Garcia-Williams attended Palo Verde High School in Las Vegas, finishing with 84 tackles, seven sacks, two interceptions and two forced fumbles as a senior.

Garcia-Williams appeared in 45 games (26 starts) at the University of Hawaii, totaling 222 tackles (148 solo), 3.5 sacks, one pass defensed and three fumble recoveries.

He started 9-of-10 games played as a junior, finishing second on the team with 89 tackles (55 solo) in addition to recording 1.5 sacks.

Garcia-Williams started the first two games of the season in 2014 before suffering a season-ending knee injury and earning a medical redshirt.

[10] His father, Jerrol Williams, was an NFL linebacker with Pittsburgh (1989–92), San Diego (1993), Kansas City (1994) and Baltimore (1996).