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The other U.S.C.'s Stephen Garcia gets the boot - Printable Version

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The other U.S.C.'s Stephen Garcia gets the boot - fullmetal - 10-11-2011

Any speculation on whether his removal was motivated more by his off-field conduct than his on-field performance?

Garcia failed alcohol test, kicked off of team.

Re: The other U.S.C.'s Stephen Garcia gets the boot - CowboyIndian - 10-11-2011

Without knowing a helluva lot about the details, it seems he's had plenty of chances. I hope AA is in his future now.

Re: The other U.S.C.'s Stephen Garcia gets the boot - fullmetal - 10-11-2011

Before this last off-season, I didn't know he had such heavy off-field issues.  You'd think friends or family would have been able to help him right the ship =\

About time - Redrum - 10-11-2011

Garcia was a conference joke but we does love our football so he got tolerance for making life interesting.  Imagine a guy who was so efffed up that he couldn't even stay in the w--i--d--e  boundaries that Spurrier set for him time after time.  Too wild even for Spurrier,  who kept whole teams of Florida players out of jail and eligible.  God only knows what that kid can do now.  Eligibility all but used up.  Not many people in his corner.  Fans fed up with him.

Re: The other U.S.C.'s Stephen Garcia gets the boot - Ratmandoo - 10-11-2011

Hmmmm..... the backup quarterback, Connor Shaw, throws for four touchdowns and over 300 yards this weekend and two days later Garcia is too much trouble to keep on the team. Typical SEC team. When a player no longer can help you win, he gets kicked off the team. Garcia should have been kicked off the team a couple of years ago before he got a fourth or fifth chance but Spurrier didn't know if the back-up quarterback would be better than Garcia. Now that Spurrier knows that Shaw gives him a better chance at winning games, bye bye Garcia.

Re: The other U.S.C.'s Stephen Garcia gets the boot - Rando - 10-12-2011

Garcia obviously has some serious issues. Maybe he likes being in the spotlight? Or maybe he's just really addicted to trouble.

The guy will no longer be in the spotlight though. If he played well this season, I could have seen him getting drafted to the NFL. Now, I doubt any team would give him a pro workout. His football career is over unless CFL or some other mid-teir football league picks him up. In my opinion anyways. I'm no Mel Kiper. But don't see how an NFL team would take a chance on a sub-par player with major off the field issues.

Shame, because he had skills.

Re: The other U.S.C.'s Stephen Garcia gets the boot - fullmetal - 10-12-2011

Ratmandoo and I are on the same page.  Spurrier is doing to Garcia what Bob Stoops did to Rhett Bomar so many years ago...leveraging off-field events in order to free up scholarships (or throw players under the bus when they're no longer of use, depending).

From Connor Shaw's bio:

Quote:... also had offers from Georgia Tech, East Carolina, Stanford, Wake Forest and West Virginia.


Re: The other U.S.C.'s Stephen Garcia gets the boot - unclechuck - 10-12-2011

As discussed on ESPN's The Experts on 10/11/10. Check with Robbie for sources if they haven't already become more widely available.

Garcia failed a drug test.

He had a behavioral contract that he had signed with the University when he was allowed to rejoin the team that included substance testing. He chose to violate terms of that contract.

Spurrier didn't throw him under the bus, he dove under it on his own.

It's a shame. Major talent with major issues. Hope the kid gets his life together, but he's got his work cut out for him.

Re: The other U.S.C.'s Stephen Garcia gets the boot - unclechuck - 10-12-2011

(10-12-2011, 08:51 AM)garvin link Wrote:We should note that the drug is alcohol. I'm not saying that means it didn't count -- he had signed the agreement, which was imposed for good reason -- but he was not committing an act that was illegal per se.

Thanks for the clarification; I hadn't seen the specifics and didn't want to speculate.

Re: The other U.S.C.'s Stephen Garcia gets the boot - CowboyIndian - 10-12-2011

(10-12-2011, 08:51 AM)garvin link Wrote:We should note that the drug is alcohol. I'm not saying that means it didn't count -- he had signed the agreement, which was imposed for good reason -- but he was not committing an act that was illegal per se.

I thought the College Game Day folks said last night that he also tested positive for marijuana.

