Carothers emerges for Mids at fullback

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Kevin Wallace was hopeful Navy would move Jamale Carothers from slotback to fullback.

Wallace, who coached Carothers at Bowling Green High in Kentucky, felt the fullback position in Navy’s patented triple-option offense would better suit his skill set.

“I just think Jamale’s explosiveness is best showcased at fullback,” Wallace said. “In my mind, if someone doesn’t take the fullback in that offense, you want somebody who looks like he’s shot out of a slingshot. I think you’ve seen this season that description fits Jamale pretty well.”

Carothers was recruited as a slotback because he was 5-feet-8 and 187 pounds coming out of high school. Through natural growth and two years of strengthand-conditioning training, he’s now an inch taller and about 15 pounds heavier.

Head coach Ken Niumatalolo moved Carothers to fullback prior to spring practice of his plebe year, and that has proven to be a wise decision. The 5-9, 203pound sophomore has been a remarkable revelation, ranking second on the team with 637 rushing yards despite only seeing significant action in the past seven games.

“I would definitely say it’s been an amazing journey so far this season,” said Carothers, who was no better than fifth on the depth chart coming out of August

training camp.

A concussion early in preseason caused Carothers to miss considerable practice time, and he received limited repetitions upon his return. The former Mr. Football for Kentucky opened the season on the scout team and played in a junior-varsity game against Jireh Prep.

Carothers got into the game for one possession and wound up scoring a touchdown, a harbinger of things to come. Niumatalolo said the sophomore showed up strong in several areas for which the coaching staff conducts analytics.

“Jamale stood out with some of our catapult numbers. Really, that’s how we found him,” Niumatalolo said. “It was like ‘Wow, who ran that fast?’ Jamale had some of the fastest numbers on the team. We realized we had to start giving him more reps.”

Carothers seized the opportunity and showed in practice he deserved to play in games. The youngster traveled to Tulsa and opened some eyes, rushing for 52 yards and a touchdown on five carries, while catching a 26-yard pass off a trick play.

Carothers ran for 84 yards and a touchdown in the next game, against Tulane, and has since replaced junior Nelson Smith as the starter the past three games.

“For Jamale to be where he is right now is pretty amazing. He was buried on the depth chart and was not getting many reps early in the season,” said Niumatalolo, who still chuckles about having Carothers play in a JV game.

Going into the showdown against archrival Army, Carothers is coming off a career-high 188 yards and five touchdowns in a 55-41 victory over Houston.

Carothers broke loose for touchdown runs of 75, 29, 19, 17 and 8 yards — accelerating through massive holes created by the offensive line and racing untouched into the end zone.

“(Carothers) is the fastest fullback we’ve ever had here,” said Niumatalolo, who has been coaching at Navy for 22 years.

Wallace said Carothers was vastly under-recruited despite setting the school record with 3,921 career rushing yards while leading Bowling Green to three Class 5A state championships.

Army, Austin Peay and Eastern Michigan were the only other schools that showed serious interest in the 2016 Gatorade Player of the Year for Kentucky.

Navy fullbacks coach Jason MacDonald previously served as the offensive coordinator at the Naval Academy Prep School and saw enough of Carothers during the 2017 season to predict success in Division I.

“You could tell Jamale had a different gear. It was obvious back then he was special,” MacDonald said.

Carothers played slotback at the prep school and again as a plebe at the academy. He was given a chance to play on special teams in practice, and that is when he showed up in the analytics report.

“All the credit goes to Jamale for sticking with it, never complaining, always asking questions and working to get better,” MacDonald said.

MacDonald is particularly impressed with how quickly Carothers has learned the fullback position.

“You’ve got a guy who has not even been playing that position for a full year. He has picked up things extremely fast from a mental standpoint,” MacDonald said. “You need an understanding of what the offensive line is doing and where the blocks are coming from. Jamale has great vision and instincts, but he’s also figuring things out mentally.”

Carothers smiles when asked what his former teammates at Bowling Green would think of him playing fullback in college.

“They would never guess I would be a fullback. I was a spread running back in high school, catching passes out of the backfield and stuff like that,” he said. “Fullback is working out well for me, so I’m pretty happy with the change.”