A program rich in tradition ushered in a new one Wednesday — single-digit jerseys.
Nebraska football's roster had a wrinkle through spring ball and the first week of fall practice. The numbers on player jerseys began at No. 10, instead of 0 or 1.
A few examples: Chubba Purdy, who wore No. 6 last season, has changed to No. 12. Quinton Newsome flipped from No. 6 to No. 15. And so on it went throughout the roster.
Now, four Huskers have earned single-digit threads, according to a tweet from Nebraska's Twitter account: Billy Kemp (No. 1), Isaac Gifford (2), Luke Reimer (4) and Jeff Sims (7).
Accompanying the photo was a simple message: "A new tradition."
The idea is a staple of Matt Rhule-led teams. Rhule, following in the footsteps of former Temple coach Al Golden, revoked the single-digit jerseys when he arrived at Temple in 2013 and again at Baylor in 2017 before bestowing the numbers to players annually who deserved them.
People are also reading…
Rhule has been mum on single-digit jerseys since arriving at Nebraska, but said in 2013: "It’s just sort of a rite of passage for those guys. It's something they’ve earned, and they wear it."
It's unclear if Nebraska will continue its Blackshirts tradition of awarding the dark practice jerseys identifying the No. 1 defense. In December, new defensive coordinator Tony White expressed interest.
“To lead the Blackshirts… I’ve still got some studying to do because I want to do this thing right,” White said. “I want to bring the tradition back the right way.