LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Passing through the halls of Louisville's Southern High School on gameday and you might think the football team has full-grown adults on the roster. But the jersey ardorned adults are actually teachers rocking their students' numbers. For the past four seasons varsity players have been asking their teachers and administrators to wear their jersey on Fridays.

"I’d love to tell you I came up with the idea and came up with all the background but that’s not true. I actually got the idea from my head football coach, back in the 80’s," Head Football Coach Mike Gossett tells Spectrum News 1.

Gossett says the act of asking teachers to wear a jersey is a way to build character in the student, and for the instructor build a closer connectioon to the school.

"They build relationships, but also those relationships go further than the classroom and it aids the classroom as well," Assistant Head Coach Justin Hatchett says.

Every Friday during the football season students ask a teacher to wear their jersey for the day, and of course at night, if they can make it to the game and the relatively new tradition is definitely bringing more teachers out to gridiron.

“I’m rocking Cam’s jersey so I feel like I have to go to the game to support Cam. I feel like I’m just like Cam’s mom and dad now," explains Metal and Tool Instructor Tommy Boisvert.

The second-year teacher is also a Southern Football Alum.  His teaching partner Matthew Haynes is also a Southern alum but wasn't an athlete. Now on Fridays it's common to see him wearing a Trojans jersey.

"It fosters a connection to that student as well as other football players who may see you as a teacher wearing that jersey and think.. well that teacher must be pretty cool if he got a jersey," Haynes says.