ANN ARBOR, Mich. — While fans of college programs tend to look at transfers in terms of additions and losses, there’s a human element that often doesn’t get thought of.
Though we tend to get a glimpse of what a player is capable of — and this is also true of the high school level when coming to college — there’s also the element where said player has to do things such as acclimate to campus, to school, to his teammates as well as to the playbook itself.
Ernest Hausmann was a star in just his first year of playing at the college level, earning a starting role at Nebraska, despite his youth. He did all of the above, but decided this offseason to blow it all up in favor of a fresh beginning in Ann Arbor. Two days after he arrived on campus, classes started, so he had to hit the ground running. While he had time to acclimate to the playbook and his teammates, the playbook portion, he feels, has been the biggest challenge in coming to Michigan from Lincoln.
“One of the biggest adjustments, honestly, is just learning another defense,” Hausmann said. “That’s one of the things that I knew entering into the transfer portal is that now what you have to do is pick up another defense. So learning a defense is a language, right? Being able to be on the same page on the language will get you on the field.
“So that was probably the biggest thing that I had to pick up on, just learning a different language.”
The teammates portion isn’t all just about building camaraderie and rapport, however. For Hausmann, it means getting that playbook down well enough that he can showcase his skills enough so that when the team needs a reliable force in the middle of the defense, it’s his number that’s called and not someone else’s.
Yet, Hausmann knew that would be a challenge, and embraces that it will make him better in the process. The Wolverines have several players who he could either be in front of or behind along the defense, from former starters such as Junior Colson, Nikhai Hill-Green and Michael Barrett, to up-and-comers such as Jimmy Rolder or Jaydon Hood.
However, after his first spring, in the spring game two weeks ago, Hausmann put on a show, leading all defensive players with eight tackles — perhaps a sign of his talent, his understanding of the playbook, how competition has made him better or all of the above.
“I love competition. I knew that coming into here at Michigan, that that was gonna be the case,” Hausmann said. “It’s one of the things that you just strive to be better for. And, when you go through that process of competition and the depth chart and those things, for me, I just thought to myself, you can’t control who’s gonna be placed one, two, three, but you can control what I’m gonna be able to do each and every day. So I’ve got to take great pride in what I do each day, my habits each day.”
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