Report: Former Navy edge rusher Jacob Busic headed to UCLA
UCLA continued to replenish its pass rush Friday, landing a commitment from former Navy edge rusher Jacob Busic, according to the Capital Gazette.
Busic’s addition comes two days after the Bruins picked up former Miami edge rusher Collins Acheampong in the transfer portal.
He spent the last four years in the Naval Academy, starting each contest (24 games) over the 2021 and 2022 seasons before suffering a torn bicep injury at Memphis in mid-September during the third game of the season. Busic returned to action in the regular-season finale as a reserve against rival Army.
His best season was in 2022, when he made 8 1/2 tackles for a loss — including six sacks — among his 38 tackles. The 6-foot-4, 256-pounder earned honorable mention recognition from the American Athletic Conference that season.
Busic is the fifth transfer heading to UCLA, joining Acheampong, safety Bryan Addison (Oregon), wide receiver Rico Flores Jr. (Notre Dame) and kicker Mateen Bhaghani (California).
The Bruins lost a commitment Thursday from former San Diego State safety Marcus Ratcliffe, who flipped to Texas A&M.
In late December, Busic told the Capital Gazette that his preference was to remain at Navy. The plan was to play one more season, graduate and commission, then start a service career in the Marine Corps.
However, due to the current policy at Navy, he was denied a waiver for a fifth year despite reportedly being in good standing both academically and in military ranking at the academy. Busic’s choices, according to the report, were to graduate and commission as a Marine Corps officer in May or transfer out.
Now, according to the report, Busic will likely be required to reimburse the Naval Academy for the cost of his education.
By electing to transfer to a civilian school, Busic is expected to have two years of eligibility remaining. He did not appear in game as a freshman in 2020.
Out of high school, Busic was rated by Rivals as a two-star prospect out of Westminster, Md., in the 2019 class. He spent the 2019-20 academic year at the Naval Academy Prep School.
Busic joins a Bruins program with a handful of ties to the Naval Academy, including safeties coach Brian Norwood, newly promoted tight ends coach Ken Niumatalolo and chief of staff Bryce McDonald.
Busic played for Niumatalolo, who is Navy’s all-time leader in head coaching victories. Niumatalolo was dismissed in 2022, leaving with 109 wins at the academy and landing at UCLA as the director of leadership this past season.
Busic’s addition continues to address an area of need Bruins head coach Chip Kelly said he would “attack in the portal” when the program announced its 2024 high school signing class last month.
UCLA is losing unanimous All-American Laiatu Latu and twins Gabriel and Grayson Murphy early to the NFL draft, while fellow defensive ends Carl Jones Jr. and Jake Heimlicher are out of eligibility.
This past season, Latu earned Pac-12 defensive player of the year to go with national honors that include the Lombardi Award (top lineman) and the Ted Hendricks Award (top defensive end). The Murphys were both all-conference honorable mention selections in 2023.
In all, 53 tackles for a loss and 28 sacks are leaving the position between the five players as part of a pass rush bolstered by newly promoted defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe.
In addition, defensive tackle Jay Toia has yet to publicly announce his future plans.
The Bruins are looking to make up for losing an additional 15 players to the transfer portal, including four players on defense. All four are defensive backs, including starters Kamari Ramsey and John Humphrey and a pair of walk-ons.
Other outgoing starters on defense include inside linebacker Darius Muasau and safeties Alex Johnson and Kenny Churchwell III, all of whom exhausted their eligibility.