“It was a spur of the moment kind of thing,” Garcia said of the visit. “I’ve wanted to see Tennessee. It’s definitely a special place. Coach Tee Martin is over there now, and I’ve know him for a while now. He was recruiting me at USC. Coach (Jim) Chaney, I met him when I threw at Georgia last year. He’s definitely a guy I would want to play for and be in the system with and learn and grow as a player.”
“They showed a lot of attention while I was throwing at the camp. They put a lot of focus on me. We delved into their playbook a little bit, so that was really cool,” he explained. “Coach Chaney is over there now and he’s running the old Georgia offense. It’s a lot of pro-style concepts, but they’re probably going 70-30 shotgun and under center. I feel like that’s where I really separate myself from the rest of the pack in the 2021 class. My class is loaded with quarterbacks, so you need things that separate you, and I feel like mine is really being able to go under center. That’s something a lot of kids can’t do now.”
“We’re running a lot of RPOs, getting the ball out quick, but we have a lot of true progression stuff and different concepts. My whole freshman year though I was always under center,” Garcia said. “I took only a couple snaps from the gun all year. So that really helped me and it was a great experience. It’s the best of both worlds. I feel like I can play in any offense.”
The trip allowed Garcia to meet new quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke, as well as reconnect with former California native and friend JT Shrout. “Coach (Chris) Weinke is a great quarterback coach from what I can tell,” he said. “ (Shrout) really likes coach Weinke and the whole staff. That’s a positive right there. A huge one.” “I’ll definitely be back,” he said.
“It was a great experience. I want to see what it’s like for a game. I know it’s a special place. Right now, I’m trying to take this time right now to see what I want in a school. As a person, as a quarterback, you never want to be selfish. You want to be a team player, but this is the one time you hear coaches tell you, ‘Be selfish.’ You want to end up at a school where you’re going to be 110 percent bought in and them to you.”
