Maryland Natives Jacob Busic, Jayden Umbarger Named Navy Football Captains

Senior defensive end Jacob Busic and senior wide receiver Jayden Umbarger, both Maryland natives, were recently named captains of the Navy football team by head coach Brian Newberry, joining fellow seniors Will Harbour and Lirion Murtezi in the role.

Busic, a native of Westminster and a graduate of Westminster High School, has started all 24 games the past two years, piling up 58 tackles (14 for loss), eight sacks, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. Umbarger, a native of Middle River and graduate of Archbishop Spalding, has started 15 games and played in 24 contests the past two years, catching 22 passes for 325 yards and two touchdowns.

Newberry said he could have named Busic and Umbarger captains earlier than fall camp, but he wanted them to earn it with their work during the summer. They did that.

“We had our players vote because I’m always interested to see who they feel like are the leaders of our football team,” Newberry said during Navy’s media day on July 29. “Sometimes as a coach you may have to manipulate that a little bit, and we didn’t have to do that at all. I think I could’ve told you these four guys would be captains last year at this point, but couldn’t be more excited about these four and how they’re going about their business right now. They’re the most respected players on the team because they’ve done the work.”

Busic said being named captain “means the world.” It took until his senior year of high school before the Naval Academy was on his mind because not many football players had gone the Division I route out of Westminster High, but he eventually picked the Mids out of 17 FBS and FCS offers. He spent the 2019-20 school year at the Naval Academy Prep School, where he got to know Umbarger.

Umbarger, too, comes from the road less traveled out of Middle River but played his high school ball at one of the top programs in the state in Spalding. Still, though, he admitted he didn’t know what he was getting himself into at the Academy. He called it “an honor and a privilege” to be named a captain as a senior.

Both are fired up to be an example for young football players in Maryland. Busic is looking forward to connecting with players and coaches at Westminster during a Navy bye week.

“I think I was one of the first from my high school [to play Division I football]. To be able to open that door for them, to show that it is a possibility for them — especially a service academy, a lot of guys probably don’t even know about it, especially at a younger age,” the 6-foot-4, 256-pound defensive end said. “… I would just say to those kids, ‘Keep working, keep grinding, because you never know when that opportunity’s going to come knocking. If it’s the Naval Academy, go for it.’ I’m 10 times better of a man and a player today than I was when I was in high school.”

Umbarger shared a similar sentiment.

“The road has been definitely bumpy along the way, but I’m so excited to be where I’m at,” the 6-foot, 196-pound receiver said. “It doesn’t matter really where you started. It’s about where you’re going and how you’re going to get there and the mindset you have. My mindset has developed so much. I’ve matured so much, became such a better man. I just want to be someone that people from my area, in the Baltimore area, could look up to and know that they can be here. I’m not any more special. It’s just my mindset was really developed while I was here.”

Navy will kick off the season against Notre Dame in Dublin, Ireland, on Aug. 26. It’ll mark the first game of a new era under Newberry, the first-year head coach who was promoted to the role last December. It’s still unclear who will be the Mids’ quarterback against the Irish, with Newberry having recently declared the competition “wide open.”

But the importance of Busic and Umbarger is not in doubt.

“I couldn’t be any more excited to just represent the team,” Umbarger said. “Like we talked about [on July 29] in the offensive meeting, just uplift others. It’s easy to manage yourself as a captain. Your job is also to uplift a lot of the guys that are either struggling or need that so the team can be better.”

Photo Credits: Courtesy of Navy Athletics and Kenya Allen/PressBox