By Harry Minium
Just as no one in Old Dominion football history passed the ball as often or as well as Taylor Heinicke, no running back in ODU's 11 seasons made anywhere near the impact of Ray Lawry.
He rushed for 4,080 yards, almost twice as much as No. 2 Jeremy Cox. He scored 45 touchdowns, averaged 6.2 yards per carry, 95 yards per game, ran for 100 yards 21 times and led ODU to the 2016 Bahamas Bowl victory over Eastern Michigan.
And he would have run for a ton more yards had he not been injured much of his senior season in 2017.
On paper, ODU had no business getting the 3-star recruit from Logan Township, N.J., located a short drive across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. Maryland wanted him and Temple, his hometown school, wanted him even more.
Yet Lawry was ably recruited away by Michael Zyskowski, a recruiting whiz who now works at UConn.
Lawry had talent and speed – who can forget Lawry leaving safeties in the dust when he broke open, with his slightly bow-legged jaunt?
But it was his work ethic that made him so good. Looking at him in shorts without a shirt, there didn't seem to be an ounce on his muscular frame. Quiet, polite and humble, he trained relentlessly, whether it was July, during the season or over Christmas vacation.
So, when the pandemic hit, closing down the few opportunities to play professionally for Lawry, he decided to begin to impart what he has learned about hard work, dedication and football skills and to young people.
His agent, Myles Matthews; former teammate Nick Clarke, who established the Hog Academy in suburban Richmond in 2019, which trains offensive linemen; Zyskowski and former ODU quarterbacks coach Ron Whitcomb all advised him on how to get started. He began training players about four months ago from his base in Alexandria in Northern Virginia, where he lives with his girlfriend, Taylor Brown, who he began dating at ODU.
He began working with players in Northern Virginia, on high school or rec football fields, and did a couple of training sessions in Jersey.
And on Saturday, he returns to Norfolk, where he will hold two training sessions for local teenagers at the Norfolk Indoor Sports Turf just off 21st Street in Norfolk. Sessions will be held at 12:30 and 1:30 (email firstdownperformance@gmail.com for information).
Since graduating from ODU in 2017, Lawry has labored, so far with little luck, to make it in the pros. He had brief stints with the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs before being cut, then played briefly a year later with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.
He had a brief stint with the St. Louis Battlehawks of the XFL before the pandemic forced the league to fold this past spring. The CFL then canceled its 2020 season shortly thereafter.
"After sitting home for a couple of months, I started thinking about what I could do to stay ready," he said. "I eventually made the decision to start training high school and college athletes."
That also allows him to continue to work out, and work on his own skills.
"I never thought that training people would be something that I love, but I do," he said. "It almost makes me feel like I'm playing.
"I have the same kind of love for helping others get better. When I see people making improvement, it's almost the same kind of thrill I got scoring a touchdown."
Business has been good in Northern Virginia, he said, and he hopes to return to Hampton Roads for more training sessions.
Taylor Brown, his girlfriend, is running an online clothing brand and is also doing videography and photography. She has been shooting some of his training sessions and putting them on social media.
"I love it when we work together," he said.
He hasn't given up his dream of playing pro football. There is talk that the XFL might return and surely the CFL will be back.
"So far, it hasn't worked out, but there's nothing you can do about that," he said. "All I can do is worry about what I can control.
"So I'm working hard and staying in shape. That's something I can control. I'm staying in shape and staying focused."
Lawry hasn't spent a lot of time in Norfolk since graduating, but was here to watch the Monarchs upset Virginia Tech in 2018 and came to a game last season at the new S.B. Ballard Stadium.
He said new head football coach Ricky Rahne and running backs coach Tony Lucas both reached out to him.
"They seem like good coaches and from everything I hear, they're doing a good job," he said. "They definitely seem like good people who will take the program in the right direction.
"I'm looking forward to seeing what they do next season."
Lawry, an African-American, has been touched like most Americans by the social unrest set off by the death of George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer had his knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes. He says he talks to young players about how to deal with their feelings, and when I asked him how he's doing, he proved to be the same, likable, upbeat guy I knew his four seasons at ODU.
"There are a lot of good people in the world," he said. "And good people will overcome the bad."
Contact Minium: hminium@odu.edu
Minium: Ray Lawry, the Best Running Back in ODU Football History, is Mentoring the Running Backs of the Future
