Husker Signee Analysis: The Linebackers

An inside guy, an outside guy and a potential nickel guy in the mold of JoJo Domann

Images: Nebraska Athletics via Twitter

If there's one spot on the roster this Nebraska football staff has failed to recruit, it's an elite pass rusher. 

Erik Chinander's defense has gotten incrementally better each season, but if they ever hope to become a truly formidable group, they'll need a consistent pass-rushing threat. They've done a good job scheming pressure on occasions, but Nebraska hasn't had a true game-changer terrorizing offenses off the edge since Randy Gregory left for the NFL after the 2014 season. Could redshirt freshmen Blaise Gunnerson or Jimari Butler develop into that guy? The staff has failed to sign anyone in the last two classes who has the physical profile to be that guy for them.

Coaches will also need to find someone who can replicate what JoJo Domann did for them on defense. He was a true X-factor for the Blackshirts. Domann's ability to handle traditional linebacker responsibilities and also slide out to the slot to cover backs, receivers and tight ends made him a valuable chess piece. Is there anyone on the roster who can eventually duplicate what he did? Isaac Gifford, Chris Kolarevic and Javin Wright are the guys currently being groomed at that position. Could a guy like Myles Farmer play that spot?

This is the ninth in Jeremy Pernell’s series. • National class rankings • Husker signee rankings • Quarterback Richard Torres • The running backs • The wide receivers • Tight end Chase Androff • O-Lineman Justin Evans-Jenkins • D-Lineman Brodie Tagaloa

While the team needs to prioritize finding more playmakers at those key spots, they do continue to build up the rest of the room. Despite the recent offseason transfers of Will Honas and Wynden Ho'ohuli, I like where the inside linebacker spot is at. They have promising starters Luke Reimer and Nick Henrich for the next couple seasons, and they've added promising youngsters like Randolph Kpai, Mikai Gbayor and Garrett Snodgrass in recent classes to groom behind them. Senior Chris Kolarevic is also around for one more season and should be a nice rotational piece behind Reimer and Henrich.

Inside linebackers coach Barrett Ruud was able to add another promising piece to his room with Ernest Hausmann, out of Columbus (NE) High School. The 6-foot-3, 205-pounder received his first offer from Ruud and the Huskers on Nov. 11, 2020. At the time, he was an unheralded recruit. But within a few months, he had collected additional Power Five offers from Arizona State, Boston College, Iowa, Kansas, Kansas State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern and Virginia. Eight of those 10 offers came during a feverish month of February that marked his arrival as one of the most widely sought-after linebackers in the Midwest.

Ernest Hausmann / Nebraska Athletics

Hausmann's personal story is probably a lot more interesting than his recruiting back story. Ernest is a native of Uganda in Africa, and was adopted when he was 5 years old and relocated to Columbus, Nebraska. His life was changed when his adoptive parents, Bob and Teresa, had dinner with his uncle Peter, who was a missionary.

Bob and Teresa, who already had two daughters of their own, had been trying to adopt for years. They'd already had several American adoptions fall through, however. During the dinner, Peter spoke of how the AIDS epidemic had ravaged his country and orphaned thousands of children. Teresa had been an exchange student in South Africa, and the plight of the continent wasn't lost on her. She and Bob told Peter of their desire to adopt, and the idea was struck for the Hausmanns to adopt a child from Peter's village. The following day, Peter suggested his nephew, Ernest, who was 2 years old at the time.

Unfortunately, the American and Ugandan adoption agencies didn’t have a history of working together. The Hausmanns worked with two Ugandan attorneys, and after three years, Ernest became one of the first Ugandan children to be legally adopted in the United States. It took an additional three years for Ernest to become an American citizen.

As an ex-football coach, Bob made sure to introduce his new son to the game he loved. The Hausmanns are huge Husker fans and began taking Ernest to home games when he was 8. When Ernest was in the fourth grade, he started playing organized team football.

