Report: Jake Garcia entering the transfer portal

Pete Thamel of ESPN is reporting that QB Jake Garcia is entering the transfer portal. This is a move that, at least to this writer, isn’t wholly shocking, given the shakeup going on so far in the offseason. Specifically, with QB coach Frank Ponce leaving after one season to go back to his old gig as Appalachian State offensive coordinator, the writing was on the wall that Mario Cristobal was (understandably) underwhelmed by his QB’s performances this season.

And, well, Garcia was just that this year: underwhelming. The ballyhooed QB was one of the more excitement-inducing recruits when he committed to Miami over USC back in the 2021 class. Unfortunately, an untimely injury and a streaking Tyler Van Dyke put him behind the 8 ball to take over for the injured D’Eriq King in 2021. When given his chance this season, he faltered badly. His one start last season came against the lowly Virginia Cavaliers, which resulted in a 4 overtime 14-12 victory that was perhaps one of the ugliest wins in school history (I’ll still take any win, for the record). Garcia went 15 of 31 for 125 yards in that contest. For the 2022 season, he completed 68 of 114 attempts (59.6%) for 803 yards with 5 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. Just not good enough.

I wish Jake well wherever he ends up and thank him for coming to Miami.