Jackson Belcher is unconventional.
He is taking a class on alternative music festivals. He wears Hawaiian shirts paired with colorful shorts. He works for Wiz Khalifa.
He also had a position created for him by coach Jim Mora so he could work for one of the biggest institutions on campus – UCLA football – after serving as a team manager for UCLA men’s volleyball.
Like the man himself, Belcher’s college career has been unpredictable. The senior was originally recruited out of high school to play for then-coach Al Scates’ storied UCLA men’s volleyball program.
“He was a fairly talented high school player – very coordinated,” Scates said. “I thought he had a good chance to play opposite for us.”
Scates’ two-court system – where he played 33 players, 14 of which were coached by him on his top court – produced many UCLA greats, such as current coach John Speraw, but didn’t work for Belcher, leading the freshman to end his collegiate career prematurely after being cut from the team.
While Belcher’s mindset initially transitioned out of the athletic arena, within two or three months he missed the life he left behind – one that centered around sports.
“Sports up until age 18 is like a job essentially. You go to school, (then) you go to sports,” Belcher said. “I ended up feeling I needed to be integrated somehow into sports here at UCLA. I had the connections and felt like, why not see if I could help out with some management?”
Belcher started back at the bottom, working for the football team’s equipment staff. The then-sophomore had many connections in the athletics department, so he didn’t spend long in that original capacity.
When his high school club volleyball coach Brad Keller joined the new Speraw coaching staff after Scates’ departure, Belcher immediately called Keller to see how he could contribute as a member of the volleyball team once again. With Keller’s introductions and access, Belcher became the team manager.
The innately creative and driven Belcher didn’t just occupy the role of team manager for men’s volleyball – he took the position to a new level.
Belcher created new social media platforms
for the UCLA men’s volleyball team during
his time as team manager. His efforts drew
the attention of Jim Mora, who hired Belcher
as the lead graphic designer for new media.
Daily Bruin
“New media is everything nowadays – in the entertainment industry, in the sports industry, everything is going towards Twitter, Facebook, images, graphics, videos – that’s what everybody looks at and that’s how people interact,” Belcher said. “So that’s what I was trying to help (men’s volleyball) out with – that side of stuff.”
Aside from his traditional duties, Belcher created new social media platforms for the team, including an Instagram page. Through innovation and his own initiative, Belcher discovered a passion for photography and began shooting the team’s games and practices. This evolved into Belcher teaching himself Photoshop and video editing, all of which he applied to his team manager duties.
“Integrating photography into it was a huge thing for me because I just started falling in love with photography (during my) sophomore year,” Belcher said. “Once that happened, it was like I could benefit myself with photography while benefitting the team. People take photos but they don’t give it to (the players).”
Without knowing it, Belcher was making himself into a commodity within UCLA Athletics – so much so that he drew attention from arguably the most publicized man in the department.
“Jim Mora randomly gave me a phone call – he’s a legend so getting a phone call from that guy is like, what?” Belcher said. “I ended up going into his office and he was like, ‘So I follow you on Twitter,’ because he handles all of his social media personally … which is awesome. He said, ‘I like everything you have, what can you do for us?’”
After a two-week trial period, Belcher was hired by UCLA football to be the team’s lead graphic designer of new media – a position made entirely for him. He has since transitioned from working for volleyball to focusing on football full-time.
Belcher has gotten to this point by being “a doer” according to his freshman year roommate and former teammate Robart Page – someone who is constantly fulfilling various needs he observes and applying new methods to conventional tasks.
One job is rarely enough for Belcher. The history student is also associated with Taylor Gang, the record label founded by Wiz Khalifa, where he is the company’s photographer and graphic designer.
“He’s a very likable guy and I think he feeds off that,” Page said. “He’s confident because he feels he is his wild, crazy, unique self and people like him for it.”
When asked to describe himself in one word, Belcher opts for “legend.”
“I don’t have a definition for it yet, but I use that word (a lot). It brings it back to everything I do – weird stuff,” he said. “Whatever is to come, I hope it’s something good, so I’d like to use the word legendary to (describe myself).”