As reported first on FITS, fifth-year senior quarterback Stephen Garcia was dismissed from the Gamecock football team on Tuesday – marking the end of his tumultuous five-year run with the program.
No reason was given for Garcia’s dismissal – although the 6-foot-2, 230-pound signal-caller from Lutz, Florida lost his starting job to sophomore Connor Shaw a week ago after throwing an NCAA-leading nine interceptions through the first five games of the 2011 season.
The (Columbia, S.C.) State newspaper is reporting that Garcia failed an alcohol test – which is consistent with what we’ve been told by sources close to the program. Meanwhile, ESPN’s Chris Low is reporting that Garcia also tested positive for marijuana use.
As is its custom, the school’s athletics department is shedding absolutely no light whatsoever on the situation. Also, FITS made repeated calls to USC’s sports information office in advance of breaking the Garcia story – none of which were returned.
Garcia leaves the field following USC's 2010 win over Florida.
“Being a student-athlete at the University of South Carolina is a privilege, not a right,” USC athletics director Eric Hyman said in a statement. “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.”
The announcement came shortly after USC head coach Steve Spurrier refused to hold his weekly press conference – citing problems with a local sports columnist.
“We are all saddened that this has occurred,” Spurrier said in the University’s statement. “We all feel like we’ve given Stephen numerous opportunities to be a student-athlete here at South Carolina. Obviously, he has chosen not to follow the guidelines of his reinstatement contract. We wish him the best.”
Garcia had a career year in 2010 – completing 64.2 percent of his passes and throwing for 3,059 yards and 20 touchdowns. Along with the emergence of running back Marcus Lattimore, his play was one of the main reasons USC captured its first-ever SEC Eastern Division championship.
Garcia’s season was highlighted by “The Drive” – a 15-play, 82-yard march against top-ranked Alabama that helped put away the defending national champions and give the USC program its biggest win ever.
Garcia’s success was followed by a tumultuous off-season, however – beginning with our explosive report in March detailing his shenanigans at the Chick-Fil-A bowl in Atlanta last December. Those exploits earned Garcia a one-week suspension at the beginning of spring practice – but the real drama began in early April when USC suspended Garcia indefinitely for his conduct at a “life skills” event organized by the Southeastern Conference.
While there are conflicting reports regarding what happened at this event, it is widely believed that Pauline Hyman – wife of USC athletics director Eric Hyman – was instrumental in convincing her husband to suspend Garcia. Pauline Hyman – who runs the school’s “life skills” program – is considered to be the athletic department’s “Miss Manners,” which obviously makes her a capable foil to the hard-partying quarterback.
To hear Garcia backers tell it, the speaker at the “life skills” event – a friend of Pauline Hyman’s – was belittling Garcia in front of his teammates, which prompted the quarterback to respond.
Garcia celebrates USC's 2009 win over Ole Miss
Eric Hyman has denied his wife’s involvement in the incident - although he and the school failed to answer a host of questions regarding the event as well as Pauline Hyman’s alleged connection to it. As part of the indefinite suspension, the school briefly blocked Garcia from renewing his scholarship and refused to let him receive his SEC Eastern Division championship ring.
Garcia was eventually reinstated to the team on a probationary basis – but sources close to the quarterback say the damage was done.
“They broke his will,” one pro-Garcia source says.
Garcia lost his starting job at the beginning of the 2011 season, but he was inserted in the second quarter of the Gamecocks’ season-opener against East Carolina – rallying the team from a 17-0 deficit to a 56-37 victory over the Pirates.
Things went downhill from there, though. In addition to the interceptions, Garcia was missing wide open receivers and making horrible decisions in (and out) of the pocket. Through five games, he completed just 51.7 percent of his passes for 844 yards with only four touchdowns.
As a result of his shoddy play, Garcia was once again yanked in favor of Shaw.
Garcia finishes his career at USC with a 20-14 record as a starter – including a 2-0 mark against arch-rival Clemson and a 2-1 mark against Georgia. He threw for 7,597 passing yards – one of only three quarterbacks in school history to reach the 7,500-yard threshold. Garcia also ranks third on USC’s career list in completions (589) and touchdowns (47).
In addition to his aerial exploits, Garcia rushed for 777 yards and 15 touchdowns during this three-and-a-half seasons in Columbia.
How will the loss of Garcia impact the No. 13/15 Gamecocks?
