Navy’s quarterback competition is “wide open,” according to first-year head coach Brian Newberry, whose staff is implementing new wrinkles into the Mids’ triple-option attack to help jump-start an offense that had become increasingly stale in recent years.
Seniors Tai Lavatai (18 career starts) and Xavier Arline (21 games, 9 starts) are the most experienced options at quarterback, but both were limited during spring ball. Lavatai was recovering from a torn ACL suffered last October, while Arline was playing lacrosse and banged up.
That left sophomores Blake Horvath and Tedros Gleaton as the quarterbacks getting the most reps in spring ball. Neither player saw any time on the field last season, but Newberry was impressed by what both brought to the table this spring. Newberry said the Mids had 750 11-on-11 reps in spring ball, giving those two quarterbacks a chance to develop.
“The competition’s wide open. I’m excited about that. Two young guys and obviously the guys we have coming back,” Newberry said at the team’s media day on July 29. “… It’s going to be a competition this fall, which I’m excited about. That’s really what you want. We don’t really know what that’s going to look like yet, but I feel pretty good about it. This fall camp, preseason camp, it’s not a marathon but it’s certainly not a sprint either, so looking forward to seeing how those guys develop and seeing how we progress through camp.”
Lavatai started the first eight games of the 2022 season, while Arline started the final four contests. Lavatai ran for 309 yards, averaging 2.7 per carry, and threw for 787 yards and five touchdowns on 46.2 percent passing. Arline ran for 376 yards, averaging 3.9 per carry, and threw for 85 yards and two scores.
Overall, the 2022 season marked the continuation of a recent offensive downturn for the Mids following the graduation of quarterback Malcolm Perry:
| Season | Points Per Game | AAC Rank | Yards Per Game | AAC Rank |
| 2019 | 40.3 | 3/12 | 468.5 | 5/12 |
| 2020 | 16.6 | 11/11 | 275.0 | 11/11 |
| 2021 | 20.1 | 10/11 | 282.3 | 11/11 |
| 2022 | 21.9 | 11/11 | 331.2 | 11/11 |
One of the first moves Newberry made after being promoted to head coach in December was hire Grant Chestnut as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. Chestnut had held the same role at Kennesaw State since 2014, leading one of the top rushing offenses in FCS year in and year out. Newberry and Chestnut overlapped at Kennesaw State from 2015-2018, when Newberry was the defensive coordinator.
Newberry said he hired Chestnut because he’d add creativity, uniqueness and toughness to the offense as part of an effort to not be so one-dimensional.
“Obviously we want to be able to throw the ball,” Newberry said. “We want to be able to take what people give us, and it’s not all down-the-field throws. Of course that’s going to be part of our plan, but to be able to throw it out on the perimeter quickly, to be able to run some [run-pass option] type of plays is going to be really good for us. But at the end of the day, if we’ve got to throw it 15 or 20 times to win it, that’s great. If we’ve got to throw it 5 to 10 times a game to win it, that’s great.”
Senior wide receiver Jayden Umbarger, who has caught 22 passes for 325 yards and two touchdowns the past two seasons, says the Mids will be less predictable than in years past.
“Teams aren’t going to be able to just prepare for us in one way,” the Archbishop Spalding graduate said. “They’ve got to account for a whole bunch of things, and on top of that, it’s not about what we do, it’s about how we do it — that edge we’re going to bring that’s been instilled in us from Day 1 when we kind of formed this new mindset with the team. So it’s pretty exciting.”
Senior center Lirion Murtezi has a similar vision as Umbarger.
“At our bone, we’re still a triple-option team, but being able to throw all the different, creative things around the triple option is going to make us a very explosive team on offense this year, and I’m really excited for that,” Murtezi said. “I think Coach Chestnut’s a super creative guy with different formations … and all the different things he does. At the end of the day, it’s going to make us a lot better offensively.”
Regardless of the quarterback Newberry settles on, Navy will get its season going against Notre Dame in Dublin, Ireland, on Aug. 26. The Mids last beat the Fighting Irish in 2016, though a spirited comeback fell just short last November in Baltimore. The last time these two programs met in Ireland was in 2012, when Notre Dame defeated Navy, 50-10.
The Irish will be heavily favored when the two teams step on the field in late August, but that doesn’t change the mentality of the Mids.
“We expect to win every game we step on the field,” Newberry said. “That’s the expectation around here and that’s how we prepare. It’s going to be a great challenge. It’s a great program. They’ve got great players, they’ve got great coaches, but we’re going to go over there with the mindset that we’re going to win that game. That’s how we’re going to approach everything that we do.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Navy Athletics