Stephen Garcia, a 38-year-old Tampa native and former Jefferson High School and University of South Carolina quarterback, has been diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer. The diagnosis came after months of abdominal pain and changing bowel habits that ultimately led his wife, Masha Garcia, to push for testing that revealed a large tumor and liver involvement. Dr. Tiago Biachi at Moffitt Cancer Center is treating him, and old ally Steve Spurrier has already reached out from afar to offer support. Garcia, a father of three who now trains young quarterbacks in Tampa, is taking an aggressive treatment path while urging others to pay attention to symptoms.
Garcia’s path to this moment reads like a sports comeback story gone sideways. He built his name at Jefferson High School, then helped the Gamecocks shock No. 1 Alabama and beat the Florida Gators, but the last year brought a different kind of fight. Beginning last summer he had abdominal pain and more frequent trips to the bathroom, and he admits he downplayed it. “I just thought it was like irritable bowel syndrome or something simple,” Garcia said.
The tests moved quickly once his wife insisted on imaging and follow-up procedures, and the results were sobering. An ultrasound led to MRI and CT scans, a liver biopsy and a colonoscopy that found a 13-centimeter tumor, and doctors told the couple the cancer had likely been present for years. Garcia describes the news bluntly and with the same plain talk that fans remember on the field. “Yeah, I mean, it’s definitely a swift kick in the groin area,” Garcia told FOX 13.
Instead of drifting into despair, Garcia has chosen a day-by-day mindset and a plan of attack. “The past is the past. Forget about it. This is real. It’s happened. There’s nothing I can do about it now other than fight it one day at a time,” Garcia said, and he’s already started chemotherapy. The regimen is aggressive: doctors have put him on FOLFIRINOX, a combination designed to shrink tumors quickly so surgery becomes possible. The immediate goal is to complete four to six cycles to reduce tumor size before attempting removal.
Medical experts say Garcia’s case highlights a troubling shift in who gets colorectal cancer. “Unfortunately, it’s a reality. I would say about 20% of our patients here are under 50,” Dr. Tiago Biachi, a gastrointestinal medical oncologist at Moffitt Cancer Center, said, pointing to a clear trend toward younger patients. He notes that the causes are complex and often involve exposures or risk factors that may have accumulated over decades. “If you make a parallel with melanoma, you don’t have a melanoma this year because the sunburn that you had last year. If you get a melanoma this year, it was because of sunburn that you had 30 years ago, 40 years ago,” Biachi said. “So, we might not be talking about our diet now. We might be talking about our diets like 20 years ago, 30 years ago.”
That long view doesn’t let younger adults off the hook when symptoms appear, and doctors urge prompt evaluation. Routine screening ages address asymptomatic adults, but Biachi stresses symptoms must never be ignored at any age. “If you have symptoms like rectal bleeding, changing bowel movements, weight loss, any persistence in abdominal pain — any persistent symptom has to be investigated regardless the age,” Biachi said. He warns that mistaking warning signs for hemorrhoids, stress, or simple stomach issues can delay diagnosis and make treatment harder.
The treatment outlook, even for stage 4 disease, is framed with cautious optimism by Garcia’s care team. “Absolutely treatable. Sometimes curable, but absolutely treatable. We have multiple approved drugs to treat colorectal cancer,” Biachi said, underscoring that modern chemotherapy, targeted agents and surgery can change outcomes. Garcia’s plan reflects that optimism: attack the disease with strong chemotherapy to reduce disease burden, then pursue surgical options that weren’t realistic before treatment. For him, the medical path is a clear sequence of steps, each aimed at giving him more time and the best chance to return to coaching and family life.
The community around Garcia has rallied quickly, and small gestures have mattered. Steve Spurrier called to check in, and Garcia relayed the friendly, familiar message from his old coach. “Just letting you know we’re thinking about you, we’ll have a beer when this thing is all said done,” Garcia said of the call. Meanwhile, Garcia’s family has set up fundraising to help with mounting medical costs, and he keeps coaching young quarterbacks in Tampa when he can, using his daily routine as both therapy and purpose.
Garcia’s advice is simple and direct: don’t let pride keep you from getting checked, and don’t assume youth equals immunity. “Put your pride aside. Nobody wants to go through a colonoscopy. I sure as hell did not, but the timing of it could potentially save my life,” Garcia said, urging anyone with persistent symptoms to see a doctor. He’s approaching treatment the same way he approached big games: focused, stubborn and unwilling to give up, one day at a time.
