One of the great things about spring practice starting for the Notre Dame football program and others, is that it really is a time for rebirth. Any bad taste left in the Fighting Irish team’s mouth over the way they played or the mistakes they made in the National Championship game can be washed away. It’s time to start anew. It’s spring!
For 2024 signee Scrap Richardson, the idea of rebirth has to feel incredibly personal. The multitalented athlete out of Greenville, Georgia is seeing a rebirth in his football career of spurts. This spring, a man who has played an awful lot of positions on the football field, is playing the one position he’s never really tried.
The Notre Dame football freshman is making the transition to wide receiver after spending his high school career playing either quarterback, runningback, or safety. “I wanted to use my skills to my advantage,” Richardson recently told Irish Sports Daily. “I took the opportunity here. I know what the program does to develop people. I took that as a go-to to push myself to play something different.”
Notre Dame football freshman trying to reshape his young career
“I'm kind of getting used to it,” Richardson added. “It's been a big adaption trying to adapt to the new plays, playing something I've never played before. It's something I really have to adapt to. I have to get used to it, get better, feel better and have more confidence with it.”
Considering Richardson was the Georgia A-Division II state champion in both the 100 and 200-meter dashes as a junior and boasts personal best times of 10.68 in the 100 and 21.43 in the 200, it’s not hard to see what the Irish are trying to do.
With his build, it makes sense that the signee, who came aboard as a running back, is moving to a position where he won’t take the same kind of pounding.
It seems likely that while learning this new position, he won’t be seen on the field all that often in 2025. But he’ll be able to use the Notre Dame football team’s spring practice to show that he can blossom, in 2026 if not now.