Bob Garcia still has the fire that made him so effective as head
coach of Gavilan College
Garcia talking about the 1973 championship season, drills and
lessons of life.
Sitting in a patio chair on a serene summer afternoon in Gilroy, Bob Garcia has fire in his eyes.
It’s not because he’s upset and it’s not uncommon. The father of the greatest athlete to ever come out of Gilroy, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jeff Garcia, is simply talking football, which tends to get him worked up.
His voice begins at a whisper as he describes one of the battles he and his team went through during his 23 years as coach of Gavilan College football. He’s talking about city boys – the tension mounting, his voice becomes louder as his story steadily builds – and the beating they’re about to receive from his group of kids who went on to win a junior college national championship in 1973.
“They’re walking off the bus, and they’re like, ‘Moo, cow pasture,’ Garcia says. “And my hair is standing up.”
Not one to lie down for anyone, especially a group of football playing beach bums from Santa Barbara City College, Garcia storms into the locker room at Hollister High School, where Gavilan used to play its games, to let his players know they’re being mocked. He then adds a little extra motivation for his guys by letting them know that city boys don’t know the difference between a cow and a bull, and a bull doesn’t put up with such nonsense.
Whether they want to be bulls or Gavilan Rams when they take the field, Garcia’s point to his guys is simple: Put your horns where the sun doesn’t shine for the opposing team’s players.
His boys ended up hammering heavily favored Santa Barbara on their way to posting an 11-0 record that season.
“I was passionate about the game, I was passionate about the player and I was passionate about the community,” Garcia says. “My whole thing is if you made a commitment to play football at Gavilan, then you played 100 percent.”
Such intensity from a coach, on and off the field, is the main reason former Gavilan players tend to keep in touch with Garcia decades after their playing days are done. The patriarch of Gavilan football is now putting his energy in to bringing his boys back to town. Garcia is organizing a reunion in Gilroy on the weekend of the Garlic Festival (July 25-27), designed to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the national championship team. The invitation isn’t exclusive, as Garcia is hoping that anyone that played football at Gavilan accepts the invitation.
“This will really be our second reunion,” Garcia says. “We had one five years ago and it was 30 years (since the title). Everyone said, ‘Hey, Coach, don’t do it every 30 years. Let’s do it every five.'”
After getting 25 of the 38 players on the 1973 squad to come home for the first reunion, Garcia is hoping for 34 this year. Anyone else who played for Garcia at Gavilan, or simply suited up at one time as a Ram, is invited.
“I’ve talked to many guys who said, ‘Coach, we were not thinking of coming because we got this (going on), but listening to you and how excited you are and everything, we’re coming.'”
Garcia’s enthusiasm isn’t always appreciated.
“I know my wife thinks I go overboard and stuff, but I think everything in life I do I go overboard,” he says with a laugh.
During his time as a coach, few prepared more than Garcia, who often had film on every team he played, and spent many a night pouring over tapes with his son, Jeff, teaching him how to read defenses before most kids had even learned how to put on their pads.
It also carried over to conditioning. Garcia had weekly get-togethers at his home where players were forced to run the hill behind his house.
“It was a good group of guys (in 1973), hard-working, they liked to party and do the thing, and I said, ‘Hey, do all the partying you want, but come time for me’ – whether it’s Sunday, and I used to bring them in on Sundays – ‘Great party? Let’s go up the hill.'”
With extreme devotion to his players, Garcia didn’t cut anyone slack. He expected the same respect in return, even from his star quarterback son who played for him in 1989.
Garcia recalls one practice in which he saw Jeff sprinting to the field, knowing he was a couple minutes late. Nothing was said to the young signal caller except, “See me after practice.”
The punishment was the dreaded Big Six, a series of 100-yard sprints, bear-crawls, crab-walks and even rolling on one’s side the length of the field and back. Few walked away without having lost their lunch.
“He said, ‘Dad, I was with my counselor,'” Garcia says. “And I said, ‘That’s your time, not my time.’
“The only way you don’t show up to practice (on time) – you call me from the hospital.”
Jeff was never late to practice again.
The former coach, who now spends much of his time working on his home and following his son’s career, is especially pleased that Jeff was given permission by the Buccaneers to miss a couple team functions to attend this year’s event.
“The topping on the cake was where Tampa let my son come,” he says. “Jeff will be out here for the whole thing. Whether (other players) knew him or not – almost everybody (who played) knew him – but everybody (says), ‘Is Jeff going to be there? I’m bringing my kids and I want them to meet Jeff.’ That kind of gets you feeling good about it.
“They hold him in high esteem, and that’s why they want their son to meet him. And that makes me feel proud. Makes me proud.”
The reunion isn’t about just Jeff or Bob Garcia, though.
“These are guys that haven’t seen each other in 30 years, hugging, tears running down their cheeks,” the coach says about the event five years ago. “That right there told me this is all worth it. Really, all we got in life is our memories. And we don’t think of the bad times. We think of the good times.”
The 35th anniversary
Former Gavilan Rams football coach Bob Garcia is holding a reunion to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Rams’ 1973 national championship team on July 25-27. Kicking off on the eve of the Garlic Festival, the weekend will include a get-together party at Gilroy’s Hilton Garden Inn Friday night, a round of golf at Gilroy Golf Course on Saturday and dinner at GGC that evening. Golf and dinner will cost $50 and $20, respectively.
For more information or to RSVP, contact Coach Garcia by phone at 408-848-3233. Payment can be made out to “Coach Garcia” and mailed to 100 Cohansey Ave., Gilroy, CA 95020.
