Quarterback has met required guidelines
South Carolina will open preseason practice tonight with both its quarterback and quarterbacks coach in attendance.
USC announced Tuesday both incumbent starter Stephen Garcia and his position coach G.A. Mangus have been fully reinstated prior to tonight’s 7:30 p.m. session at the Bluff Road practice fields.
Garcia had been working out this summer with the team on a probationary basis after being partially reinstated prior to the beginning of the Summer I semester and team workouts. Garcia was suspended indefinitely for the fifth time in his career at USC on April 7 due to an incident at an SEC-mandated life skills workshop for student-athletes.
When Garcia was initially suspended, USC coach Steve Spurrier, Athletics Director Eric Hyman and President Harris Pastides set several “guidelines” for the fifth-year senior to meet in order to earn his reinstatement. The partial reinstatement was given as a reward for the Lutz, Fla., native’s progress toward those unknown milestones, and Spurrier indicated at his media golf outing last week that Garcia had fully embraced them and “changed his lifestyle,” earning a full reinstatement.
“In the last four months, Stephen has done everything we’ve asked of him,” said Spurrier in a release. “He has made a commitment to being a first-class student-athlete, and we expect him to continue to be one throughout the rest of his Gamecock career.”
Garcia, who has started the last 28 games for Carolina, threw for 20 touchdowns and 3,059 yards last season. He enters the 2011 season in striking distance of several USC passing records.
“He’s a good guy around his teammates,” Spurrier said last week. “He’s just had a few issues where he’s done some stupid things ... If we can eliminate those things, you know, he’s fine.”
Mangus was suspended indefinitely without pay last week after his arrest on nuisance conduct charges in Greenville, S.C. Mangus, 42, was seen by Greenville City police urinating into the street and was “uncooperative” when questioned according to a police report. Spurrier had said at his golf outing that Mangus would possibly miss some of the first week of practices, but that will not be the case.
“I think G.A. is very remorseful,” said Spurrier last week. “He knows that if he has one more incident such as this, his coaching career could be over.”
Although back at work, Mangus will still pay a financial penalty for his actions. Mangus will forfeit a month’s portion of his annual salary, as well as be ineligible for any bonuses or compensation increases for a year. Mangus also will remain on probation for the duration of his current contract.
According to the South Carolina state Budget and Control Board’s transparency Web page, Mangus makes $175,000 annually, which means he will be docked approximately $14,580. A USC Athletics spokesperson said he did not know where the docked wages will go.
“We insist that those in the athletics department who work with our student-athletes on a daily basis are held to a higher standard of conduct,” said Hyman in a statement. “G.A.’s lack of judgment did not reflect the character and integrity that we expect from our coaches.”