Miami football recruiting: QB prospect Jake Garcia latest in long line from California

Four-star quarterback prospect Jake Garcia could become the next star signal caller for the Miami football team from California. The Hurricanes have had a long line of QBs from the Golden State stretching back to the 1980s.

Jake Garcia is the 24th ranked player and third highest ranked quarterback in the class of 2021. He attends Narbonne High School in Harbor City, California, a neighboorhood of Los Angeles. Garcia spent Father’s Day weekend in Coral Gables working out in Coral Gables at the Miami football camp.

Four of 247’s five prognosticators project him to sign with Miami. There are still 18 months remaining until Garcia will be eligible to sign. Garcia is unquestionably the Hurricanes top target at QB for 2021. Miami signed three-star QB Peyton Matocha in February. The Hurricanes has a commitment from four-star Tyler VanDyke for 2020.

If Garcia signs with Miami that would give the Hurricanes significant improvement at quarterback in each subsequent recruiting class. Matocha will almost definitely redshirt in 2019. He is expected to be a backup during his Miami career. Matocha scored out at 0.8349 according to 247.

Mathocha’s rating is substantially lower than Garcia and VanDyke. VanDyke was graded at 0.9209. He is the 212th ranked player for 2020, the ninth-ranked pro-style QB and second-ranked player in Connecticut. At 6’4, 212 pounds, VanDyke has ideal size to succeed as a college QB.

The expectations for Garcia in college are higher than VanDyke. Garcia currently grades out at 95 in 247Sports rankings. Garcia was the centerpiece of the father’s day weekend camp. This was his second visit to Coral Gables. Garcia’s final day of the weekend in Coral Gables was spent at the Soffer Indoor Practice Facility.

He spoke the majority of the Miami coaching staff and worked out with Hurricanes offensive coordinator Dan Enos. Garcia used his lunch hour to work out with Enos, wide receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield and offensive quality control coach Jesse Stone.

While Garcia went through the workout the majority of the Miami coaching staff and five-star 2020 running back commit Don Cheney jr observed closely. Garcia has a chance to come to Miami and add to the legacy of California QBs who have had great success in South Florida.

By 2021, if Tate Martell and N’Kosi Perry are still part of the Miami football program they will be redshirt seniors. Jarren Williams would be a redshirt junior by then. One or two of the three aforementioned Miami QBs will likely not be on the Hurricanes roster in 2021. The possibility is that none of them will be.

If Perry, Williams or Martell has an outstanding season in 2019 (and potentially 2020) then they might leave for the NFL by then. Martell and Perry are eligible for the 2020 NFL draft. Williams will not be eligible for the NFL draft until 2021.

If one of the three asserts themselves as a QB that can carry the Miami football team the other two could decide to leave before or after the 2019 season. That would create a golden (state? definitely not Al) opportunity for VanDyke, Garcia or whoever Miami signs for 2021 to compete to be the starting QB.

Miami’s history with QBs from California should make Garcia feel at home. Four of the top ten passers in the history of the Miami football program played high school football in California. For a program 2500-3000 miles away, that’s a staggering number. Miami has taken LL Cool J’s advice and have often gone back to Cali.

Ken Dorsey, Miami’s all-time leading passer Brad Kaaya, Gino Torretta and Kyle Wright are elite former Hurricanes quarterbacks who began their football careers in California. Torretta followed his brother Geoff to Miami.

Torretta is the only Miami QB who won a Heisman Trophy and national championship as the starting QB for the Miami football team. Dorsey won a national championship, is the winningest QB in Miami history and left Miami with the school record for passing yards and touchdowns. Kaaya broke Dorsey’s record.