Notre Dame Football
What If Wednesday: Randy Moss at ND
May 10, 2017
10,281
If you've been a Notre Dame over the past twenty five years, then chances are that you have had plenty of discussions with your friends about things that are hypothetical. Heck, if you've been a fan of sports in general it's almost impossible not to think about the what ifs.
What if Michael Jordan never took time off to play baseball? How many more titles would he have won? Would we view Hakeem Olajuwon differently if he didn't win back to back championships while Jordan was away from basketball? Every little thing that could have happened different;y leads to a butterfly effect of events that would have been changed because of it.
There are so many different what ifs when it comes to Notre Dame football that there are too many to mention in one article. I figured it would be a more fun exercise to do a weekly off season feature discussing an individual hypothetical each week, which is why "Wednesday What If" was born.
The first one is something I think about often.
What if Randy Moss ended up at Notre Dame (and stayed out of trouble)?
Almost every Notre Dame fan knows that at one time Moss not only committed to Notre Dame, but had actually signed his letter of intent. Essentially he was Eddie Vanderdoes before Vanderdoes was even born. He was the top wide receiver recruit in the nation and had signed with Lou Holtz and the Irish in the same recruiting class as USA Today Defensive Player of the Year Korey Minor. After a down year in 1994, that 1995 recruiting class was supposed to be the one that helped bring the Irish back to the top of college football.
Moss was denied admission to Notre Dame. On Notre Dame's end they said it was because he failed to meet admission standards and that it did not have to do with Moss' involvement in a fight that saw him plead guilty to a misdemeanor battery charge.
In this case, there is not much need to dig into the why he ended up at Florida State instead of Notre Dame. It's more important that he was supposed to be at Notre Dame and in fact said this about it back in 2014:
“If I could do it all over again, Notre Dame would have probably still been there,” Moss said. “It’s an experience I’ll never forget. That was my team.”
Hindsight is 20/20 and he is obviously a lot more mature now than when he was a teenager that made several mistakes before ending up at a third school, Marshall. But for the purpose of this, let's say that Moss stayed out of trouble before he got to South Bend and was able to continue to stay away from it under the influence of Holtz who had success with plenty of players who were not saints before they became Notre Dame students.
What could have been the result if a generational talent like Moss ended up wearing blue and gold?
We can start with that team in 1995. He would have been an immediate contributor on that team that was quarterbacked by Ron Powlus and had an All-American at wide receiver in Derrick Mayes.
Mayes was one of the few bright spots on the '94 team and was terrific in '95 with 881 yards receiving. He received constant double teams with no other legitimate option beside him and still put up good numbers. The second leading receiver that season was fullback Mark Edwards.
Moss could have been a deep threat from the jump and opposing teams would have been burned badly if they tried to focus too much on Mayes. That team finished 9-3 and had a great backfield with Autry Denson, Randy Kinder, and Edwards.
Would it have been a national championship level team that year if he was on it? That would be tough to say the way Ohio State handled them in the fifth game of the season, but 11-1 would not have been out of the question.
There is no doubt he would have been even better in his second year when the Irish went 8-3, Holtz' last season. I'm not sure it would have been his last if Moss had been there. That's how much of an impact he could have had.
In his final season at Marshall, Moss put up video game numbers. He had over 90 catches for 1,820 yards and 26 touchdowns. Even if he had 2/3 of that production at Notre Dame, it would have changed a lot of things.
He would have been a difference maker. A sure-fire All-American and potential Heisman trophy winner (he finished fourth in 1997 at Marshall). He may have even helped Beano Cook look good by helping Powuls win a Heisman. That's how special Moss was as a college football player and unfortunately he didn't get to show how special he was in Notre Dame Stadium.
What kind of impact would Moss becoming a star at Notre Dame have had on everyone else? For starters, there is no way his quarterback at Marshall, Chad Pennington, would have been a first round draft pick.
It really could have sent ripples through college football, but let's just focus on how it could have affected Notre Dame's program.
I mentioned that it could have changed the fate of Holtz and I truly believe that. Two more double digit win seasons with Moss could have extended his stay or at least made the transition to a new coach a smoother one.
It would have helped recruiting a lot. They recruited fairly well at that time already, but having Mayes and Moss' production could have transformed how receivers looked at Notre Dame. It might have changed the way quarterbacks looked at the program as well.
It's probably too far-fetched to say that Notre Dame wouldn't have spiraled into this roller coaster ride of up and down seasons since Holtz left, but who really knows. Strictly because of his talent, Michael Vick changed the way Virginia Tech was perceived as a program and Moss certainly had the same kind of transcendent talent that Vick possessed.
Ultimately none of this happened and we don't know if Moss would have made it Notre Dame and been out as quickly as he arrived. In actuality it took him until his third chance at a school to get it right.
But maybe, just maybe, it would have worked when he got surrounded by the culture of the program and the school. If that happened, then maybe he is a top five pick coming out of college instead of falling down the 21st pick in the first round of his Draft. Maybe he plays with one team in the NFL for his entire career and never leaves any situation on bad terms.
