that he had last year. So I'm very excited to have him back. It's going to be interesting, and it just adds a lot of depth. I feel good about it."

Hutchinson was a unicorn among college football players in having spent his whole career at one school. After largely playing a reserve role, he earned a starting safety spot last season. By year's end, he was the Cardinals’ second-leading tackler (84) and tied defensive lineman  Clev Lubin  and  Tayon Holloway  for the second-most pass breakups (5) on the team. He'll presumably regain his starting spot, depending on how quickly he can reacclimate to practices in preparation for Louisville's season opener against Ole Miss on Sept. 6 in Nashville.

Like Hutchinson, Mack will likely return to the starting lineup beside Holloway. The Jacksonville State transfer recorded 34 tackles and two interceptions in his first season with the Cardinals. Perry spent three years at Tennessee before transferring to Louisville last year. He played in every game with five starts and totaled 55 tackles (1½ for loss) with an interception.

"You'd like to have to set standards and set rules, and just roll with it," Brohm said, "And if it doesn't work, change it the next year. This suing this and court case this, court case that, I don't like that. Just make a decision and roll with it, and adjust. So it's unfortunate, and hopefully we can get a handle on it, and they can do something to reinforce what we're going to do going forward and roll with that."

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Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at [email protected] and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Will Louisville have Hutchinson, Mack, Perry for 2026 football season?