Bill Wagner: Jacob Busic enters transfer portal after being denied fifth year of Navy football | COMMENTARY

Jacob Busic did not want to enter the NCAA transfer portal.

In an ideal world, Busic would complete his college football career by playing one more season for Navy. He would then graduate and commission in December before embarking on a service career in the Marine Corps.

Because of current Naval Academy policy, that scenario will not happen

Busic has been forced to make a choice: Graduate from the Naval Academy and commission as a Marine Corps officer in May, or transfer to a civilian school and play two more seasons of college football.

You read that correctly. Busic did not see any varsity action as a plebe and appeared in just four games this season because of injury. That means he has one year of eligibility based on NCAA redshirt rules. He gets another year due to the NCAA waiver that allows athletes six years to play four due to the pandemic-affected 2020 season.

Which is why Busic entered his name in the transfer portal. The Westminster native could pursue a master’s degree while recovering the two seasons of college football he missed.

“There is no harm in putting my name out there and seeing what offers I get. It doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m leaving the academy,” Busic said. “I’m just keeping my options open and seeing what’s out there.”

Since entering the portal on Dec. 18, Busic has been contacted by several Power Five conference schools interested in his talents. The 6-foot-4, 256-pound defensive end has the measurables and the resume that impress potential suitors at the highest level.

Busic was named honorable mention All-American Athletic Conference following a breakout junior campaign in which he recorded 8 ½ tackles for loss, six sacks and two forced fumbles. He has 15 tackles for loss and nine sacks in just 27 career games.

After being named a team captain, Busic seemed poised for a huge senior season. However, it lasted just three games as Busic suffered a torn bicep late in a loss at Memphis.

It was believed to be a season-ending injury as Busic underwent surgery to repair the damage. However, he made a remarkable comeback and returned to practice prior to the Dec. 9 showdown against archrival Army. Busic only got into the Army-Navy game for a handful of defensive plays in relief of Justin Reed, who replaced him as the starter at defensive end.

Shortly after undergoing surgery, Busic applied to the Naval Academy leadership for another year of eligibility and was denied. This has become standard practice as the administration has not allowed a Navy football player to delay graduation for a semester since the tenure of coach Paul Johnson.

“I would love to finish my football career at Navy. I was hoping I could take an extra semester and play one more season. Unfortunately, that did not work out,” Busic said.

That decision has Busic contemplating something he would never have imagined until recently: Leaving the Naval Academy. It is not a prospect he takes lightly.

Busic is a midshipman in good standing at the academy in terms of academic and military ranking. He endured a year at the Naval Academy Prep School and is on pace to graduate with a degree in quantitative economics and is genuinely looking forward to being an officer in the Marine Corps.

“To put five years into the Naval Academy and wind up not graduating and commissioning would be really, really difficult. I don’t know if I would be able to give that up,” he said.

Factoring into the equation is the fact Busic would be required to pay back a portion of the cost of his Naval Academy education,which could be hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“It’s obviously a lot of money. That’s why it’s so hard to make the decision to transfer,” Busic acknowledged.

It is possible that a Power Five football program could offer Busic enough name, image and likeness money to help with repayment. A two-year scholarship would also cover the cost of graduate school.

So Busic is listening to the offers to determine if it makes sense to transfer.

“There is no harm in looking. I’m taking this one day at a time and one step at a time. I don’t know at this point what will happen. I’m just feeling it out,” he said. “Hypothetically, if I were to accept that opportunity, there would be a lot of things on the Navy side that would need to be figured out.”

Not a level playing field

If Busic played football for Army and Air Force, he wouldn’t be dealing with this decision. Those two service academies are granting football players an extra year of eligibility in cases of injury or hardship.

Air Force, which beat James Madison the Armed Forces Bowl last Saturday, has 11 seniors on its roster that should have already graduated including four offensive starters. Two of Air Force’s best defensive players — safety Trey Taylor and linebacker Bo Richter — are also fifth-year seniors.

Meanwhile, Army’s roster includes 10 seniors that should have graduated and another five juniors who should be seniors. Among them are numerous starters and key contributors.

Clearly, Navy is not on a level playing field with its service academy rivals. In fact, the Midshipmen are at a major disadvantage.

How much better would the defense have been this season if standout outside linebackers John Marshall and Nicholas Straw had been fifth-year seniors. An offensive line that lacked depth really would have been bolstered by the presence of Kip Frankland and Jamie Romo.

How nice would it be to know the entire defensive line — Busic, nose guard Donald Berniard Jr. and tackle Clay Cromwell — would be returning next season? It would be quite a boost if inside linebacker Will Harbour had another year to play alongside Colin Ramos.

In my strong opinion, the Naval Academy leadership needs to seriously rethink its stance on this subject. Continuing to totally dismiss any notion of granting an extra year of eligibility to players that miss most or all of a season due to injury is putting the football program at a competitive disadvantage.

There is no indication Army or Air Force are going to stop the practice. Why wouldn’t you want to play by the same rules as your service academy rivals?

Considering the fact most plebes do not see varsity action, Navy has an entire roster full of players who only contribute for three seasons at most.

What makes the decision to not allow Busic a fifth year of eligibility so absurd is that he will spend the fall semester of the 2024-25 academic year at the Naval Academy anyway. He is slated to serve as a graduate assistant for the football program while on temporary assignment duty at the academy.

Instead of breaking down film and overseeing the scout team, Busic could be on the field making sacks and tackles for loss. Denying Busic an extra season of football does not mean he will begin The Basic School at Quantico any earlier.

New approach needed

Navy football is already handicapped enough in this era of college football. The transfer portal is a one-way street for the Midshipmen. The coaching staff cannot lure high school prospects with NIL money. High academic entrance standards along with the requirement of serving a five-year military commitment following graduation immediately reduces the pool of possible recruits.

What makes the administration’s current stance even more curious is the Naval Academy has granted football players a fifth year of eligibility in the past. Napoleon McCallum, one of the greatest players in program history, got an extra year after losing his senior season to a broken ankle.

In the early years of the Paul Johnson era, when Navy was desperate to rebuild a downtrodden program, the academy leadership allowed multiple players to come back for a fifth year.

No Navy player since 2009 has been granted an extra year of eligibility with the saddest scenario involving Tago Smith, who backed up record-setting quarterback Keenan Reynolds for three seasons. Smith, a very talented quarterback in his own right, succeeded Reynolds as the starter and suffered a season-ending injury in the 2016 opener.

If any player ever deserved a fifth year of football it was Smith, who lost his lone season to be the starter. However, the academy leadership callously turned down his request.

Sustained success seems to have convinced the academy leadership it no longer needed to make special exceptions for the football program. Under the direction of Johnson and successor Ken Niumatalolo, Navy posted winning records in 15 of 17 seasons from 2003 through 2019. The Midshipmen captured the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy11 times during those glory years.

Sadly, those halcyon days are quickly becoming a distant memory. The Midshipmen have endured losing records in five of the last six seasons and are 3-9 against their service academy rivals during that stretch.

Beating Army and Air Force to claim the coveted Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy will always be the program’s primary goal. Doing so is difficult under normal circumstances. Give the Black Knights and Falcons the advantage of having a double digit number of fifth-year seniors and the challenge becomes even greater.

Everyone involved with Navy football can only hope the academy leadership changes its stance on this issue. Failure to do so sends a disturbing message that Navy does not support its football program the way Army and Air Force do.

Jacob Busic should not be in the position of choosing between a Naval Academy degree or transferring to a civilian school.

“If I had been allowed an extra semester to play football I wouldn’t be in the portal right now,” Busic said.