Washington State, former Oregon WR Kris Hutson enters NCAA Transfer Portal

Washington State wideout Kris Hutson has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, On3 has learned. He began his college career at Oregon.

A Class of 2020 signee, Hutson has one year of eligibility remaining. He was a four-star recruit as a high school prospect.

Hutson spent one year with the Cougars, playing in all 12 games and catching 54 passes for 683 yards and two touchdowns.

In his four seasons at Oregon, Hutson played in 39 games and amassed 80 catches, 936 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Hutson played high school football at St. John Bosco (CA), where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 218 overall recruit in the 2020 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Hutson’s high school career was quite dominant. He hauled in 148 catches for 2,491 receiving yards and 31 touchdowns during his three seasons. He also had 11 career 100-yard receiving games. As a senior, he guided the team to the 2019 Open Division State Championship and the Southern Section Division I Championship. Hutson also hauled in 69 catches for 1,291 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns with a kick return touchdown in 13 games his senior year.

The Cougars are in the market for a new defensive coordinator

Change is in the air in Pullman, as Washington State fired defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding, the school announced.

Washington State head football coach Jake Dickert released a statement on the matter, as well. He thanked Schmedding for all of the work he helped put in to the Cougars program, but the team decided to go in a different direction for 2025 and beyond.

“I appreciate all the hard work that Jeff has had for our program during his two years here in Pullman,” Dickert said in a statement, via ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura. “After evaluating our program, we have not met the standard defensively, and I felt a change was needed for the best interest of the program.

“I informed Jeff this morning that he will no longer be the defensive coordinator and wish him well in his future.”

Things were looking up for Washington State before the final month of the season. The Cougars started 8-1, but the wheels fell off when they lost three straight games to teams with losing records.

The defensive statistics didn’t bode well for Schmedding. Washington State ended the 2024 campaign at No. 90 in scoring defense, No. 116 in yards allowed per game (429.0) and No. 120 in yards allowed per rush (5.2).