How 2021 4-star USC QB commit Jake Garcia 'found a home' with the Trojans

Back in the summer before he put out the list of his top 10 schools, 2021 4-star Narbonne High School quarterback Jake Garcia checked in with USC to make sure his offer was indeed committable. The answer was yes.

Less than two months later, Garcia was on the phone with Trojans offensive coordinator Graham Harrell earlier this week and reminded him of that conversation.

"I said, 'Coach Harrell, you remember how before I put out my top 10 I ended up giving you a call and asking if the offer was committable?' And he's like, 'Yes.' I said, 'Is that offer still on the table?' He said 'Yes sir.' I said, 'OK, perfect, because I would like to be a part of the Trojan family,'" Garcia recalled, talking to TrojanSports.com in-depth about his commitment announcement from Monday. "It was a great feeling, a lot of weight lifted off my shoulders and I'm just ecstatic to be a part of the Trojan family."

The feeling was mutual. USC had just lost 4-star QB Bryce Young from the 2020 class as he de-committed last week and then committed to Alabama on Sunday.

But just like that, the Trojans had regrouped with the No. 5-ranked pro-style QB and No. 24 overall prospect in the next class.

"He was super pumped up -- as pumped up as me, which was a lot. I was really, really excited," Garcia said of Harrell's reaction. "And then coach [Clay] Helton got on the phone and coach Helton was telling me, 'We're going to do great things' and that it's a special moment and enjoy this."

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While Young is clearly one of the top prospects in the country and losing him was a significant blow to USC's 2020 recruiting class -- there's no way around that -- from a timing and QB succession standpoint it may actually make more sense to have a top QB lined up in the 2021 class. JT Daniels and Kedon Slovis each have three more years of eligibility and it stands to reason one of them will be starting for the Trojans for the forseeable future.

It also stood to reason that Young's de-commitment would spark a 2021 QB to jump on board quickly, which is exactly what Garcia did, committing a day after the news broke.