The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1536962
L I N E B A C K E R S 96 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2025 FOOTBALL PREVIEW BY JOHN BORTON A sure sign you've got a strong po- sition group involves the other side breathing a big sigh of relief when they're done facing you. Bring on the opposition. Sherrone Moore indicated that's how Michigan's offense feels about the Wolverines, particularly the edge rushers — including the linebackers. Oklahoma? USC? Ohio State? Sure, they'll be good. But not better than what the Wolverines have already seen in practice, several from the offense insist. "I think mentally at some point in practice, you get a little tired of those guys coming off the edge — Jaishawn Barham and Ernie and all those different angles and the way they can attack you," Moore ac- knowledged. "Ernie" is senior linebacker Ernest Hausmann, who teams with fellow senior Barham to represent one of the most formidable linebacker duos in the conference, if not the country. Between them, they've played in 67 games with 52 starts in their col- legiate careers. This season, they'll again be at the heart of a defense that should rank among the top 10 in the nation. Both transferred to Michigan from other Big Ten programs, Hausmann from Nebraska and Barham from Maryland. Hausmann found him- self rewarded with the dream season — 15-0, Big Ten championship, na- tional title — in his first year in Ann Arbor. He became a starter last year and didn't disappoint, leading the team with 89 tackles, a pair of sacks and 7 tackles for loss among them. He also intercepted a pass, broke one up, and posted a pair of quarterback hurries on his way to becoming one of the team leaders for the coming season. According to position coach Brian Jean-Mary, Hausmann stepped up in a big way in that regard over the past few months. "Ern has really taken the reins as the leader on defense, and I don't think anyone would disagree with me in saying that," Jean-Mary said. "When you're the middle linebacker, that lends to being the leader on defense — and he's embraced it. I thought he embraced it last year, and we had some great players. … "He really dove into leading and is the clear-cut guy that everybody looks to to lead the program." Hausmann earned Michigan's Roger Zatkoff Award as the team's best linebacker a year ago, garnering All-Big BIG TEN'S BEST Linebacking Corps Features Talent, Experience And Depth Senior Jaishawn Barham started all 13 games at linebacker for the Wolverines a year ago and finished second on the team in tackles with 66. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL