Tag: Ernest Hausmann

2024 Spring Football Preview: Linebacker

2023 Starters: MLB Junior Colson, WLB Michael Barrett
Losses: Colson (NFL), Barrett (NFL)
Returning players: Jaydon Hood (RS Jr.), Ernest Hausmann (Jr.), Micah Pollard (Jr.), Jimmy Rolder (RS So.), Semaj Bridgeman (RS Fr.), Jason Hewlett (RS Fr.), Hayden Moore (RS Fr.)
Newcomers: Jaishawn Barham (Jr.), Jeremiah Beasley (Fr.), Cole Sullivan (Fr.)
Projected starters: MLB Barham, WLB Hausmann

With the prevalence of the nickel position, linebacker has been somewhat de-emphasized in recent years. A position group that used to play three guys is now primarily whittled down to two. Michigan had a very good two in 2023 in Junior Colson and Michael Barrett, but both are off to the NFL. Both have had very different paths, with Colson playing three years – two as a starter – and Barrett bouncing around between running back, slot receiver, Viper, and weakside linebacker.

Michigan will have two new starting faces at linebacker in 2024, and both of them are transfers who previously wore red. Barham is a two-year starter at Maryland whom the Wolverines poached this off-season. Hausmann started as a freshman at Nebraska in 2022 before joining the Wolverines in 2023, rotating heavily with Colson and Barrett as basically a third starter. So while both will be new starters at Michigan, they have three combined years of starting and another year of heavily involvement out of four college seasons. That’s a ton of experience for two “new” starters and should help Michigan’s defense succeed in 2024.

The backup situation is a little murkier, especially with a new defensive coordinator (Wink Martindale) and a new linebackers coach (Brian Jean-Mary). Jimmy Rolder got a lot of experience in 2022 before playing sparingly in 2023 in the hopes of preserving his redshirt, which was a successful endeavor. Rolder seems like the most likely guy to emerge as a rotational guy or primary backup in 2024. Meanwhile, Jaydon Hood is a fourth-year player who was recruited by Jean-Mary to Michigan out of high school; some suspected Hood would have left by now with no clear path to playing time, but he’s still wearing a winged helmet.

Junior Micah Pollard has played a ton of special teams and some in a backup role, but the rest of the guys are total unknowns on the college level. Semaj Bridgeman, Jason Hewlett, and Hayden Moore all redshirted in 2023, and Michigan gets two early enrollees involved this spring with in-state product Jeremiah Beasley and Pennsylvanian Cole Sullivan. There are way too many players (10) in the linebacker room to support just two starting spots, so this is a position group that will certainly be thinned out by transfers within the next couple years. But for now, it will be interesting to see who could eventually step in, because both Barham and Hausmann could conceivably jump to the NFL with solid seasons in 2024.

Michigan 30, East Carolina 3

Football is back! All is right in the world when it’s football season. In another few days, the NFL season will be back and we can all enjoy Heaven for a few months. It has been a long off-season for me on an individual level, and this is also a chance to break away from the 2023 Season Countdown and get back into a groove with writing about various topics.

This was a boring matchup. I like seeing different opponents, but with East Carolina, there were no storylines. It’s not a geographical matchup. When I looked through the roster and coaching staff, there was no crossover. East Carolina doesn’t recruit in the state of Michigan. No transfers or ex-staffers from Michigan. There was no angle. The most interesting aspect going into the opener, aside from seeing who starts for Michigan, was . . .

. . . Peacock. The Peacock stream sucked. I signed up for Peacock on Friday because there’s really no other reason to do so earlier. And I don’t really care about the expense. I’ll pay $5.99 to watch a Michigan game. But when I’m paying for it, I expect a good product. When I paid for cable, I expected ESPN and FS1 and BTN to give me a good product. Otherwise, I’ll just turn off the volume and think through it myself. I don’t need Mike Tirico and one of the Simms brothers to tell me what’s happening on the game. Peacock actually complied – presumably on accident – when there was just no audio for several minutes. The fourth quarter feed got blurry, too, but maybe that had something to do with my local internet. But Peacock also cut out a play, there was no pregame show, the halftime show was boring, and oh yeah . . . the Simms kid isn’t exactly top-notch. If I wanted crappy analysis, I would watch some of the ex-Buckeye talking heads like Josh Perry and Joey Galloway.

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2023 Season Countdown: #31 Ernest Hausmann

Name: Ernest Hausmann
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 237 lbs.
High school: Columbus (NE) Columbus
Position: Linebacker
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #15
Last year: Hausmann played for Nebraska. He made 54 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 1 fumble recovery.
TTB Rating: N/A

Michigan offered Hausmann out of high school, but he hopped on the Scott Frost hype train and then wanted off pretty quickly. He started seven games for the Cornhuskers last fall and played in all twelve contests. When he entered the transfer portal, he was the top transfer prospect in the country, according to 247 Sports. (He ended up #4 behind Travis Hunter, Denver Harris, and Adonai Mitchell, who chose Colorado, LSU, and Texas, respectively.) Hausmann came to Ann Arbor in January and participated in spring practices.

Despite being one of the top transfer prospects in the country, I’m not sure exactly how he fits into Michigan’s defense this fall. Michigan brought back Michael Barrett for a sixth year, and Junior Colson has been starting for the past two seasons, with some discussion that he might leave for the NFL after his junior year. I think that means Hausmann will end up as Michigan’s #3 linebacker, and he’ll have the inside track to start in 2024. Reports from practice have been positive, so there should be some good competition to elevate the linebacker group as a whole.

Prediction: Backup linebacker and special teamer

Thoughts on 2023 Spring Game

Okay, it’s time to put some thoughts about the spring game on paper.

QUARTERBACK: We know what J.J. McCarthy brings to the table, and Michigan was never going to let him factor into the run game, so whatever. This comes down to thoughts on the backups. After watching Michigan have a good 1-2 punch the past two years with McCarthy and Cade McNamara, there is a big question mark at the #2 quarterback spot in 2023. I thought redshirt sophomore Davis Warren once again outplayed the competition, which comes from Alex Orji and Indiana transfer Jack Tuttle. Tuttle had a couple decent throws and showed some decent athleticism on the run, but Warren is more accurate and probably a better decision maker, despite the fact that Tuttle is a sixth-year player. Orji has decent arm strength but leaves something to be desired when it comes to his timing and accuracy; running is the best part of his game, and he’s a change-up guy. I would put him at #4 on the depth chart.

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Ernest Hausmann, Wolverine

Former Nebraska linebacker Ernest Hausmann has committed to Michigan as a transfer. Transfer offers are a little bit iffy to track, but he was offered by Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, and Virginia out of high school.

Hausmann is a 6’2″, 220 lb. player who made 54 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 1 sack while starting seven games as a true freshman for the Cornhuskers in 2022. Despite being offered by the Wolverines out of school, chose his “home state” team for a year instead; Hausmann was actually born in Uganda but was adopted and moved to be with his adoptive family when he was five years old.

High school rankings from 2022:

ESPN: 3-star, 78 grade, #24 ILB
On3: 4-star, 91 grade, #27 LB, #294 overall
Rivals: 3-star, 5.6 grade, #45 OLB
247 Sports: 3-star, 88 grade, #65 LB

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