Elite 2021 quarterback Jake Garcia talks first look at Tennessee
Jake Garcia is considered one of the top quarterbacks in the 2021 class and the California native got his first look at Tennessee last weekend when he made the cross-country trip to camp.
The Harbonne standout has had a busy spring, visiting Florida, Miami, FSU, Alabama and Auburn, and his latest trip to Tennessee added a new potential contender for the blue-chip gunslinger.
“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.”
Garcia holds close to 30 offers, with Tennessee joining the list shortly after Martin was hired in mid-January. The ties to Martin and Chaney made the 6-foot-2, 190-pound rising junior feel comfortable on his visit, especially during a throwing session for the staff.
“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.”
At Harbonne, Garcia plays in a quick-pitch, spread attack, but as a freshman at Long Beach Poly, he was a prototypical under-center system. He believes he has the skill-set, especially with some added weight and zip to his arm this offseason, to play in any offense, which is why spread schools from Texas, Nebraska and Auburn are after him, same for more pro-style offenses at Tennessee, Alabama and Miami.
“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.”
With so many suitors, Garcia hopes to narrow down his options after the fall, but he’s “open to all schools” at the moment. His current plans are to commit sometime after his junior season. One thing is for certainly, though, he will make a return trip to Tennessee.
“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.”