What drove Gamecock QB to start a non-profit to help others? ‘I wanted to dream more’
Jay Urich’s vision started with a moment and a goal.
“I wanted to dream more,” the fourth-year South Carolina quarterback said.
A young man with strong faith, Urich knew he wanted to help people. He’d come to Columbia from the Upstate. He’d chosen to major in public health. And in February, he started looking for help from those around him in the Gamecocks community to do something more.
He had a stream-of-consciousness conversation with Gamecock great Marcus Lattimore, and in that the seeds of “Original Design” were born.
Urich officially announced the non-profit organization over the weekend and spoke publicly about it Monday. He described it as building around pillars of public health and faith — and a little bit of football. The focus is on children ages 10-12, helping them live “healthy and honorable” lives. It goes beyond just running camps and more toward building long-term relationships.
“We want to go deep, not wide,” Urich said. “We won’t reach necessarily as many people, but we want to impact these children, no matter how many, the number we decide. We want to impact and develop them in a deep way.”
He said there likely won’t be any related events until spring of 2021. The organization has a website at Originaldesignsc.org.
Urich mentioned key factors he learned on the public health side such as diet, exercise and healthcare. On the faith side, he spoke about identity and character.
He has a range of voices helping guide him. Lattimore and Connor Shaw are both on his board, and both have experience running camps. (Urich noted Lattimore has guided him through many of the steps.) Urich’s pastor at NewSpring Church, Dan Lian, is also a part of the board.
“I could not do it without them,” Urich said of Lattimore and Shaw. “They have played a huge role. Marcus specifically, calling him, he was one of the first people I called. I feel like I could’ve said anything and he would’ve jumped on it.
“They’ve been been able to tell me, ‘Hey, Jay, you’re doing this wrong, let’s change this.’ Or, ‘Hey man, you’re doing a great job with this. Let’s keep on going.’”
Shaw said he first talked to Urich about the idea earlier in the summer and played a small role in pointing him in the direction of some people who could help.
“He’s got a great vision,” Shaw said. “And he’s surrounded himself with the right people that can help him. But he’s a very motivated and genuine person.”
Shaw said he knew about Urich’s big heart long before they met. But once they started interacting more after Shaw joined the staff to run the “Beyond Football” program, he was impressed by the sincerity, compassion and selflessness the young quarterback showed, especially when it came to helping his community.
Urich said he’s also talked to the likes of former Gamecocks basketball star Carey Rich and state Rep. Todd Rutherford about the ins and outs of starting different kinds of programs.
This will start in Columbia, but the hope is to grow beyond at some point.
One secondary element, something under the Original Design “umbrella” in Urich’s words, was the “Matter is the Minimum” movement sparked by a sign Urich carried at a protest rally in June. His sign and its message took off nationally, getting tweeted by the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. and being replicated as far away as the West Coast.
Part of the organization’s rollout this weekend including photos of a cross section of high-profile Gamecocks — MarShawn Lloyd, Israel Mukuamu, Jaycee Horn, Urich and Dakereon Joyner — wearing “Matter is the Minimum” shirts. Selling those is part of the organization’s fundraising efforts and speaks to its efforts toward social equality.
The organization was still coming together when Urich’s sign went viral.
“Seeing the message spread like it did, it was really humbling,” Urich said. “To really see how important social equality and ending racism is.
“Being able to show love and love everybody, no matter what their skin color is. I think that was the most impactful part.”
He had to talk often with South Carolina’s compliance department, making sure things were in line with the NCAA’s limits on athletes using their name and likeness for an organization that gets donations. When he got the OK, it gave him a green light of sorts.
It helped to have a little more flexibility with football being limited during the coronavirus pandemic. That might be changing as teams start to move toward a return to play in an uncertain season.
“Communicating is the biggest part,” Urich said. “My main focus and my main prep and my main priority is football. That’s how it is.
“School and football. Original Design comes after those two. It’ll all work itself out, I believe. I know that both my coaches would want this to be successful too. And they do. So they’re going to help me along that.”
This story was originally published July 13, 2020 at 1:34 PM.
