GTK: Hausmann was the first commit to Nebraska’s 2022 class

Since Scott Frost and Barrett Ruud arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska has been targeting and signing several in-state linebacker prospects to join the Huskers’ program. Ernest Hausmann is one of three potential in-state linebackers signed by NU this cycle. He came to America from Uganda.

Husker head coach Frost gave his signing day comments about early enrollee Hausmann:

“I am fired up about Ernest. He is a Nebraska kid from (Columbus), and he has not played football his whole life like other kids but I see the potential there for him to have an elite career. I am really excited to add him to our young core of linebackers and see what he can do. I love his demeanor and his love for the game, and I am really fired up about his talent.”

Below is the first in our series of “Getting to know you” features which we will be running on the members of Nebraska’s 2022 recruiting class. We will be doing the GTKs of all the early enrollees first, and then completing the rest of the class.

Ernest Hausmann

Position: Outside linebacker

Columbus, NE

Current size: 6-foot-2, 210-pounds

Rankings: Hausmann is rated a 5.6 three-star by Rivals, as well as the No. 46 outside linebacker prospect in the country. He was the No. 5 recruit in Nebraska for the 2022 class. He was also first-team All-Nebraska by the OWH and Super State by the LJS.

Statistics: As a senior, Hausmann had 29 solo tackles, 48 assisted tackles, eight tackles-for-loss, two sacks, and two fumble recoveries with four pass break-ups on defense. On offense, he had 37 receptions for 600 yards (16.2 ypr) and eight touchdowns; he also had six carries for 108 yards, including a 57-yard touchdown.

Other schools offering scholarships: Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas State, Virginia, Arizona State, Kansas, Boston College and North Dakota State.

What do you do in your spare time?

“In most of my spare time, I like to hang out with my friends. That’s pretty much what I do in my spare time, really. Now and then we will go bowling or hang out at somebody’s house to just talk and catch up on the week.”

What food do you like the best?

“It would probably be fried chicken from anywhere.”

What is your favorite television show?

“The Office. I like Dwight Shrute the best and I think that show is really awesome!”

Do you have a favorite movie?

“Avengers Endgame is probably my favorite one.”

What type of music do you listen to and who is your favorite musical artist?

“My favorite is probably rap music and my favorite artist is probably Drake. I just like that his music is a combination of hip hop and rap. It’s not always banger and screaming music, it has a softer tune to it. It has a softer sound to it than other rap music.”

Who is your celebrity crush?

“I would say probably Megan Fox. From watching the Transformers movies, that’s probably why.”

Who has provided great inspiration to you in your life?

“My greatest inspiration would probably be my physical therapist, Brian Inselman, because he helped me after my first knee injury. He restored hope for me when I was going through that.”

What person(s) from history or alive today would you most like to sit down and have dinner with?

“I would probably say Lavonte David. He was my idol from back in the day from watching linebackers play. If I could have him and Ndamukong Suh, that would probably be the best combo. I would just like to talk to them about how they play defense and they’re kind of nasty doing it. I would like to sit down with them talk to them about things.”

Do you have a nickname?

“Ernie.”

What is something very few people know about you?

“Not many people know how much of a deep thinker I am. I really like to process things through my brain and think differently. I notice different things. That’s probably one of them.”

If football wasn’t an option, what would your dream career be?

“My dream career would probably be computer science and cyber security. Just getting with corporate companies in trying to deal with hackers.”

Do you have a major picked out yet?

“Yeah, that’s the major I’m going into: computer science.”

Have you met all the academic requirements to enroll at Nebraska?

“Yes.”

Who is your favorite football player of all-time?

“My favorite of all-time would be Ray Lewis. I would watch him and I loved the way he played the game. I like listening about his upbringing and his talks about that. Everything about him is just really inspirational. How he did in the NFL with his career and how he continued in his life. I would like to model myself after him and how he pursued his life.”

Who is the best football player you’ve personally played against in a game?

“The best I’ve played against offensively, I would say, was Kaden Helms. When we played Bellevue West, he had a heck of a game that day. So, he was really a match-up nightmare for us on defense. He did a good job of running good routes, getting open and making big plays. So, he’s one of the best players I played against.”