Help could be on the way - Redrum - 10-12-2011

Maybe Ben Ladner and David Hobbs can help him form a support group.    Ballplayers Given Second (And More) Chances But Screwed by Coaches    (the famous BGSAMCBSBC)

I'm as cynical as the next guy concerning the SEC  and Spurrier,  but I  just have a hard time thinking he's the bad guy in this.
He gave Garcia more than enough chances...that was his "crime" if there was one.  But the actual pulling of the trigger on Garcia was long overdue.  Spurrier plays the larger game of running his program just like almost every other coach in the SEC and many at programs across the nation.  As for timing,  I bet he had already stuck his neck out to keep Garcia on the team so many times that Garcia's latest lapse cost too much to the program and the university.    That seems a more likely scenario than a sudden addition of spine just because the replacement QB played well.

Who snitched on him? - JohnR34231 - 10-12-2011

We need Mrs. Hobbs to help us find the guilty party.

Re: Help could be on the way - Ratmandoo - 10-12-2011

(10-12-2011, 09:33 AM)Redrum link Wrote:I'm as cynical as the next guy concerning the SEC  and Spurrier,  but I  just have a hard time thinking he's the bad guy in this.
He gave Garcia more than enough chances...that was his "crime" if there was one.  But the actual pulling of the trigger on Garcia was long overdue.  Spurrier plays the larger game of running his program just like almost every other coach in the SEC and many at programs across the nation.  As for timing,  I bet he had already stuck his neck out to keep Garcia on the team so many times that Garcia's latest lapse cost too much to the program and the university.    That seems a more likely scenario than a sudden addition of spine just because the replacement QB played well.

I'm not saying Spurrier is a bad guy for cutting Garcia. I'm saying he's a bad guy for taking SO LONG to cut Garcia. Garcia should have been kicked off the team when he broke rules for the third time during last year's bowl game.

As for the addition of spine, I think that has everything to do with Shaw's performance compared to Garcia's performance over the last four games. Fans wanted Garcia out especially after he pretty much lost the Auburn game on his own. It's not like the critics would rip Spurrier more for giving Garcia a 6th chance than they did when he gave him a 5th chance (conveniently reinstating him right at the start of summer camp). We'll never know for sure but that's certainly my opinion.

Just checked. The under-the-bus theory doesn't work - Redrum - 10-13-2011

Garcia was in his fourth and final year of participation.  As for chucking him under the bus to free up a scholarship, his scholarship slot would have been available whether he'd been dismissed or played out the year.  The easiest path under normal circumstances would have been to let the replacement play and just bench Garcia.  I still like the theory that  Spurrier had stuck his neck out too far and made risky commitments to the university administration that carried too high a cost.  Garcia became worth more as evidence of some control over player behavior than he had value on the field.  The new QB's performance certainly made that show of backbone easier.

P.S.  Good one, JPRI.  Had she been around in antiquity,  the Greeks would have included her among the Harpies.  Relentless.

Re: The other U.S.C.'s Stephen Garcia gets the boot - teejers1 - 10-13-2011

Well, I won't pretend to know all the details, but from my angle it sure looked like our former coach was WAY TOO HARSH in his treatment of Hobbs and Ladner (especially given Jim's own proclivities as a college student and beyond).  And I have no problem with a mother advocating vocally on behalf of her son.  Really, wouldn't you do the same, especially if you felt your son was aggrieved?


I have no problem with an advocate for their kid - Redrum - 10-13-2011

But she was laying down a field of  suppressing fire on anyone who didn't toe her line,  accept her version of the facts.
At very least it was a poor way to rally any kind of support for her son.  Basic questions were dismissed rather than addressed.  She claimed to be in possession of damning facts,  facts that would shift everyone's perception of what went on...then refused to share them, claiming they'd all come to light in a great reckoning in the near future.  Never happened.  I remember trying to hold a dialog with her and ending up summarily assigned to the Harbaugh Toady camp.   

Among all the flak one thing stuck out for me.  She believed her kid.  Not believed in her kid,  believed as gospel fact his denial to her that he had any involvement with drugs.    That kids lie to their parents about lots of things in their lives didn't even seem applicable or something worth considering.  Never entered her mind.  I wondered then:  How many parents would bet their lives that their children had never, ever  lied to them? 

A committed, tireless advocate for her kid.  Yes.  An effective, rational advocate.  Not much

And, with distance from her rants,  I guess I agree that Harbaugh was too harsh.  FWLIW,  one of my last communications with her she stated David was off into life with a degree and working (sorry,  I forget at specifically what pursuit).