Spurrier, team, fans hope quarterback's last year can be his best
Such would be expected of a fifth-year starting quarterback who has started his team's last 28 games. However, Garcia wasn't preparing for a crucial fourth-quarter drive against a staunch Southeastern Conference defense, or to run down the clock to close out an emphatic win against Clemson.
It was another moment Garcia was walking into, one he's become familiar with since arriving at South Carolina. As he sat down at the podium during USC's preseason media day, he was going to have to talk about the past. Not the positive past, full of historic wins and a march toward etching his name all over the school record book, but the bad past, where he has been suspended as many times as the number on the front of his jersey.
Many have debated whether Garcia should have been allowed to enter the moment again. But here he is.
Right or wrong, fair or foul, Stephen Garcia will get one last chance and one more season under center for Carolina during what USC hopes could be its greatest year ever.
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Garcia's fifth suspension came after he disrupted an SEC-mandated life skills seminar for student-athletes before being told to leave.
"Back at that little seminar, it kind of got a little crazy toward the end," Garcia said. "The guy asked me to leave, and I left."
Garcia reportedly had alcohol on his breath after attending a teammate's birthday party prior to the seminar, which led to speculation of a drinking problem — something he emphatically denied Sunday. Garcia said he called the seminar instructor the next day and apologized, assuming little would come of the incident in the end.
That was not the case. The incident prompted coach Steve Spurrier, Athletic Director Eric Hyman and President Harris Pastides to suspend Garcia indefinitely, just days after he had returned from his fourth suspension due to a violation of team rules prior to the Chick-fil-A Bowl in December.
It also prompted Garcia to consider leaving USC with his degree in sociology in hand in search of a fresh start, taking advantage of the NCAA's graduate student exception rule to move to another FBS program and play immediately.
"It was a rough spring I had," said Garcia, who was told by Spurrier if he wanted to leave, the door was open.
"He said, 'If you want to transfer, you can. We'll sign the [transfer documents],'" Garcia said.
The papers never made it to Spurrier's desk after Garcia saw, in the midst of fans howling for his dismissal and stories chronicling his checkered past, solidarity from teammates.
"Thankfully I had Marcus (Lattimore) and Alshon (Jeffery) and the rest of the other players on the team that took to the Twitter accounts and Facebooks and stuff and really put it in my head that I really love these guys a lot, and I'm really thankful to still be here," Garcia said. "That made the difference, I think — just having the players on the team have my back like they did. It meant a lot to me."
After the show of support helped put the situation in "perspective," Garcia made the decision to remain a Gamecock.
"I told [Spurrier], 'I committed to play here, and I've going to finish up my career here,'" Garcia said. "Thankfully Mr. Hyman took me back and coach Spurrier took me back."
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Getting taken back wasn't a mere formality. In order to gain full reinstatement, Garcia was given several guidelines to meet, such as meeting with a team doctor on a regular basis in sessions Garcia said weren't "really counseling," but rather simple "chitchat." He also made what have repeatedly been deemed "lifestyle changes," losing "much needed" weight and approaching life and football with "a lot more focus."
Maybe the biggest change has been to his relationship with Spurrier, who has long been frustrated with what he views as a lack of maturity and work ethic on Garcia's part.
The dynamic between the two has seen many peaks — wins over the No. 1 and No. 4 teams in the nation, two straight wins over Clemson and the first SEC East title in school history — but it has been defined by simmering tension and frequent public criticism from Spurrier. The past few months have seen some of the contention subside.
"It was pretty vital to me staying here as far as improving my relationship with coach Spurrier," Garcia said. "We probably have the best relationship we've had since he was recruiting me out of high school, which I think is a big step toward a successful season for me individually."
Much of the improvement to the relationship seems a result of Garcia approaching the game with the seriousness Spurrier has longed for.
"I've been watching a lot more film," Garcia said. "Drawing up the ball plays as he says, trying to [know] where everyone's going at all times, trying to recognize coverages a lot faster."
As a reward for graduating and making sufficient progress on his guidelines, Garcia was partially reinstated in June to participate in voluntary team workouts. He then began to watch the aforementioned film, push himself in the weight room, condition with offensive skill players and emerge as a leader by organizing team passing workouts.
"Just hard work," said offensive lineman Terrence Campbell when asked what he has seen out of Garcia this summer. "The way he's been training and focused ... I can't say enough about him."
Spurrier, who can't attend or observe workouts due to NCAA regulations, would receive word of Garcia's progress and standing from strength coach Craig Fitzgerald. Now that preseason practice has begun, Spurrier has been able recognize Garcia's transformation firsthand.
"I can tell he's just got a better commitment level," Spurrier said. "He's not goofing around as much as he used to; he's not goofing around at all, really. He's trying to really play the position. He's trying to make good decisions out there."
Spurrier went on to say when he and his staff watched practice video last week, they saw a play in which Garcia quickly recognized his first three receiving targets were covered and immediately threw to his fourth target. While one play, such instances, according to Spurrier, give him hope Garcia's final season can be his best.
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Garcia isn't naïve. He knows no matter what he does on the field and what trouble he doesn't encounter off it, his past will always linger. It is what it is, he said. He lives and plays in a "fishbowl," with unrelenting scrutiny that has both caused him hard times and taught him a great deal of lessons.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Garcia said. "It's made me who I am today."
He understands the frustration with him, especially on the part of Carolina fans, he says. Given the changes he has made and the work he has done, Garcia said he is optimistic fans will trust him again. "Hopefully, they'll take me back one more time," Garcia said.
That likely will not be a problem. The consensus among Carolina fans is that Garcia represents the Gamecocks' best chance to repeat as Eastern Division champions and win the school's first SEC Championship.
"He's very important," said wide receiver Jason Barnes. "He's a brother to all of us and a leader on the field. We all look to him to guide us to wins."
If Garcia has the season so many think he is capable of, he will likely leave USC as the school's career leader in passing attempts, completions, yards, touchdowns and total offense, although he doesn't give much thought to the possibility.
"I'm not really worried about my legacy, per se," Garcia said. "I'm worried about the team in general. The ultimate goal, of course, is to win the SEC Championship, and if you do that, you have a pretty good shot of winning the national championship as the past five years has indicated. That's all I'm really worried about."
Just months ago, Garcia had a great deal to worry about — his career, his future, his life. But, as it always has for him, a bad situation became better, and the focus is back on football and a team that is the preseason favorite to win the SEC East for the first time in program history.
"I think we've got a special team here," said Garcia, echoing what so many around the nation and in Columbia believe.
And if it can get a special final season out of its rugged veteran quarterback, Stephen Garcia's last chance may prove to be the greatest chance South Carolina ever took.