There was a time not long ago when Jayden Umbarger, Navy's senior wide receiver and co-captain, envisioned himself leading the Midshipmen's spread offense to success as its quarterback.
 
Umbarger, a gifted runner and passer who had played the position since second grade, dreamed as a star player at nearby Archbishop Spalding High School of following in the footsteps of Navy luminaries such as Keenan Reynolds and Malcolm Perry.
 
Things did not work out that way, and that is totally fine with Umbarger, whose athleticism, versatility, dogged attention to detail and humility as a true team player have always served him and others well.
 
"I used to sometimes bug Jayden to be more selfish [at QB] when he was younger, but that's just not him," says Glenn Umbarger, his father. "He has always been a pretty quiet guy on the football field. And he still wants to help his team win more than shine [individually]."
 
Navy, the first school to offer Umbarger as a junior at Spalding – he drew offers later from Army and Albany – recruited him as a quarterback. That remained the plan in the fall of 2019 at the Naval Academy prep school, where Umbarger got schooled on the triple option with future Mids signal caller Tai Lavatai.
 
But things changed a year later in Annapolis following Umbarger's plebe fall, which consisted primarily of working with Navy's scout team during the Mids' Covid season in 2020.
 
Knowing that Umbarger as a sophomore and junior at Spalding had performed admirably as a wideout, safety and quarterback for the Cavaliers – the Spalding quarterbacks then included future Navy free safety Evan Fochtman and current Yale QB Austin Tutas – the Navy coaching staff decided to address a glaring need by shifting Umbarger to receiver.
 
Umbarger, who as Spalding's senior starting quarterback had garnered All-State (Md.), All-Metro, All-County and All-Conference honors by effectively operating the Cavaliers' read-option attack out of the shotgun, did not question or protest the change in any way.
 
It was the sort of show of deference that Umbarger had revealed as a youngster.
 
Kyle Schmitt, now in his 11^th year as head coach at Spalding, recalls when Umbarger, who had put together excellent seasons as an eighth- and ninth-grade quarterback at the prestigious Gilman School in north Baltimore before transferring to Spalding in Severn, Md., got the news that might have upset most kids his age.
 
With Fochtman slated to start at QB as a senior, Schmitt needed Umbarger to split time on offense and defense, at safety and slot receiver.
 
"Jayden was an amazing football player, one of the best youth players I have ever watched. He came to Spalding as a real good quarterback. But he never acted entitled or anointed at all, which is a credit to his parents," Schmitt recalls.
 
"He had every reason to complain about [the position change] and get his parents involved. I was struck by how much he handled it like a really mature young man. Easily, Jayden is the most unselfish player I have ever coached. I don't know if there is a close second."
 
Umbarger, listed at 6-feet, 196 pounds, says he reframed his Navy situation the same way he did at Spalding – by focusing on the positives. At wideout, he would aim to secure a high spot in the Navy rotation as a sophomore and potentially play more snaps than he would have as a young varsity quarterback vying for playing time at such a crucial position.
 
So Umbarger resolved to get to work and get moving up the Mids' depth chart as quickly as possible in the spring of 2021. Umbarger progressed at a steady clip throughout Navy's practice sessions.
 
"Jayden was making mistakes, but making them at full speed. He was running good routes, getting open, catching the ball and making people miss. He got after people as a blocker, which is something you need to want to do [to be good at it]," recalls Mick Yokitis, Navy's wide receivers coach.
 
"We saw his confidence grow daily. It did not take him long to become a good college player," Yokitis adds. "What I love about 'J' is he is a great guy. Everything he does on and off the field is first-class. But on the field, when the switch flips, he wants to rip your head off."
 
"I didn't know how much I'd get the ball [in Navy's run-heavy attack], and I really didn't care. 'All about me' has never been my mindset," says Umbarger, a native of Middle River, in Eastern Baltimore County. "But going from quarterback to a position where the ball isn't in your hands every snap, and becoming a blocker who might not catch a pass the whole game is something I had to get used to."
 
"It goes back to the things we still talk about in the receiver's [meeting] room. It's about having that willingness to sacrifice for the greater whole," he adds. "It's a real team game here, in what is not your typical spread offense. I was determined to take this opportunity and run with it. I wanted to prove myself by running good routes and blocking people the right way and understanding the offense. I wish I could contribute more to help us win more games."
 
As a sophomore in 2021, Umbarger started four of the 12 games he played in and showed his speed and elusiveness in the ground game by averaging 11.8 yards rushing on 11 attempts. His highlights included a 32-yard, end-around burst in a loss to Notre Dame and a 27-yard run in a win over Army. Umbarger also caught six passes for 60 yards.

