Michigan football transfer goes in-depth on major position battle

Ernest Hausmann is arguably the top Michigan football transfer portal addition on this year’s roster. He started as a true freshman at Nebraska, and after a single standout season in Lincoln, NE, his talents now belong to the Wolverines. That said, Hausmann walked right into a heated position battle in Ann Arbor — he is currently going head-to-head with long-time standout linebacker Mike Barrett, who has just as much claim to a starting role on this year’s defense as Hausmann does right now.

Michigan football transfer linebacker talks position battle with Mike Barrett and more

Earlier today, at Schembechler Hall, Ernest Hausmann went in-depth on his current ongoing position battle with veteran linebacker Mike Barrett. Barrett is a long-time standout with the Wolverines, though Hausmann has been making a strong push for his starting job; right now, it appears that this position battle will bleed well into the first few games of the 2023 Michigan football season.

“When I chose to go and enter the transfer portal, that’s one of the things that I knew was gonna have to be done,” Hausmann said. “When I came to Nebraska, I was a true freshman. Obviously, you come in there at the bottom of the depth chart, work your way up there. I have the same mentality. When I came here at Michigan, I was gonna be at the bottom of the depth chart, I have work my way up there. And I love that. I truly love that.”

Ernest Hausmann making the linebacker room better

As the saying goes, iron sharpens iron, which is exactly the case in Ann Arbor right now. All fall camp reports have stated that Hausmann and Barrett are making one other (and other linebackers, such as Junior Colson) much better; considering that these two were already among the best in the Big Ten, that’s some scary news for the rest of the conference.

“The competitiveness in being able to do what you need to do to get to where you want to be ultimately in the depth chart rankings,” he said. “With that, it’s an everyday process. I also know that the depth chart is out of my control. So I don’t really look too heavily at the depth chart because I know it’s never in my control. I never get to choose where I’m gonna be on the depth chart, but what I can control is what I do each and every day. So with that, making sure that I do what I think is necessary each and every day.”

Plenty of options from the transfer portal, yet Ann Arbor is home

Ernest Hausmann was well aware of Mike Barrett and others when he first came to Michigan football — the competition is not something that he was looking to avoid whatsoever.

“Like I said, with coach (Jesse) Minter, my first meeting I had with him, obviously that challenge was made very clear,” Hausmann continued. “I just took that to heart. I knew that when I chose to come to Michigan that there was gonna be a battle there. I love it because we make each other better. But the thing is, our room is very special and unique. We’re all looking to help each other. There’s no conflict on why we’re position battling.”

‘The team, the team, the team’

The Michigan football program has a history of emphasizing the team before the individual. For new Michigan football transfer linebacker Ernest Hausmann, this seems to be the case as his position battle drags on throughout fall camp and likely into the regular season.

“We’re all in there together because at the end of the day, we all want an ultimate goal and that’s to win each and every game that we step on the field,” Hausmann explained. “And to make sure we bounce ideas off each other. Obviously, I came into a room with those two veterans — played a lot of games and being able to hear from them and hear what they’ve seen out there on the field and to really bounce ideas off each other, it’s been really awesome to be part of that. I’m looking forward to playing a season with them.”

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