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USC's Garcia remains on Orgeron's radar

usc vs uab

USC quarterback Stephen Garcia is swarmed by the media after the game against UAB.

Gerry Melendez/gmelendez@thestate.com /The State

Written by JOSEPH PERSON

jperson@thestate.com
Posted on 10.02.08
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How will USC vs. Ole Miss play out?
Ed Orgeron

FILE/The Associated Press/

Ed Orgeron walks off the field after losing to Mississippi State last season. Orgeron was fired by the school shortly after the loss.

The Cajun accent on the other end of the phone was unmistakable, but Ed Orgeron did not want to say much — at least not on the topic of Mississippi, which fired Orgeron last year after three seasons.

Orgeron, now the New Orleans Saints’ defensive line coach, said he had not watched the Rebels’ 31-30 upset of No. 4 Florida last weekend and claimed he had not seen highlights of the game either.

Asked about this weekend’s South Carolina-Ole Miss matchup, Orgeron said he was too busy preparing for Minnesota Vikings tailback Adrian Peterson to worry about his former school.

But Orgeron, who was 10-25 at Ole Miss and won three SEC games, was happy to discuss Gamecocks quarterback Stephen Garcia.

“Love him,” Orgeron said.

Orgeron was known as a gifted recruiter who stockpiled talented players in Oxford, if not victories. Garcia, the strong-armed passer from the Tampa, Fla., area, is one who got away from ‘Coach O.’

But that has not dampened Orgeron’s enthusiasm about Garcia, who could make his first career start this weekend at Ole Miss.

“I like the spark in his eye. I really would imagine a quarterback like that in the huddle leading the team,” Orgeron said. “I thought he was a playmaker, had a strong arm and could throw the ball. But overall, I loved his family and his competitive (attitude).”

Garcia has not been made available to the media this week.

Orgeron’s recruitment of Garcia is chronicled in Bruce Feldman’s book, “Meat Market,” a behind-the-scenes look at how the Ole Miss staff put together its recruiting class of 2007.

Feldman devotes an entire chapter to Garcia, titled ‘Lord of the Internet,’ a reference to the blog Garcia wrote for the Tampa Tribune’s Web site about his recruiting process.

Feldman, a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine, described the scene at a Nike camp the spring of 2006 at Florida, where Notre Dame’s Charlie Weis, then-Louisville coach Bobby Petrino and the Gators’ Urban Meyer were among the coaches scouting the talent.

Orgeron and Rebels offensive coordinator Dan Werner kept a close eye on Garcia, whose performance had everyone “raving,” according to Feldman.

“Coaches could hear his ball whistling by,” Feldman wrote. “And he appeared to be having a blast.”

Shortly after the Nike camp, Garcia focused on USC and Florida while putting Ole Miss, Alabama and Louisville on the back burner. Garcia apparently wasn’t crazy about Alabama’s policy that would have forced him to cut his long hair, according to Feldman.

Orgeron developed a close relationship with Garcia’s father, Gary, and remembers the “good food and good people” he encountered when he visited the family’s home in Lutz, Fla.

“We just had an immediate connection,” Orgeron said. “The family was heavily involved in the recruiting. They were great people. I just loved the family.”

The feeling was mutual.

Gary Garcia is quoted in “Meat Market” as saying: “Everybody keeps asking us, ‘Why is Stephen listing Ole Miss?’ But I’ll predict right here and now that they are going to win big there. That guy Orgeron just flat knows how to recruit.”

Gary Garcia declined to comment for this story.

But the Steve Spurrier mystique eventually pulled Garcia away from Ole Miss and the home-state Gators. After committing to the Gamecocks, Garcia graduated from high school early and enrolled at USC in January 2007.

Orgeron is hopeful the off-the-field problems that have dogged Garcia at USC are behind him.

“I just felt bad for him. Not being there, I don’t know the circumstances,” Orgeron said. “But I’m sure with the character of himself and his family that things have been straightened out.”

Orgeron remains in touch with Gary Garcia and received a congratulatory text message from him when he took the Saints’ job. And though he never had a chance to coach him, Orgeron still believes Garcia can be a successful SEC quarterback.

“I think he’s going to do fine,” he said. “He’s got the right coach coaching him. Whatever adjustments need to be made, I’m sure coach Spurrier can do it.”

Reach Person at (803) 771-8496.

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