4/15/2019 football Edit

Indiana Football: Names To Return To Back Of Uniforms This Fall

Stu Jackson • TheHoosier

Staff Writer

Stu Jackson covers Indiana University basketball, football and recruiting for TheHoosier.com. He also hosts Heard on The Hoosier, the site's official podcast.

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Former Indiana wide receiver Luke Timian (25) is congratulated after catching a second quarter touchdown pass against the Maryland Terrapins at Maryland Stadium during the 2017 season. That year was the last time the Hoosiers had names on the back of their uniforms, but that is now changing this fall. (Mitch Stringer / USA TODAY Sports)

Indiana will once again have names on the back of its uniforms, the program announced Monday afternoon. The changes will take affect starting with the upcoming season.

"After listening to feedback from a variety of sources, particularly from our fans, I believe it is the right decision to return to an exception for football to our tradition of not having players’ names on our uniforms," IU Athletics Director Fred Glass said. "I have come to understand that, taken together, the unique qualities of football including the size of the competition venue, the distance most of our fans from the field of play, the large number of players, and the use of duplicate numbers, as a practical matter call for the return of the players’ names to our football uniforms not withstanding our continuing philosophy of team over self."

The decision is a reversal of the choice IU made to remove names from the back of the football uniforms in accordance with new Brand and Uniform guidelines last year.

Indiana kicks off the 2019 season Aug. 31 against Ball State at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and will host Eastern Illinois for its home opener Sept. 7.