Will There Be A Three-For-All At Quarterback??
posted by Scott Hood, Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Yes, but only if you believe in fairy tales.
Tommy Beecher will be the No. 1 quarterback when USC officially opens camp on Friday night. Chris Smelley will be the No. 2 guy nipping at his heels.
As a result, the best Garcia can hope for is striving to be a dependable No.3 QB for a while.
Remember, although Garcia first walked on campus in January of 2007, he’s participated in only a handful of spring practices, served as the scout team quarterback last fall and missed all of this summer’s workouts.
By all accounts, he hasn’t taken a snap with the first team offense or yet exhibited a complete grasp of Spurrier’s offense since he’s been in Columbia.
Of course, that doesn’t mean he won’t accomplish those things in the future. But, taking Garcia where he stands right now, he has a lot of work to do before he steps onto the field in a real game.
But Garcia’s biggest obstacle when he finally returns to the Gamecock fold is winning back the trust of his teammates.
Make no mistake, Garcia will subject to a zero tolerance policy when he’s finally reinstated. If he glances at someone the wrong way, he could be gone. Hyberbole? Maybe. But not by much.
The other 100-plus guys in the revamped USC locker room want to know if they can count on Garcia to remain on the right side of the law.
Quarterback is possibly the most important, and the most scrutinized, studied, probed, criticized and praised, position in all of sports, pro or college. A quarterback must also be the leader, as well as the face of a football team.
A lot of responsibility? You bet. But that’s the price for playing such a critical position. When you’re a quarterback, you have to take the good with the bad.
Garcia must understand that as long as he’s going to play quarterback in the SEC and play for Steve Spurrier, he will be under a heavy microscope. Starting with the day he finally comes back, every time he walks down the street or rides his scooter in public, people will be watching him.
In my opinion, Garcia will earn plenty of bonus points (at least with this author) if he announces soon after being reinstated that he’s staying the heck out from Five Points.
Besides those people who will likely try to bait Garcia into another incident, he has another enemy: unrealistic expectations from fans.
Garcia is undeniably an extremely talented quarterback. He possesses a cannon arm, very fast legs and a keen football mind. He’s also a pretty good student when he focuses on the books.
But for those people who actually believe Garcia is just going to stroll onto the practice fields and start dominating the quarterback position, well, it won’t happen.
Okay, the odds are it won’t happen.
I was informed on Tuesday when we were at the Woodcreek Country Club today that Garcia currently weighs about 250 pounds, about 20 pounds above his preferred playing weight. So, he’ll have to drop some significant weight if he wants to play this season.
Is there a slim chance Garcia could become the starting quarterback by the midway point of the season? Yes. Just don’t count on it, unless Beecher and Smelley falter badly.
In my opinion, the best thing that could happen to Garcia is take hundreds of snaps in practice between now and the end of September.
Garcia should take the same approach as many NASCAR drivers do in a 500-mile race. Lay low in the weeds for the first half of the race before quickly building momentum in the second half and then seizing control late in the race.
Pursuant to that philosophy, the best-case scenario for Garcia is joining the Gamecocks in time for the Aug. 1 practice and then build up his football acumen to make a serious bid for the starting job sometime in the second half of the season.
Of course, the concern is whether Spurrier wants a relatively inexperienced redshirt freshman taking the snaps when teams like LSU, Tennessee, Florida and Clemson are staring at him from across the line of scrimmage.
As for the fans, the best advice I can offer with regards to Garcia is practice some patience. Things may not fall into place right away, but I have confidence they will eventually. Good things come to those who wait? In the case of Garcia, the answer is yes.
But there’s no question fall practice will be a lot more interesting and entertaining with Garcia around. Hopefully, though, he’ll stay out of the headlines.
Frankly, beginning Friday the less we hear about Garcia over the next 30 days, the better. That means he’s doing what he’s supposed to and behaving himself.
If you’re a Gamecock fan, that would be the best news of all.
