‘It can change their lives forever.’ Former Gamecock QB finds purpose in helping kids
The dream had always been right there, bubbling inside of him. Even when Jay Urich was a little boy growing up in Greenville, he had the notion — the gut feeling — that one day he would do something to help people. He just didn’t know how.
Football was his first passion, but never his only passion. Urich came to South Carolina as a highly touted dual-threat quarterback in 2017, playing off the bench in his early years and converting to wide receiver as a junior. As he searched for his footing on the football field as a Gamecock, he found a blossoming sense of purpose.
After COVID-19 struck last March and after the killing of George Floyd sparked racial protests across the country, Urich felt that old dream bubbling up inside him again. He gained national attention when he carried a homemade “Matter is the minimum” sign while marching for social justice with his Gamecocks teammates in June — a sign that resonated so widely even Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter shared it on Twitter.
Even then, Urich wanted to do more. More than just a sign. More than just words. He wanted to take action.
A year later, on a bright, sunny weekend in Columbia, with the pandemic ever-so gradually fading into the background, Urich finally had that opportunity.
On Saturday, a group of 23 underserved Columbia-area children gathered at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School for the first-ever Original Design camp — a program of Urich’s creation.
The sound of youthful joy filled the air as the boys and girls, ages 10 through 12, participated in water-balloon fights, dance competitions, tennis matches and flag football against current-day USC football players.
Urich, wearing a light-blue Original Design polo, was in the middle of it all, darting from field to field, playing with the children himself, cheering them on, talking with them, throwing footballs to them.
“I think if they walk away from Original Design, and they say, ‘This environment was the most loving environment that I’ve ever been in,’ I think that would be amazing,” Urich said from the football field, drenched with sweat. “I think it’s all about love. And it’s all about having fun, and to be able to give them an opportunity to take away their worries.”
A December USC graduate with a degree in public health, Urich, 22, has bigger visions for his foundation than one day of water balloons and dancing. One of the go-to phrases for him and Original Design is “We’re going deep and not wide.”
Original Design is a yearlong program, composed of three weekend-long camps, with the same group of children participating in each camp. Each child is paired with a community mentor from a variety of professional backgrounds, and each camp emphasizes different skills and life lessons. The three main pillars of the program are public health, faith and sports, each swirling together to create a holistic course.
The goal, Urich says, is to help each boy and girl discover their own unique passions and dreams and to empower them with the resources to achieve them — in the same way Urich is living his dream now.
‘My worth goes beyond the field’
Doubt was once in the way.
A natural extrovert with a charismatic, positive spirit, Urich has long had confidence in his ability to communicate and relate to others. But he used to wonder if he had the skills to turn his philanthropic intentions into reality.
“Am I creative enough to do this?” Urich remembers asking one of his closest friends a couple years ago, not sure even he knew the answer.
Urich had similar conversations with Gamecocks greats Marcus Lattimore and Connor Shaw throughout his USC career, bouncing ideas off of two players who have made sizable community impacts of their own. They told him not to pay attention to the people who might say he’s too young to create a non-profit or can’t do it while playing football. They told him to trust in his own motives — that they were pure — and to follow them.
In September 2020, a torn labrum in Urich’s shoulder forced him to retire from football before finishing out his college career. Losing football was gut-wrenching, but it also served as the final push Urich needed to pursue his next steps with Original Design.
“I felt like the adversity of tearing my labrum launched me into my purpose,” Urich told The State. “And I didn’t see it at the time, but I was trusting that something good was gonna come out of it.
“I do miss it a lot. And I miss that relationship in the locker room with my guys and just having an opportunity to go out and play in front of 85,000 people. The best four years of my life were here playing football at South Carolina, but I knew that my worth goes beyond the field. It’s cool to see now how I’m sort of starting to walk in that.”
Urich has had plenty of help from friends, teammates and community members as he’s worked to build the foundation. Lattimore serves on the governing board for Original Design and is slated to be a guest speaker at Urich’s next weekend camp on July 24-25. The former Gamecocks tailback will lead a learning session on literacy.