What has been the most memorable moment on the football field so far in your career?

“The best moment was probably playing Kearney this year and beating them because we hadn’t beaten them in 18 years. Especially since when we played them before we got beat like 56-0.”

Which school are you most looking forward to playing against in college?

“I’m looking forward to playing against Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin because they all have different kinds of play styles. I’m just looking forward to going against that kind of competition.”

Do you have a pre-game ritual?

“Yeah, I do. The night before, I catch up spiritually and ask for God’s help. When I go to bed, I will place myself in moments during games. Then, for that whole day, I will picture myself getting the win and have the expectation of winning the game. Then, I will play the game.”

Did you play other sports growing up or in high school?

“Yeah, in high school I played basketball for like two or three years. Earlier, I played baseball and soccer. I really did enjoy basketball growing up when I was younger. From the second to the eighth grades was really fun playing basketball for me.”

What is the one thing you most need to work on to play at the next level?

“You know, the first thing will be getting my body right. Just increasing by physicality and putting more weight on. The first thing I need to do is to build a foundation before I can get any game action. They will teach me how to play against big offensive linemen and the different offenses I will face. If I get my body right, I will be able to take on blocks and get off of blocks to make the tackle.”

How often do you work out and what is your routine?

“Right now, my routine is to lift early in the morning at school during first period. Mondays and Wednesdays I will go out on the field and do some sprints, trying to get some conditioning in. And then, the other two days, I will do some core workouts and do some more stretching. Just to make sure everything is good. I will take Friday, Saturday and Sunday off for recovery.”

What did you know about the Nebraska football program before they offered and started recruiting you?

“Looking from the inside out, I didn’t know an awful lot about them. I had watched them going down history and playing. It’s just a different view when you are growing up and younger. I looked at them as giants on the field. Then, when you get older, you get to meet them in person and you think back to how you used to look at them. I did look up Nebraska’s history because I wanted to know what it stood for. Probably the main thing I looked into with Nebraska was their Blackshirt defense and how they played games. That was pretty much the main thing.”

Do you have any family ties to the Husker football program or the state of Nebraska?

“I do know that Ashton Hausmann and Cooper Hausmann play there right now, and I am a related to them, but we don’t see each other very often. How we are related is kind of a long story and I’m not sure of all the details.”

How did you inform the Nebraska staff of your commitment?

“I texted Sean Dillon and let him know I was going to commit, and then 30 minutes later I got a call with pretty much the entire staff: Coach Frost, Coach Ruud, Coach Erik Chinander. That was really awesome because I was able to tell them all.”

What were the major determining factors in your picking Nebraska and signing with the Huskers?

“The main thing was the type of program I wanted to go to. With my history and my upbringing, I really wanted to go to an elite program. That’s the main thing I wanted to go to and that was Nebraska. I wanted to be a part of something special. I truly believe in them and that coaching staff, and I believe in the team. It’s coming. It’s just a matter of time.”

Did the Nebraska coaches do anything unique when they were recruiting you that other colleges didn’t?

“Nebraska did a good job of getting me involved with all their coaching staff, not just the defensive guys like my position coach, Coach Ruud, and Coach Chinander. I got to talk to the offensive position coaches as well. So, it was just the family environment. All the coaches treated me like family.”

Which Nebraska coach do you feel especially close to?

“Coach Ruud, my position coach, for sure. I just feel like he’s a really down-to-earth guy. We’ve gotten to know each other through phone calls and text messages, and being able to meet him for the first time in person I got a good vibe. All the coaching staff and him as well were just 100% real. There was nothing fake about them seeing them interact with the players. I feel like they’ve truly care about their players and their team, so that is awesome.”

What was the best feature of your official visit to Nebraska?

“The best feature was probably getting to be around some current players. You know, just being shown around and seeing how they conduct themselves. My host was Randy Kpai and he did a great job guiding me through a day in the life of a Nebraska football player. He introduced me to the other players on the team and its just a brotherhood. I think that was the most memorable moment.”

Did Nebraska’s weather factor into your recruitment?

