A year after transferring to Missouri from Miami (FL) Jake Garcia is set to hit the transfer portal again. ESPN's Pete Thamel reported on Wednesday afternoon that Garcia would transfer.
After spending two years as a Hurricane, Garcia came to Mizzou last offseason to compete for the starting quarterback job with Brady Cook and Sam Horn. Cook won the job and Horn was his backup. Garcia did not see the field in 2023 for the Tigers.
Due to a recent legal ruling, two-time transfers will not have to sit out next season, which means Garcia can go anywhere and have immediate eligiblity. Under previous rules, any player transferring for a second time without graduating (Garcia is a redshirt sophomore) would have had to apply for a waiver to play right away. But the court ruling has opened up an avenue for players like Garcia to move again without sitting a year.
Garcia is the second of Mizzou's four scholarship quarterbacks this season to transfer. Earlier in December, true freshman Gabarri Johnson entered the portal and has since landed at Oregon State. Walk-on Dylan Laible also entered the portal in December.
Cook has one year of eligibility and will be the Tigers' starter in 2024 coming off a breakout season in which he threw for 3,189 yards and 20 touchdowns and ran for 253 yards and eight more scores. Horn will be a redshirt sophomore and Cook's likely backup in 2024. He is not expected to enter the transfer portal. The Tigers area also bringing in high school signee Aidan Glover who will enroll for the spring semester.
The question now is whether Mizzou will pursue a quarterback in the portal itself to replace Garcia. The issue for the Tigers is that the starting job isn't an option. Any quarterback Missouri would add would know he is coming this season for depth and is unlikely to play barring injury. In a best-case scenario, any addition wouldn't compete for the starting job until 2025 and would still have to pass Horn to be the starter then.
Missouri's other option would be to go with Cook, Horn and Glover this year and hit the portal for competition next December when a transfer might see a more realistic path to immediate playing time.
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