Urich also credits former Gamecock basketball player Carey Rich, now a recreation superintendent for the city of Columbia, for helping to identify the underserved kids in the community who are participating in this year’s program. The third and final camp for those campers will take place Dec. 4-5.
The “Original Design” name is central to the foundation’s mission, with Urich saying he wants to help children follow the original design that God created for them. He said the organization could probably serve more than 25 kids at a time — and maybe one day will. But the smaller group is by design. He wants to ensure an inclusive, intimate environment.
“We want these kids to feel special — and to feel known,” Urich said. “There’s a possibility of us adding to that number. But for now, we really wanted to make sure we’re making the biggest impact that we can on the children and not necessarily acquainting success with numbers.”
Bigger than football
South Carolina defensive lineman Jabari Ellis didn’t hold back. Not in the slightest.
The hulking senior’s 6-foot-3, 275-pound frame towered over the group of 10-year-olds playing flag football with him at Heathwood Hall on Saturday, and Ellis made sure those kids knew he came to compete. At one point, he made a leaping, one-handed catch and tweeted the picture at head coach Shane Beamer later in the day.
From playfully trash-talking a few of the more competitive children to challenging other kids to one-on-one races, Ellis was one of the many vibrant personalities present at Urich’s first camp. He calls Urich “a good-spirited guy” and a “friend for life.” When Urich invited him to come, Ellis couldn’t turn it down.
Ellis is no stranger to giving back. One of his passions is mentoring children in his hometown of Holly Hill.
“The biggest thing I want to teach the kids or pass along is just let them know it’s possible,” Ellis told The State. “I was that kid. I didn’t think being a college athlete was possible. I didn’t think making it to the NFL was possible, just coming from where I come from, a small town, but I just want to let them know that it’s definitely possible. You just got to chase your dreams.”
Ellis wasn’t the only current Gamecock present. Defensive back Jaylin Dickerson, wide receiver Chad Terrell and running back MarShawn Lloyd all spent Saturday morning playing with the Original Design campers.
“Jay is my guy,” Lloyd told The State. “He brought me in as a brother real early on, and it’s amazing to come out here and be here for the kids. I was once in their shoes.”
A Wilmington, Delaware native, Lloyd said he remembers how much it meant to him when one of his neighbors growing up, NFL running back Wendell Smallwood, would take the time out of his day to talk to him. The other players, including Urich, had similar stories.
But Original Design is bigger than football. It’s bigger than sports. After the campers spent their morning playing sports and throwing water balloons, they learned about healthy diets and proper nutrition from a certified nutritionist. Then, paired with their one-on-one mentors, they spent their afternoon exploring Columbia, going to dinner and bowling at The Grand on Main.
The next morning, at a ballroom in the Graduate Hotel, Urich and his staff led the campers in worship, bringing guitars — and breakfast.
The second camp in July will follow a similar structure, with a focus on literacy. The third camp, in December, will focus on generosity and will include a Christmas morning experience for the children. In addition to receiving gifts, the campers will have the opportunity to give gifts and “go bless somebody else” in the community.
Urich doesn’t yet know what the future holds for the foundation. His hope, with the right support, is that it’ll one day expand across the state and serve more kids in more communities. Those who are interested in learning more or offering support can visit the official Original Design website.
But for right now, Urich’s top priority is his current campers. They’ll always come first.
“I want these children to understand that they can dream and that the passions they have can be uncovered,” Urich said. “I feel like so many times, these underserved children, their passions and dreams have been covered up by certain circumstances.
“And we want to use our platform as Original Design to help uncover the passions and the dreams of these kids, to where whenever they walk out of Original Design camps after a year, they’re not only leaving with resources and a fun time, but they’re leaving with a firm identity and who they are as a child of God, and they’re leaving with a passion that now they can explore for years to come.
“I believe whenever a child understands their passions and their dreams, it can change their lives forever.”
This story was originally published May 25, 2021 at 7:45 AM.