That remains to be seen … Shaw had a career day in USC’s 54-3 shellacking of Kentucky on Saturday, but that was only his second career start. And it came against arguably the worst team in the SEC this year. Over the coming month, Shaw will have to prove his mettle on the road against Mississippi State, Tennessee and Arkansas.
Frankly, those are three games in which it probably would have benefited USC to have a veteran signal-caller on its roster.
Despite the turmoil, the Gamecocks are off to a 5-1 start and are currently sitting alone atop the SEC Eastern Division standings. USC doesn’t face top-ranked LSU or No. 2 Alabama during the regular season, either – giving them the inside track to repeat as SEC East champs and possibly win ten games for only the second time in school history. The program’s first-ever Bowl Championship Series (BCS) berth isn’t entirely out of the question, either.
Is Shaw up for that sort of pressure?
Again, we’ll see …
“I believe Connor has great instincts and with his dual threat capabilities, I believe he is ready for the demands of SEC football and most importantly the demands of leading his team to a very successful season,” Shaw’s high school coach (and father) Lee Shaw told our own Jordan Dominick earlier this year. “Connor has worked very hard this off-season to prepare himself as the starter at South Carolina.”
Garcia was supportive of the young quarterback during his start against Kentucky – patting him on the back and offering encouraging words on the sidelines.
“Before the game he kept telling me positive things like ‘good luck,’” Shaw said. “I’d come off the field and he’d congratulate me and say keep your head in the game and stuff like that.”
What do you think of USC’s decision to dismiss Garcia? Vote in our poll and post your thoughts in our comments section below.
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Pics: Travis Bell, Sideline Carolina
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By Kershaw October 11, 2011 at 2:39 pm
When it comes to Gamecock sports, your sources are right on.
By rad October 11, 2011 at 2:43 pm
‘Bout time! I feel for the man, and I hope gets some help…
By Terrell Samuel October 11, 2011 at 2:45 pm
football aside.i really hope stephen gets his life together
By Cocky1 October 11, 2011 at 2:45 pm
The USC football program washed its hands of Garcia when they sent him home without a scholarship last may. Obviously they were hoping he would not return for a final season and Garcia refused to play their game. Fits has reported some of the BS Garcia endured at the hands of USC this spring and summer. Hopefully the whole truth will come out.
By BlackMagic84 October 11, 2011 at 2:47 pm
Glad to hear the druggie is off the team. Spurrier gave the spoiled brat at least 6 chances we know about. My bet is Garcia has messed up at least double that in private. Spurrier finally grew some balls. The Old Ball Coach is back.
By Recovering Lobbyist October 11, 2011 at 2:58 pm
Cocky1: Spurier gave Garcia the ball for the first half of this season. I would call that giving Garcia one hell of an opportunity to prove himself on a huge national stage. Am I missing something?
By You heard it here first... October 11, 2011 at 3:04 pm
Well at least if you check this site every 10 minutes. If not, then you heard it from virtually everyone else in the known universe simultaneously. Let’s not get carried away and think that this is proof that FITS is right about anything else.
By Alphonse October 11, 2011 at 3:05 pm
I’ll guess I’ll be burning my redshirt year. Time for me to suit up.
By #teamSpurrier October 11, 2011 at 3:07 pm
Hyman dismissed Garcia.. I wonder if SOS is thrilled that the rest of the season he has Conner (who is good) and 2 freshman. Clemson, Arkansas, Fla, The Citadel and Miss St are doing the happy dance.
By barker October 11, 2011 at 3:12 pm
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me six times and, and, and, well, well, I’ll get your ass so you can’t shame me anymore.
By BigT October 11, 2011 at 3:13 pm
I heard this on the radio, 1400 AM. They got it from the BigSpur website before FITS had it…
And after some of FITS scoops have crashed and burned, I was real slow to put much creedence in FITS report, but I had heard it beforehand. FITs been too irresponsible and sloppy too manby times…
By Shawn Patrick October 11, 2011 at 3:22 pm
This is crap because EVERYONE knew Garcia was getting drunk almost every night at California Dreaming and other places. The thing is, they didn’t care until he was removed as starter. But the entire team was aware of this.
By BigT October 11, 2011 at 3:28 pm
Shawn you better hope Md. does not get a HIT on Tajh…Every chance you think you have will swirl down the TOILET…
By trey October 11, 2011 at 3:40 pm
I think this is a mistake, for Stephen and for USC. To have come so far and worked so hard this is a terrible ending. USC could have worked closely with him after shelving him at QB. He should have had more support for what he was going through.
