Penn State football has had a proud tradition since 1887 which for many years excluded the names of the players on the back of its jerseys. Longtime head coach Joe Paterno, who is NCAA Division I football’s all-time winningest coach once said, “It’s the name on the front of the jersey that matters most, not the one on the back.” This tradition stood until 2012 when Paterno’s successor, Bill O’Brien, decided to honor the players who remained with the program through the sanctions that rocked the university as well as the community.

O’Brien led the program for just two seasons, after which he took the leap to the NFL and accepted the vacant head coaching position with the Houston Texans. Penn State would be looking for their fourth head coach (including former defensive coordinator, Tom Bradley, who coached in an interim capacity after Paterno’s firing in 2011) in just four seasons. It took just one season under current head coach James Franklin until Penn State reverted back to its longtime tradition of individual anonymity.

As a lifetime fan of Penn State football and an alumnus of the university, I was torn when O’Brien added individual names to the jerseys. I embraced the tradition of the program as much as any other fan, though I admired his plan to honor the players who stayed loyal to the program when the sanctions were levied. I grew fond of the team’s new look and I’ll admit that I was a little disappointed this morning when I heard of the change back.

I believe that tradition is very important, though I also think it’s important for each individual coach to create his own identity in the program. O’Brien quickly made his mark not only with the changes to the uniforms but also his ability to keep a program on a winning path through great turmoil. Making a change to a football jersey is a very small issue when you look at the big picture of a coach’s legacy, though it’s one of those things that people remember about Penn State when you think of Joe Paterno. Maybe James Franklin should consider creating his own tradition rather than reverting to traditions of the past.