Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall making players earn their numbers

Virginia players will have nothing handed to them this offseason, not even their jersey numbers.

Players will go through spring drills without numbers on their jerseys or helmets as new coach Bronco Mendenhall tries to instill an appreciation by the players for being able to play for the Cavaliers.

“To be able to play for this school and this program,” Mendenhall told The Daily Progress, “it ought to be something they cherish. I don’t intend to skip over the foundational elements of really driving that point home.”

Players have been fighting for their numbers since winter conditioning. They took the field for spring practices Tuesday wearing plain black jerseys and tape on their helmets with their name. Mendenhall said he doesn’t anticipate players having jersey numbers until the Cavaliers kick off against Richmond on Sept. 3.

“If you start from the beginning of the offseason program and you take the body of work from the offseason program through spring practice, through the summer and through fall camp,” Mendenhall said, “that will then determine the order in which a player can choose his number.

“So the team will vote on who gets first pick and he can choose any number he’d like. It’ll work sequentially down.”

Mendenhall said he expects several players to be wearing different numbers from a year ago.

Other things the team has had to earn this offseason? The locker room.

Mendenhall has strict guidelines for how the locker room should look and if there’s anything out of place he’s threatened to close it to his players.

“It has to be perfect,” he said. “That means any scrap of paper on the floor, sink’s not washed down, shoes aren’t at 90 degrees, gear’s on the wrong hook, I’ll close it.”

Mendenhall said if he is forced to close the locker room, players will be responsible for laundering their own gear and making sure it’s up to standards for the next practice.

For more Virginia news, visit CavsCorner.com.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday

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