One of the most troubled, confusing and downright strange careers in recent college football history came to an end on Tuesday afternoon. That’s when the University of South Carolina announced that maligned former starting quarterback and everyone’s favorite “bro,” Stephen Garcia, had been dismissed from the program for a violation that has yet to be revealed.
Athletic Director Eric Hyman said in a released statement:
“Being a student-athlete at the University of South Carolina is a privilege, not a right, and we remind all of our student-athletes that there are consequences for their actions,” Hyman said.
“For Stephen to return to and remain with the football squad this fall, we agreed on several established guidelines. Unfortunately, he has not been able to abide by those guidelines and has therefore forfeited his position on the roster. We wish him the best of luck as he moves forward in life.”
While the timing of the news is surprising, the idea that Garcia has gotten in trouble is not. Since arriving at the school in the spring of 2007, Garcia has been suspended five times, most recently for an incident last spring when he allegedly showed up for a “Life Skills” event under the influence of alcohol. It was just the latest chapter in a long line of issues for Garcia, virtually all of them centered around Garcia’s drinking. When he was reinstated in late summer, it was on a zero tolerance policy and only after he met certain athletic department criteria. That criteria was referenced in Hyman’s statement, and apparently, Garcia has recently broken them.
So closes a career for Garcia that is really hard to wrap up in words.
Let’s start with the good and say that when Garcia was “on,” he was every bit as good as most quarterbacks in college football. The best – and likely most important – win of his college career ironically came nearly one year ago exactly on Oct. 9, 2010, when he led the Gamecocks to a 35-21 victory over the No. 1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. Garcia was simply masterful that day, completing 17 of 20 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns.
Unfortunately, for every good performance like that, there was usually a bad performance like the one Garcia suffered the week prior. Against an Auburn team that would eventually win the national championship, Garcia led South Carolina to the precipice of victory before two fourth quarter fumbles cost the Gamecocks the lead and, ultimately, the game. And in the end, that might truly be Garcia’s ultimate legacy on the field at South Carolina: Good enough to win any given game he played. Just never good enough to do it consistently.
Of course for all the wins and for the fact that he led South Carolina to its first ever SEC East division championship last spring, what Garcia may best be remembered for is the off-the-field stuff. As was mentioned, he was suspended five times over the course of his career, including twice within his first few months on campus. He again got in trouble for underage drinking in 2008, and then last winter prior to the Gamecocks Chick-Fil-A Bowl appearance against Florida State. Then there was finally his suspension last spring for what Hyman called “behavior that is unacceptable to our student-athletes.”
Garcia’s one final shot came in early August, when he was reinstated following the most recent suspension. At the time, Spurrier said that he’d seen a change in his quarterback:
“He has changed his lifestyle almost completely,” Spurrier said then. “He’s been on time. No goofing around. He’s very serious. He’s shown a commitment we haven’t seen before. Hopefully that will continue and I expect that to continue. I expect him to be a different person.”
But for whatever change Spurrier saw in Garcia’s personal life, on the field, he seemingly got worse by the game during the 2011 campaign. It really started in Week 2 against Georgia, where the Gamecocks won despite him, not because of him, and he only got more erratic and inconsistent as time went on. He threw for no touchdowns and an interception in a narrow win against Navy and followed it up with a dreadful four-interception performance against Vanderbilt a week later. Garcia’s last action came in what was quite possibly the ugliest college football game this season, a 16-13 loss to Auburn. In that game, Garcia officially hit rock bottom in a football sense, completing just 9 of 23 passes.
The next day, I wrote a column here at Crystal Ball Run, which read in part:
Because the Stephen Garcia I saw Saturday is no longer the loveable loser, but instead, just a straight screw-up.
Not only did he complete just 9 of 23 passes (36 percent) and throw two picks, but it’s how he looked doing it. Garcia overthrew guys that were wide open. He tossed balls 10 yards out of bounds when the play called for hit to hit a receiver on the sideline. He threw the ball deep into triple coverage. Again, there’s no way to put it other than Garcia is just really, really bad. And given that he’s been really bad for four weeks now, it’s hard to see things changing.
And apparently, I wasn’t too far off.
Just a few days later it was announced that Garcia was being benched in favor of sophomore Connor Shaw. Now, just a few days after Shaw led the Gamecocks to victory, Garcia is no longer with the program.
Stay tuned to Crystal Ball Run as more details continue to emerge on Garcia’s dismissal.
Follow Aaron Torres on Twitter @Aaron_Torres.