 
Last year, Umbarger made 11 starts, played in all 12 games and stepped up as Navy's leading receiver with 16 receptions for 265 yards (16.6 yards per catch). In a loss to Houston, he caught a 52-yard touchdown pass, the longest catch of his career. Lavatai connected with Umbarger on a 26-yard touchdown at SMU. Umbarger added four receptions for 71 yards at Air Force.

So far in 2023, a season that has seen four different quarterbacks (Lavatai, Blake Horvath, Braxton Woodson and Xavier Arline) start, Umbarger has caught just six passes for 48 yards. 
 
"Going from quarterback to receiver is a hard adjustment to make. It's not like going from offensive line to defensive line or cornerback to safety. You are used to being in charge, with everything going through you. Playing receiver is one of the most difficult positions here," says Navy head coach Brian Newberry, alluding to the blocking assignments in the ground game that take clear precedence over catching passes.
 
"It's not an easy thing to buy into, but [Umbarger] certainly embraced it," Newberry adds. "He is an exceptional person, super smart, humble and ambitious, with a nice edge to him. He carries himself like a quarterback. It's confidence that is not swagger. Jayden is highly respected around here, and he shows why with the way he leads as a captain."
 
Tyler Bradley, Navy's freshman kick return man and backup slot back who has played in all eight games this season, can attest to Umbarger's presence and effectiveness as one of Navy's four captains.
 
"As a captain, you have to be a good guy who leads and motivates people. Jayden does it every day, not as a big talker, but more as a lead-by-example guy. He's a very confident dude who has got his stuff together on and off the field," says Bradley, referring to Umbarger's 3.65 GPA as a political science major. "He knows what everybody is supposed to do on offense. No matter what position you play, if you need some help with that, you can just ask [Umbarger]."
 
Bradley recalls the abrupt transition from plebe summer to Navy's preseason football camp in late July. Bradley says he put enormous pressure on himself to excel early and often in camp. He obsessed over mistakes made, thinking he had to impress Mids' coaches with high-quality workouts every day. He consulted Umbarger about it.
 
"In my head, I'm a freshman who can't mess up," Bradley says. "[Umbarger] reminded me that I had never played in a college football my whole life. He said it was normal [for a plebe] to mess up, and that it still happens to older guys in camp sometimes. That helped me to settle down."
 
"I want to be someone who can be better and help others be better, putting my best foot forward while getting a great education and playing Division I football," Umbarger says. "I am looking after a lot of people [as a captain] while I do something I love. I want to be someone others look up to."
 
Umbarger looks back at his year spent at NAPS as a hugely important part of his journey as a Midshipman.
 
For starters, he bonded quickly with future varsity teammates such as Lavatai and now fellow senior receiver Camari Williams. They saw the younger Umbarger as a quarterbacking threat as a runner and thrower, and a sponge absorbing the fundamentals and nuances of Navy's spread option attack during many hours of film study.
 
"[Umbarger] was a cerebral quarterback who is now a cerebral football player. Jayden watches film with a quarterback's mind," says Williams, who refers to Umbarger as one of the "pillars of the program."
 
"He can talk for hours about Xs and Os – different coverages against different offenses, what throws will work against this or that defense, why you would choose to run a base 50 [defense] or an eight-man [defensive front]," Williams adds. "Jayden had that quality at NAPS. He was heavy on the details, like he is now."
 
"Jayden and I hit it off right away. It felt like we had been friends all the way back to middle school, that kind of connection," Lavatai says. "We were always in the quarterback room together, or getting outside to throw the ball around and work on our craft together.
 
"I trusted him [quickly] as a player and a person," Lavatai adds. "He was always focused on getting things done that needed to be done. You want to be around somebody like that. Once he saw an opportunity to play wide receiver, he became a student of the game again."
 
I wasn't really disciplined when I got to Newport [Rhode Island] for my prep year. I had to focus on a lot of tasks like keeping a clean room. I grew as an independent young man. Coming to Navy was an opportunity I could not miss," says Umbarger, who expects to be commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps upon his graduation in May.
 
"The culture of the Marine Corps is something I fell in love with, after hearing from a bunch of Marine officers I've talked with. It's something I'm ready for. I could not imagine being part of a different service community," he adds. "I wanted to learn how to become a better leader, how to be someone who could help to change the world in a positive way. Why can't that be me?"