Cole's Dream

October 30, 2022

Football

Meet Cole

Meet Cole, a happy-go-lucky 16-year-old from Dallas, Texas! This young man loves to share encouragement and is known for always lending a helping hand.

Cole lives with Fragile X Syndrome – a genetic condition causing intellectual disability. The condition affects his cognitive ability as well as his social and emotional behavior. However, Cole has an abundance of joy in his heart and loves making others laugh with his great sense of humor!

This Texas boy has been an SMU Mustang his entire life and loves gamedays at Gerald J. Ford Stadium! Cole lives close to the SMU campus and can be found in the stands decked out in red and blue for every home game. No matter the score, you can count on hearing Cole say his favorite quote, “Its not over, until its over”!

This dedicated Mustang fan has been selected as the upcoming SMU’s Collegiate Dream Team Dream Recipient. These students will be making Cole’s sports dream come true by having him meet his favorite SMU Football players and coaches!

Cole's Dream

Dallas Yard Greetings helped us kick off Cole’s Dream with fun and flare. Cole’s love of SMU comes from his dad, who is an SMU alum. Cole was thrilled to see us at the door letting him know that his Dream started NOW! The team was so excited to be able to give Cole SMU cleats, which he later got autographed at SMU Football practice.

After being surprised by the SMU Collegiate Dream Team, Cole and his parents loaded into a limo and headed straight to the Mustangs’ practice. Here, Cole met a number of players including Rashee Rice, Preston Stone, and Jordan Kerley along with head coach, Rhett Lashlee. Coach even gifted Cole his own jersey!

While at practice, Cole and his parents also met Eric Dickerson, NFL Hall of Famer and SMU alum, who took the time to chat with Cole and sign his cleats.

After practice wrapped, Cole spent time shooting around on court with the SMU Women’s Basketball team. A number of the SMU Collegiate Dream Team members were also able to join Cole for an hour of fun.

The afternoon was wrapped up at the SMU bookstore and the day wrapped up with an incredible dinner at Knife Dallas, where their team went above and beyond for our Dream Kid and his family.

Saturday started with a delicious breakfast at Chelsea Corner, whose staff went above and beyond for #TeamCole. After breakfast, the team took a walk down SMU Boulevard, which is a tailgating hotspot for SMU fanatics like Cole. Before the game, Cole was able to greet some of the players as they arrived at the stadium. Big thanks to Preston Stone and Rashee Rice who went out of their way on Friday and Saturday to hang with our Dream Kid. Cole also spent time with SMU Collegiate Dream Team members and even met the SMU mascot, Peruna!Once in the stadium, #TeamCole headed to the field to watch SMU Football warmups, meet some of the SMU Cheerleading team, and even pay catch ON FIELD! Cole loved being a part of the team entrance and meeting a number of coaches.

Once it was game time, Cole watched his Mustangs from the 50-yard line as the record was set for the most points in an FBS regulation game!Way to go SMU Collegiate Dream Team!

Cole's Dream

Meet Cole

Cole's Dream

Dream Snapshots

Dream Reels

Thank you to our National Collegiate Dream Team Sponsor, Volvo Construction Equipment