Welcome back, Stephen. We missed you.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
So, Stephen Garcia will return to South Carolina on Thursday, or shortly thereafter, after being banished for the summer to Tampa, Fla. and the Gamecock football program will live happily ever after, right?
Yes, but only if you believe in fairy tales.
Tommy Beecher will be the No. 1 quarterback when USC officially opens camp on Friday night. Chris Smelley will be the No. 2 guy nipping at his heels.
As a result, the best Garcia can hope for is striving to be a dependable No.3 QB for a while.
Remember, although Garcia first walked on campus in January of 2007, he’s participated in only a handful of spring practices, served as the scout team quarterback last fall and missed all of this summer’s workouts.
By all accounts, he hasn’t taken a snap with the first team offense or yet exhibited a complete grasp of Spurrier’s offense since he’s been in Columbia.
Of course, that doesn’t mean he won’t accomplish those things in the future. But, taking Garcia where he stands right now, he has a lot of work to do before he steps onto the field in a real game.
But Garcia’s biggest obstacle when he finally returns to the Gamecock fold is winning back the trust of his teammates.
Make no mistake, Garcia will subject to a zero tolerance policy when he’s finally reinstated. If he glances at someone the wrong way, he could be gone. Hyberbole? Maybe. But not by much.
The other 100-plus guys in the revamped USC locker room want to know if they can count on Garcia to remain on the right side of the law.
Quarterback is possibly the most important, and the most scrutinized, studied, probed, criticized and praised, position in all of sports, pro or college. A quarterback must also be the leader, as well as the face of a football team.
A lot of responsibility? You bet. But that’s the price for playing such a critical position. When you’re a quarterback, you have to take the good with the bad.
Garcia must understand that as long as he’s going to play quarterback in the SEC and play for Steve Spurrier, he will be under a heavy microscope. Starting with the day he finally comes back, every time he walks down the street or rides his scooter in public, people will be watching him.
In my opinion, Garcia will earn plenty of bonus points (at least with this author) if he announces soon after being reinstated that he’s staying the heck out from Five Points.
Besides those people who will likely try to bait Garcia into another incident, he has another enemy: unrealistic expectations from fans.
Garcia is undeniably an extremely talented quarterback. He possesses a cannon arm, very fast legs and a keen football mind. He’s also a pretty good student when he focuses on the books.
But for those people who actually believe Garcia is just going to stroll onto the practice fields and start dominating the quarterback position, well, it won’t happen.
Okay, the odds are it won’t happen.
I was informed on Tuesday when we were at the Woodcreek Country Club today that Garcia currently weighs about 250 pounds, about 20 pounds above his preferred playing weight. So, he’ll have to drop some significant weight if he wants to play this season.
Is there a slim chance Garcia could become the starting quarterback by the midway point of the season? Yes. Just don’t count on it, unless Beecher and Smelley falter badly.
In my opinion, the best thing that could happen to Garcia is take hundreds of snaps in practice between now and the end of September.
Garcia should take the same approach as many NASCAR drivers do in a 500-mile race. Lay low in the weeds for the first half of the race before quickly building momentum in the second half and then seizing control late in the race.
Pursuant to that philosophy, the best-case scenario for Garcia is joining the Gamecocks in time for the Aug. 1 practice and then build up his football acumen to make a serious bid for the starting job sometime in the second half of the season.
Of course, the concern is whether Spurrier wants a relatively inexperienced redshirt freshman taking the snaps when teams like LSU, Tennessee, Florida and Clemson are staring at him from across the line of scrimmage.
As for the fans, the best advice I can offer with regards to Garcia is practice some patience. Things may not fall into place right away, but I have confidence they will eventually. Good things come to those who wait? In the case of Garcia, the answer is yes.
But there’s no question fall practice will be a lot more interesting and entertaining with Garcia around. Hopefully, though, he’ll stay out of the headlines.
Frankly, beginning Friday the less we hear about Garcia over the next 30 days, the better. That means he’s doing what he’s supposed to and behaving himself.
If you’re a Gamecock fan, that would be the best news of all.
Welcome back, Stephen. We missed you.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Previous Blog Entries
Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.