Who Will Wear Penn State's First Jersey No. 0?

'I think it's so sick,' kicker Jordan Stout said of what jersey No. 0 will represent at Penn State.

When the NCAA approved the jersey No. 0 in college football, Penn State players began lobbying coach James Franklin for the number. Instead, Penn State devised a way for one player to earn it.

Penn State announced this week, through a fan-pleasing video narrated by assistant coach Terry Smith, that No. 0 will be awarded to one special teams player per season. Further, coach James Franklin said, players who earn the number will help decide who wears it next in what he hopes becomes a long-standing tradition.

"We think that's going to be very meaningful and significant," Franklin said on the Penn State Coaches Show.

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By awarding the number to a special-teams player, Penn State seeks to underscore the value it places on those units. Penn State ranked among the nation's best last year for special teams under first-year coordinator Joe Lorig, whom Franklin called the country's best special teams coach.

Franklin also pointed to 2019 standout Dan Chisena, who made the Minnesota Vikings' 53-man roster as a special teams player. Lorig, meanwhile, praised Franklin for paying close attention to the units that some other coaches forget.

"A lot of head coaches will give [special teams] lip service, but they're not thinking about it," Lorig said. "They're thinking about the quarterbacks or the running backs or the linebackers or whatever position. The fact that he does that, it shows me that he's always thinking about it, which is part of why I love working for him and with him."

The players are on board. Kicker/punter Jordan Stout called it "so sick," saying that the jersey affirms Penn State's commitment to special teams. And linebacker Jesse Luketa said the number embodies being a "game-changer."

"I feel like it's going to make people work a lot harder," Stout said. "It's a huge opportunity for anyone on the team that can grasp it. I'd love to have it, but if I don't, I'm going to be super happy for anyone on the team who does."

So who will wear the first No. 0? Stout is a candidate, as is Jonathan Sutherland, an impact player on special teams who blocked two punts in one game.

"I love it," Luketa said.

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