ANN ARBOR – Michigan sophomore linebacker Ernest Hausmann took the field at Michigan Stadium on Saturday for the second time in his career.
While the stakes weren’t nearly as high for the Wolverines’ annual intersquad spring game, the transfer from Nebraska once again made his presence felt. Hausmann, who had a career-high 10 tackles and a sack in a loss against Michigan in Ann Arbor last season, led all defensive players Saturday with eight tackles, including one for loss.
The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder forced one of the five turnovers on the day, delivering a crushing hit on quarterback Jack Tuttle to jar the ball loose.
Although Saturday’s performance was gratifying for Hausmann, he knew long before Saturday that he made the correct decision in December when he transferred.
“I wanted to hear from people (coaches), and they really made it feel like this is the best place for me,” Hausmann said after Saturday’s scrimmage about his decision. “This is the best place for me and I love each and every day walking in that building knowing staff and teammates and everyone on this team is in it for one common goal. The brotherhood we have here is really special.”
Hausmann played in 12 games for the Cornhuskers last season and emerged as a starter for the final seven games, finishing with 54 tackles. The former three-star recruit from Columbus, Nebraska could have remained with the Cornhuskers or chosen a different school for more guaranteed playing time, but he felt at home in Ann Arbor and wanted to compete for championships.
Michigan, coming off back-to-back Big Ten titles, offered the best opportunity to do that, he said. The fact that the team returned both starting inside linebackers Junior Colson and Michael Barrett didn’t dissuade him.
The Wolverines lacked depth at linebacker last year, but that shouldn’t be the case in 2023. Redshirt junior Nikhai Hill-Green, a starter in 2021, missed all of last season but is healthy again. Sophomore Jimmy Rolder also received some meaningful snaps in 2022 because of injuries.
“I love competition,” Hausmann said. “I’ll never back down from any challenge that comes my way. I go about my business. I have a lot of pride in my day-to-day routine, and I truly believe that if I continue through my routine, my habits, I’ll put myself in the best position to be in the mix for playing time on the field.”
Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said last week that he has challenged Hausmann this spring to unseat one of the current starters.
“Ernest is a tremendous asset, tremendous pickup,” Minter said. “No. 1, he’s made plays in our stadium and in big moments, so we kind of know that that’s not going to be too big for him. I think he’s just physically, mentally a tremendous asset to that room. He’ll challenge those guys. We have two incumbent players that, my challenge to Ernest is to go take their spot. My challenge to those guys is to hold on to your spot, because he’s coming.”
One of the primary reasons Hausmann chose Michigan was to maximize his potential. Behind the scenes, he believes his work with strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert has him on the right path.
“The strength staff and program, that is one of the things I thought highly of when I first visited,” he said. “Just being a part of it and to see the results of what they do is crazy. He (Herbert) knew I had a dense body and knew I was going to be able to put the muscle on where he thought we would need it for. With the nutrition staff and having those (body) scans and knowing, ‘This is our plan, we are going to use to attack it.’ Everything correlating into that mix has been really good. To see those results come to play with the work we’ve put in has been awesome.”
A steak dinner was on the line during Saturday’s scrimmage, with Hausmann and his Maize team edging Team Blue 22-21 in a modified game format. But starting Sunday, the entire team begins working toward bigger goals.
“Day 1 when I stepped foot on this team, the statement was said of what we want to accomplish going into next year,” Hausmann said. “Each and every day we are working towards that.”
