by Steve Gamel
C
ole Hedlund was arguably the best kicker in Argyle High School football history. Beginning next
fall, local fans may be seeing more of him. The Denton Record-Chronicle reported
last month that Hedlund has transferred to the University of North Texas for his final season of eligibility. He had signed with Arkansas out of high school, but will
now be back near his hometown as a graduate assistant.
Incidentally, Hedlund is the son of UNT women’s soccer coach John Hedlund.
The move is seen as a win-win for both
parties. UNT is coming off back-to-back bowl games under second-year coach
Seth Littrell and just so happens to need a kicker now that senior Trevor Moore is
graduating. Moore was a second-team AllConference USA selection last season and was a perfect 154-for-154 on PATs during his career.
For Hedlund, returning back to his roots
creates a golden opportunity to revitalize a budding career that fell on hard times this past season.
Hedlund missed field goals of 20 and 23 yards in a September 9 loss to TCU and never kicked again for the Razorbacks.
“To doink it with a perfect protection and perfect snap is inexcusable,” Arkansas 38 | ARGYLE LIVING
| FEBRUARY 2018
coach Bret Bielema told the
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette of the second miss at the
time. “So we definitely got to find the other option in that regards because we’re not going to
go down that road
again. That one we’ll move forward on.” It was a shocking turn of events considering Hedlund’s
college career started off
fairly solid. In
three seasons, he connected
on 14 of his 24
field goal attempts
and scored 85 points
as a sophomore. As a redshirt freshman in
2015, he connected on
all 58 of his field goals. He
was 5-for-7 on field goals in 2016 and hit all 25 of his extra points.
Many are hoping he can regain his form
from high school, where
he was regarded as a near-lock on
every attempt. As Argyle’s kicker,
Hedlund booted 56 career field goals to set a national record. He kicked 25 field goals as a
sophomore, also a record. He was a Parade All-
American and All-USA first-team selection by
USA Today and helped lead the Eagles to the Class 3A Division II
state title in 2013. The Eagles
were a perfect
16-0 that year, and Hedlund
received interest
from a variety
of Football Bowl
Subdivision programs. Hawgs247.com also reported
that Hedlund is one of two
scholarship athletes leaving
the Razorback program. He is joined by offensive lineman
Zach Rogers, who also only has one year of eligibility
remaining. Rogers is stepping away from the sport entirely.
The Razorbacks host UNT next season on September 15.