Jacob Busic and Jayden Umbarger Join Lirion Murtezi and Will Harbour as 2023 Navy Football Team Captains

Navy head football coach Brian Newberry announced today that senior defensive end Jacob Busic and senior wide receiver Jayden Umbarger will join Lirion Murtezi and Will Harbour as team captains for the 2023 season. It's just the third time in school history that Navy has had four team captains (2019 and 2021 were the other two seasons). "Some years it's hard to pick captains," said Newberry.

"Some years you pick captains and you aren't sure how it's going to go, this year it was extremely easy. I could have told you at this point last year that these four guys would be captains this year and I couldn't be more excited about how they are going about their business right now. They are the most respected players on the team, because they have done the work.

" "It means the world to me personally, said Busic. "My sophomore year Diego Fagot was a team captain, and he was one of my best friends, and last year John Marshall played right behind me and just watching the team captains before me and their leadership styles and how great of men they were, to be able to be a team captain at the Naval Academy with three of my friends, it couldn't mean anymore. " "You look at the guys that came before you and, not just the team captains, but all the former Navy football players and seeing what they were about and what they stood for, it's an honor and a privilege and I couldn't be more excited to represent the team," said Umbarger.

"We talked about this in the offensive meeting today, but as a captain your job is to uplift the guys who are struggling so the team can be better. " Busic has started 24-straight games for the Mids at defensive end. Last year, he was named First-Team All-East by the ECAC and an Honorable Mention All-American Athletic Conference selection.

Busic finished the 2022 season second on the team in sacks (6) and tied for second in tackles for a loss (8. 5) to go along with his 38 total tackles on the year. Umbarger has started 15 games in his career, including 11 of 12 contests last year.

He was named Academic All-District by the College Sports Communicators. Umbarger was Navy's leading receiver last fall, catching 16 passes for 265 yards (16. 6 yards per catch).

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