At Virginia, jersey numbers must be earned
Mendenhall adds peer twist, with group leaders choosing order of selection
An individual college football team will carry more than 100 players on its roster, including those not on scholarship, making it inevitable that at least one jersey number will be shared by two or more players.
It’s even led to an NCAA rule stating that two players with the same number cannot be on the field simultaneously, although that hasn’t always stopped a few teams — such as offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin and Southern California, for example — from searching for loopholes.
No such problem exists, however, at Virginia, where first-year coach Bronco Mendenhall and the Cavaliers have taken a unique approach to assigning jersey numbers.
Mendenhall took away the Cavaliers jerseys when he was hired during the winter, instead assigning players matching black shirts to wear during offseason workouts — taking a cue from a book he had read, Legacy, about the All Blacks rugby team in New Zealand. Players then had to earn their jerseys, akin to the way Ohio State has newcomers earn the “black stripe” on their helmets during spring and fall camps.
It wasn’t until last weekend that Mendenhall began handing out numbers, and even then with a twist: He split the team into “platoons,” with each group’s leaders choosing the order in which their teammates selected a number.
“It was an amazing night,” Mendenhall said. “I would say one of the most memorable of my coaching career — really, really special.”
The process was peerdriven, he added.
“I thought that would have a lot more impact on the players knowing when they were selected by their peers to choose a number. I think it allowed really a lot of transparency as to what their teammates valued. It doesn’t take long before you see a thread of what the team members were selecting on.”
As of now, with the opener against Richmond days away, 61 players have earned a jersey number. The Cavaliers will dress no more than 72 players in a given game, Mendenhall said, so 11 numbers remain untaken — likely to be held by first-year players, who weren’t involved in last weekend’s selection process.
“There are 11 current spots remaining,” Mendenhall said. “The players know that. The coaches know that. The equipment manager knows that. There’s urgency to every practice. That means that standard is pretty high.”