Mark my words, this one will come back to haunt the program and is a terrible start to life for Garcia. Did any of us not think about what it was like standing on the sideline last Saturday as his back study put on a command performance? There are lots of us that would have buckled just like he did in this situation. We dropped this ball.
Trey
By Petey October 11, 2011 at 3:43 pm
Will Garcia still get free drinks wherever he shows up at night?
By This is hilarious October 11, 2011 at 3:48 pm
Something tells me that if Shaw didn’t do so well last weekend none of this would be happening right now. The instant OBS truly felt confident in Shaw, Garcia was done. You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it.
Now I’m looking forward to Garcia spilling his guts about the program to Ron Morris.
By CriticalMass October 11, 2011 at 3:54 pm
I would like to see all college teams/coaches adopt a one or two strike policy in regards to drug and/or alcohol use.
But sadly, I suspect that by the time an athlete gets a scholarship, there has been so much time and money invested, the school is unwilling to throw it all away.
By Robert October 11, 2011 at 4:07 pm
His drinking had not stopped. Witnesses saw him at Locals the night before the Vandy game. One teammate told relatives that he had alcohol on the bus ride back from UGA.
Past time to move on. Hope Garcia gets the help he appears to need.
By Sumpter October 11, 2011 at 4:15 pm
Go back and read Fit’s first tweets to see when he first got the news this morning.
By anthony October 11, 2011 at 4:17 pm
First you love him when he performs. The young man needs help. Obviously this happens at many colleges. How many infractions go unreported? Sad
By Counselor1 October 11, 2011 at 4:25 pm
Last year I predicted in a lengthy post here at FitsNews that Garcia would end his career just like it is happening today. I have no connection to USC, nor am I a fan of the program. (positive or negative) I suggested earlier that Garcia run not walk to get counseling for his addiction problem(s). Numerous posters informed me that he was just a typical college kid and he was doing what most college kids do. I suggested that he had several issues and he was being enabled by his parents and others. Again I was told I had no idea what I was talking about.
I spotted this kid a mile away. He needs to seek help immediately to turn his life around. @Trey. No one dropped the ball except Garcia himself. He was given dozens of opportunities to pull himself up, but he failed to do so. He can not overcome his problems by himself. First, he must realize this before he can move forward. A sad ending for a talented young man.
By S Patrick October 11, 2011 at 4:32 pm
Garcia’s personal life isn’t so bad… He had graduated USC, he had his own apartment, and somehow, was able to buy a $70,000 new pick up to drive around town. Maybe Garcia should now speak out and confess up who gave him all these goodies, free drinks, etc etc
By Goyojimbo October 11, 2011 at 4:33 pm
I hope Garcia gets it together on goes on to a productive life. It’s my understanding he is a father. That’s the most important role he will ever have. The football is just trivial b.s. when compared to that.
By Tom October 11, 2011 at 4:52 pm
If he dies tomorrow his epitah would be “He had a million dollar arm and a five cent head.”
As for Shaw, injuries have severely weaken Miss State and UT so they are not as big a hurdle as they looked in the pe-season, but winning on the road is always tough in the SEC. Arkansas still scares me though.
By Marge Hollingsworth October 11, 2011 at 5:05 pm
Every year Garcia has been in trouble. Before his first Freshman class at USC began, he was in the papers for “keying” a professor’s car. That was a big red flag that this kid needed help. It’s been one thing after another since then.
I don’t think that Shaw’s performance has anything to do with the timing of Garcia’s dismissal. Garcia didn’t start because he’d missed most of the week’s practices to go to Florida for his grandfather’s funeral. It’s normal for a player not to start in that situation. After Connor got started, there was no reason to put Garcia in the game.
Many chances were given to Garcia to take responsibility for his issues and to stay clean and sober. He chose not to. I hope this helps him gain some perspective on life in general.
One more thing…. GO COCKS!
By Trooper Trainee October 11, 2011 at 5:28 pm
They don’t need him anymore, they have Conner!
By The Colonel October 11, 2011 at 5:37 pm
Fits,
You missed a category on your poll – where’s the “about damn time button”?
By kyle October 11, 2011 at 5:42 pm
I personally think that it was a good choice to let him go. football aside, i hope he can get his life together. we could all tell it wasent the garcia we all knew when he was missing wide open recievers.
