Are Single-Digit Jerseys the Best Way to Honor Husker Players?

Should Matt Rhule create a new way of honoring performance?

Nash Hutmacher, Jimari Butler and Ty Robinson pose with a Blackshirts shield during 2024 Nebraska football Fan Day. | Nebraska Athletics via X

You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.

Henry Ford

When Matt Rhule started coaching at Nebraska in 2023, he brought with him the practice of awarding single-digit jersey numbers (SDJ) to his top ten players. The numbers range from 0-9. Apparently his team picks the winners each year. So far, the 2026 names have not been revealed to the public.

To be sure, the practice wasn’t Rhule’s idea. He got it from Al Golden when he was Temple’s head coach and Rhule was one of his assistants. Rhule continued the practice when he moved on to be the head coach at Baylor.

More about single-digit jerseys later.

It should be noted that long before the SDJ idea was hatched, college football players were being honored by special uniform features. Several programs have made helmet stickers a tradition.

One of the oldest iterations came in 1968 when Ohio State began using them to motivate Buckeye players. Florida State uses tomahawk stickers; Georgia uses bone stickers, Clemson uses paw print stickers and Michigan State gives green “S” stickers.

In most cases, a player first must do something to earn a sticker. Nothing is given. Stickers must be earned during the season. (Nebraska has had a long -standing tradition of honoring defensive players with black practice jerseys - hence the Blackshirt tradition. Jerseys are awarded to the starters and can be taken back for bad performance,)

That brings us back to the Huskers' single-digit jerseys.

Through Rhule’s first three seasons at Nebraska, there have been some excellent players to wear the single-digit jerseys. Names like Luke Reimer, Nash Hutmacher, Ty Robinson, DeShon Singleton, Vincent Shavers and Dane Key to name a few.

Good choices, but there have been some duds. Most notable was transfer QB Jeff Sims in 2023. He was awarded a number 7 jersey before he had played a down of football at Nebraska. He left at the end of the season with a stat sheet consisting of 282 passing yards, one TD and six interceptions for the year, The Huskers finished the season at 5-7.

That same year, Billy Kemp IV was also given a single-digit number. He had a total of 310 receiving yards and one TD. He added 24 punt return yards and 13 rushing yards. Not exactly honor-worthy stats.

Malcom Hartzog Jr. made the honor list twice: in 2024 and 2025, but ended up transferring to Arizona in the offseason.

What throws a wrench into the works is that offensive linemen can’t be honored, So if you have a Dave Rimington, an Aaron Taylor, a Dean Steinkhuler or a Dominic Raiola caliber player, they’re not eligible for top ten recognition. (The NCAA doesn’t allow offensive linemen to wear single-digit jerseys.)

Also, Nebraska’s All-America running back in ‘25, Emmett Johnson, wore the number 21 jersey throughout his career at NU. To many players, their jersey numbers are sacred.

My point is that if there are a number of players who either can’t or don’t want single-digit jerseys, then maybe it’s time to ditch the plan and come up with some way to make it so all players are eligible.

And whatever the new method is, make sure a player must earn the honor with his on-field play.

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