“No, not all. I’ve been growing up in Nebraska all my life. Football weather can get cold, but I just smile because I like playing in that type of weather.”

Did you make friends with any current players at Nebraska or incoming freshmen during the process?

“My roommates are going to be Victor Jones and Richard Torres because I’ve got a good relationship with them. I met them at a game and got a better understanding of them. I will get to know them better now. Of the current players, Randy Kpai is probably my number one relationship guy because he was the one who showed me the ropes. He’s just awesome because he’s kind of similar to me in being from Africa. We can relate to some things and he’s just an all-around good guy.”

What did you think of Nebraska’s season?

“They played extremely hard. It was just a few plays that held them back. It’s easy to blame one or two plays here or there, but for me in playing football, you can’t just put it on one specific play. You can’t just put it on one unit. It’s a team game. The big part of fixing those little things is just the habits you develop in the off-season. I truly believe the players have the right mindset for this upcoming season and I feel that good things are going to happen this year.”

What’s the funniest or craziest thing that happened to you during the recruiting process?

“The funniest thing was probably when I called a reporter in my sleep. Yeah, it was like a [butt dial].”

What was your favorite moment during the recruiting process?

“My favorite moment was probably getting to sign the [letter of intent] papers and to make it official. It was a big sense of relief for me because of just being able to confirm where I am going. The entire recruiting process was very enjoyable and just a humbling time. Getting to meet all those coaches who were willing to take a chance on you, but at the same time it was stressful at times. So, it was a big sense of relief knowing it was all good, it was all done, and I could focus on getting ready for the season.”

What was the worst moment during the recruiting process?

“The worst moment was probably the continuous zoom calls. At night I would probably have three different zoom calls with coaches and each lasted an hour. I was looking more into the character of the coaches and the program just to see what type of program I wanted to be around. Those zoom calls were kind of long and probably the worst part of the process. I wouldn’t trade any of it because I ended up going to the school I wanted to go to.”

What is one thing you learned that you would share with a recruit going through the process now?

“I would tell recruits it’s OK not to know where you’re going to go. Because there’s going to be pressure and outside noise coming in. People are going to be telling you where you should go and this and that. You need to find the best program for you and what speaks to you and what you are all about. So, at the end of the day, the thing that really helped me was looking for the type of program I wanted to be in. That helped to eliminate some of the schools. You’re going to have good and bad days in college, and you should ask yourself which college you want to be at during those bad days.”

Which schools tried to get in the picture with you and wanted you to visit after you committed to Nebraska?

“I wouldn’t say there was negative recruitment, but each school is trying to pitch something they’re better at than the schools they are recruiting against. In the Big Ten, of all the schools that recruited me, they were all respectful of each other.”

Which school would you have chosen if you hadn’t decided in favor of Nebraska?

“I didn’t necessarily have a backup school. I didn’t put out any top five or top 10 lists. That’s just not who I am as a person. I wanted to be 100% with a school. I kept things open, but once I committed, that was it.”

What position will you be playing at Nebraska?

“Inside linebacker.”

Are you expecting to redshirt your first year at Nebraska?

“I don’t know a whole lot about all that stuff. My main focus will be to begin hitting that weight room hard in winter conditioning, and then just see where things fall.”

What number would you like to wear at Nebraska?

“I’m not 100% sure. I’m just going to see what’s open down there and not get my hopes up.”

What are your goals for your first year in college?

“My goals will be to pack in as much in each day as I can. I want to live each moment to the best of my ability because, at the end of the day, that’s why you’re there in college. Just looking at the high school experience and how fast it went by, I know college will be the same way.”

What will you bring to Nebraska as far as a strong point?

“I just think this actual extra level of gear I have. I have that dawg mentality. Even if it’s an extra 10% or 20%, that’s going to give me an edge over someone else. No one is going to out-work me in the classroom or on the field or in the film mom. It’s just a matter of expectations I have for myself because I expect to win.”

What would you like to say to the Nebraska fans?

“It’s easy to be disappointed about this or that, but just know that this season is coming and it’s going to be special. I have a good feeling about it. I think something special is coming along, so be prepared.”