By JX October 11, 2011 at 5:51 pm
The Big question: If Connor Shaw had played poorly against Kentucky, would the old ball coach have ignored the failed test, and kept Garcia on the team?
By BradWarthenSucks October 11, 2011 at 6:43 pm
At this point in his career, Spurrier doesn’t care about his backup quarterback, he’s more concerned with getting a good tee time.
By Jackie October 11, 2011 at 7:23 pm
I’m a USC fan, … but THANK GOD AND GREYHOUND HE’S GONE. I’d rather lose every other game this season than to put up with him. He lost me with the keying incident.
By Rootcanal October 11, 2011 at 7:28 pm
I don’t think Spurrier had a choice. Hyman and the university admin dictated this one. Remember NCAA is already looking at you. Good riddance – noe let the kid play and Marcus run!
By Bonnie October 11, 2011 at 7:34 pm
I firmly believe this is Eric Hyman and his wife Pauline’s fault bc they broke Gracia’s will. I wish Eric and Pauline would leave SC, better yet the damn country. Send them to Afghanistan so Pauline can straighten out the Taliban. I really despise the Hymans. I wish the best for Stephen and hope he has a great future and makes more damn money than Hyman.
By USC Longtime Fan October 11, 2011 at 7:35 pm
Have struggled with the dissapointments Steven Garcia have brought to USC for the past 5 years along with the embarassment. Glad he is gone! Hope Spurrier is next! He sacrificed Carolina Pride for 1 player. Would love to know the significance of the green golf shirt at the botched press conference today in lieu of Garnet & Black. Forida deserves Garcia and Spurrier. USC has money, recruit Dabo Sweeney at Clemson. Real Leader and knows how to motivate young players and teach values.
By Jamie October 11, 2011 at 7:51 pm
Spurrier needs to grow a set and stand up to Hyman. Hyman is the one who needs to go, not Garcia.
By BradWarthenSucks October 11, 2011 at 7:59 pm
Bonnie – Are you 12, or do you just have the mentality and emotional capacity of a jr. high school girl?
BTW – A bachelors degree in Sociology isn’t exactly going to open many doors.
By Old Bike Dude October 11, 2011 at 8:12 pm
After being told he was off the team Garcia threw a helmet at Coach Spurrier. Fortunately for Spurrier it was intercepted.
By joe morrison October 11, 2011 at 8:12 pm
garcia could never shoulder the weight of all the expectations. he folded last year against auburn and he choked against kentucky and florida state, but the give the kid his props. he won the two biggest games in in usc fotball history: last year against no.1 alabama-the game of his career and he even made arguably the most boneheaded play o his career(throwing the ball int the upright for a safety) during his greatest success- and the 36-14 win for the sec east title in the swamp. plus, he was the first usc qb in 30 years to beat clemson back to back. now he’s been thrown on the rubbish heap of gamecock hisory to join greats such as ryan bethea, derek watson, demetris summers, and the list coud go on and on.
By Robert Hagwood October 11, 2011 at 9:36 pm
Garcia has really thrown a great, or at least a solid future, down the toilet.
Can you imagine the advantages you would have in life having been the quarterback of a major SEC team? Even without going into the NFL you would have so many advantages in whatever business you went into.
All Garcia had to do was either stay on track through the end of this season or at least bow out gracefully at the end of last season. Now instead of having a positive his football career will likely substantially hold him back from now on.
By True Fan October 11, 2011 at 10:01 pm
I think we all konw that discipline is something we all need from time to time but I have hard time with just the players when a coach is arrested for urinating on main street downtown Greenville and he was not terminated immediately what kind of example is that for the players and more than that what a digrace to the football team and to the universty and truth of the matter I’m sure this was not his first time offense maybe it’s time to clean house in more places than one
By BradWarthenSucks October 11, 2011 at 10:26 pm
Garcia was a spoiled punk when he arrived on campus and nothing has changed leaving the campus. His parents have coddled and protected him from the time he knocked up a girl in high school to paying for the U-Haul to haul behind his luxury edition pickup as leaves the house his parents bought him to live in while here.
By Counselor1 October 11, 2011 at 10:44 pm
@BradWarthenS.. Garcia’s dad said on local TV tonight: “All Stephen had was just a few beers…”
Therein lies the problem. Father covering (enabling) for his son’s addiction. They both need to enroll in AA when they return to Florida and seek help.
“Hello, my name is Mr. Garcia and this is my son, Stephen. He is an alcoholic and I am here to help him.” Stephen please introduce yourself.