We'll never know, but I can't help but think of the what ifs with Notre Dame and Randy Moss. In my opinion he is the second best receiver to ever play the game and at one time he was supposed to be Irish.
What if Michael Jordan never took time off to play baseball? How many more titles would he have won? Would we view Hakeem Olajuwon differently if he didn't win back to back championships while Jordan was away from basketball? Every little thing that could have happened different;y leads to a butterfly effect of events that would have been changed because of it.
There are so many different what ifs when it comes to Notre Dame football that there are too many to mention in one article. I figured it would be a more fun exercise to do a weekly off season feature discussing an individual hypothetical each week, which is why "Wednesday What If" was born.
The first one is something I think about often.
What if Randy Moss ended up at Notre Dame (and stayed out of trouble)?
The backstory
Almost every Notre Dame fan knows that at one time Moss not only committed to Notre Dame, but had actually signed his letter of intent. Essentially he was Eddie Vanderdoes before Vanderdoes was even born. He was the top wide receiver recruit in the nation and had signed with Lou Holtz and the Irish in the same recruiting class as USA Today Defensive Player of the Year Korey Minor. After a down year in 1994, that 1995 recruiting class was supposed to be the one that helped bring the Irish back to the top of college football.
Moss was denied admission to Notre Dame. On Notre Dame's end they said it was because he failed to meet admission standards and that it did not have to do with Moss' involvement in a fight that saw him plead guilty to a misdemeanor battery charge.
In this case, there is not much need to dig into the why he ended up at Florida State instead of Notre Dame. It's more important that he was supposed to be at Notre Dame and in fact said this about it back in 2014:
“If I could do it all over again, Notre Dame would have probably still been there,” Moss said. “It’s an experience I’ll never forget. That was my team.”
Hindsight is 20/20 and he is obviously a lot more mature now than when he was a teenager that made several mistakes before ending up at a third school, Marshall. But for the purpose of this, let's say that Moss stayed out of trouble before he got to South Bend and was able to continue to stay away from it under the influence of Holtz who had success with plenty of players who were not saints before they became Notre Dame students.
What could have been the result if a generational talent like Moss ended up wearing blue and gold?
What might have been
We can start with that team in 1995. He would have been an immediate contributor on that team that was quarterbacked by Ron Powlus and had an All-American at wide receiver in Derrick Mayes.
Mayes was one of the few bright spots on the '94 team and was terrific in '95 with 881 yards receiving. He received constant double teams with no other legitimate option beside him and still put up good numbers. The second leading receiver that season was fullback Mark Edwards.
Moss could have been a deep threat from the jump and opposing teams would have been burned badly if they tried to focus too much on Mayes. That team finished 9-3 and had a great backfield with Autry Denson, Randy Kinder, and Edwards.
Would it have been a national championship level team that year if he was on it? That would be tough to say the way Ohio State handled them in the fifth game of the season, but 11-1 would not have been out of the question.
There is no doubt he would have been even better in his second year when the Irish went 8-3, Holtz' last season. I'm not sure it would have been his last if Moss had been there. That's how much of an impact he could have had.
In his final season at Marshall, Moss put up video game numbers. He had over 90 catches for 1,820 yards and 26 touchdowns. Even if he had 2/3 of that production at Notre Dame, it would have changed a lot of things.
He would have been a difference maker. A sure-fire All-American and potential Heisman trophy winner (he finished fourth in 1997 at Marshall). He may have even helped Beano Cook look good by helping Powuls win a Heisman. That's how special Moss was as a college football player and unfortunately he didn't get to show how special he was in Notre Dame Stadium.
Butterfly effect
What kind of impact would Moss becoming a star at Notre Dame have had on everyone else? For starters, there is no way his quarterback at Marshall, Chad Pennington, would have been a first round draft pick.
It really could have sent ripples through college football, but let's just focus on how it could have affected Notre Dame's program.
I mentioned that it could have changed the fate of Holtz and I truly believe that. Two more double digit win seasons with Moss could have extended his stay or at least made the transition to a new coach a smoother one.
It would have helped recruiting a lot. They recruited fairly well at that time already, but having Mayes and Moss' production could have transformed how receivers looked at Notre Dame. It might have changed the way quarterbacks looked at the program as well.
It's probably too far-fetched to say that Notre Dame wouldn't have spiraled into this roller coaster ride of up and down seasons since Holtz left, but who really knows. Strictly because of his talent, Michael Vick changed the way Virginia Tech was perceived as a program and Moss certainly had the same kind of transcendent talent that Vick possessed.
Ultimately none of this happened and we don't know if Moss would have made it Notre Dame and been out as quickly as he arrived. In actuality it took him until his third chance at a school to get it right.
But maybe, just maybe, it would have worked when he got surrounded by the culture of the program and the school. If that happened, then maybe he is a top five pick coming out of college instead of falling down the 21st pick in the first round of his Draft. Maybe he plays with one team in the NFL for his entire career and never leaves any situation on bad terms.
We'll never know, but I can't help but think of the what ifs with Notre Dame and Randy Moss. In my opinion he is the second best receiver to ever play the game and at one time he was supposed to be Irish.
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