By Counselor1 October 11, 2011 at 10:55 pm
@Joe Morrison, who threw Garcia on the rubbish heap? Many a talented and gifted person has disorders and addictions. So do you want to prop him up and keep telling him he is the best thing since sliced bread? Run him like a thoroughbred and just use him to make the program look good? Prop him up and overlook all ‘ef ups and that will make everything all right for him and the fans?
Are football stats more important than a life? I have seen too many “closed files” with tragic endings. You need to put things in perspective. His actions are not acted out in a vacuum.
By theoriginaljustme October 11, 2011 at 11:08 pm
Stephen brought some wins back to USC. He is a young man who needs to learn some life lessons – but let’s not kick him when down. Move on, support our team, and wish the best for Stephen – and thank him for the wins.
By Warren October 11, 2011 at 11:30 pm
Brad – bite me!
By Jeremy October 11, 2011 at 11:49 pm
I wish the best for Garcia. Best of luck, buddy.
By Hannah October 11, 2011 at 11:59 pm
Can we say TAJH BOYD! YEAH BABY HE’S THE MAN! GO CLEMSON! I thought it was a great idea to dismiss Garcia..hes the same as Kyle Parker but just drinks and does bad stuff more. :) Maybe Cocks will be alright with Shaw.
By good riddance October 12, 2011 at 8:07 am
Once a punk, always a punk…. And before you say I’m hatin’ on the boy, think about this: Q: How many guys did you know growing up who were real losers and jerks who are still real losers and jerks? A: All of them.
By willblogformoney October 12, 2011 at 8:29 am
If it were 9 touchdowns and not 9 interceptions thrown….would he still be on the team? Would he still be the starting QB.
USC condoned his behavior and once he was of no value to him, they tossed him aside.
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By Petey October 12, 2011 at 9:07 am
@Counselor1 – Don’t forget the joint/bong/bowl he smoked with those few beers. Unless their putting marijuana in beer these days, he also did something which triggered this test as well.
As far as his “bad week”, who else got stoned and drunk after their gramps kicked the bucket? Sounds just like an excuse to me. He’s not an addict either, he’s just a slacker plain and simple. Good luck with that impressive Sociology degree, that should get you a graveyard shift department manager trainee position at Walmart.
By Darth October 12, 2011 at 11:52 am
So has Garcia endorsed Obamney or Shrill Bachman?
By Counselor1 October 12, 2011 at 12:33 pm
@Petey, so you know Garcia is not an addict, but just a slacker. Wow! And you know my qualifications? Wow again! Appears like you might have a disorder, too. We classify your astute observations as simple ignorance. Good news is that ignorance can be eliminated with a little effort. I’ll just overlook your sophomoric comments. Best of luck to you, my friend.
By nodoginthisfight October 12, 2011 at 1:17 pm
Garcia’s dad made his comment about how it’s all over just a few beers. A few beers this time, when he knew he wasn’t supposed to have any. Many alcohol issues at other times. Garcia shows signs of being an alcoholic, and he has for a long, long time. His father is enabling his behavior. The whole story is sad, and unfortunately, Garcia, who said he is “flabbergasted” by this, doesn’t seem to have hit rock-bottom yet. He will, and it will be much worse than getting released from the team. Sadly, his father, who should be his source of support, is going to sit back and let it happen.
By garcia's no.1 fan October 12, 2011 at 2:26 pm
of course the university will use these kids and so-called “amateur” athletes to make ten of milions of dollars ayear off of, and then, when they are n longer useful dump them in the gutter as their public relations strategies dictate. compared toall the ones before him, arcia is lucky. he graduated from colleg for free, his family is l;oaded andhe’llbe way better off than 99% of you losers for as long as he wants to chill out drinking and smoking his ife way. and just like lebron said, you losers will have to wak up on monday morning and go back to your meaningless lives and soul-killing jobs. LOL thanks for the wins, stepen.thanks or beating no.1, thanks for the sec east. thanks for the swamp, thanks for kickig th shit out of clemson the last 2 years. .
By Counselor1 October 12, 2011 at 6:48 pm
@garcia’s no.1 fan. Do me a favor, Mr. Fan Man. If you are such a devoted fan please drive Garcia to the next AA meeting, in Florida, before he throws his entire life away. It is hard to put food on the table with just memories.
So Garcia is just a helmet on a field to you? Sad way to view the world, buddy.
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