Despite the engrained love for the hometown Huskers, when Ernest started getting attention as a recruit, he wanted to give each team that offered him a fair shot. He and his parents were meticulous throughout his recruiting process. They created a spreadsheet with various questions that they wanted potential schools to answer, and would update it with what they were told. With the COVID-19 recruiting dead period in effect, Hausmann and his family were doing four or five Zoom calls each week with college coaches last spring.

Nebraska made Hausmann feel like a priority. Ruud was his primary recruiter, but  Chinander, head coach Scott Frost and other staff members like Sean Dillon were also involved in his recruitment. Hausmann would have a Zoom call or a phone conversation with one of them at least once a week.

Hausmann had planned on taking visits in May to see other colleges when the NCAA's recruiting dead period ended, and then make a summer decision. Unfortunately, in mid-February, the dead period was extended to May 31, and at the time, there was no certainty about what the recruiting world would look like beyond that. So Ernest decided to move his timeline up. He had a Zoom call with Nebraska's coaching staff on Friday, March 5, and told them he planned on committing over the weekend, which he did publicly on Sunday, March 7.

As the first commit in the class, and lifelong Husker fan, Hausmann took it upon himself to peer recruit and be a fixture at nearly every recruiting event and Husker home game last fall.

Hausmann was a two-way standout at Columbus. He'd started at wide receiver since his sophomore season and played a few different spots on defense. He was a cornerback as a sophomore, but moved to outside linebacker for his junior season after adding over 15 pounds of muscle. The move to linebacker is what opened college coaches' eyes. As a junior, he totaled 69 tackles (six for loss), an interception, three pass deflections and two forced fumbles in 10 games. He also led the Discoverers with 34 catches for 447 yards and five touchdowns. He was named Super-State second-team by the Lincoln Journal Star.

With his nose for the ball, Columbus coaches decided to move him to inside linebacker as a senior, the same spot the Huskers plan to put him. During Hausmann's official visit June 18-20, he spent a lot of time with Ruud going over film. Ruud gave him several tips on what he could work on and where he could get better.

Hausmann made a smooth transition to the middle this past season. He finished with 77 tackles (eight for loss), two sacks, two fumble recoveries and four pass breakups. On offense, he caught 37 passes for 600 yards and eight touchdowns, while rushing six times for 108 yards and a touchdown. He helped lead the Discoverers to a state playoff appearance and was named Super-State first-team by the Lincoln Journal Star and was an Omaha World-Herald All-Nebraska first-team selection as well. Hausmann is rated a four-star recruit and ranked the No. 292 player in the country by On3 Sports.

Put on Hausmann's tape and you immediately notice his length and how comfortable he is in space. He's a high-upside defender with sideline-to-sideline speed. The thing that's impressive is he can also get downhill and be physical at the point of attack. He's an explosive athlete for the position and should settle somewhere in the 220-pound range at Nebraska. Husker coaches like him on the inside, but he has the frame and skill set to play the weakside outside linebacker spot that Caleb Tannor currently occupies. Hausmann graduated early and is already on campus. He'll participate in spring practices.

In an attempt to help mitigate the lack of an evaluation period, the NCAA made a rule adjustment that allowed coaches to put visiting recruits through an hourlong private workout. Last June, Husker coaches put dozens of kids through combine style testing and position drills. Lincoln Southeast standout Jake Appleget was the first guy the staff brought in for a workout after the June 1 recruiting period reopened things. Ruud had been talking to Appleget on a regular basis since the fall of 2020. The pair would talk on the phone weekly, with Frost and Chinander also speaking to Appleget a couple times during that period.

Appleget got onto the radar of Nebraska and other area schools after his performance at the Warren Academy Showcase in the summer of 2020. He looked good in position drills and then tested well, reportedly running a 4.70-flat in the 40-yard dash, posting a 39-inch vertical and running a 4.1 shuttle.

Jake Appleget

He followed that up with a standout junior season on the field. In nine games, he recorded 67 tackles and two fumble recoveries on defense, and caught 17 balls for 280 yards and five touchdowns as a receiver on offense. His efforts earned him first-team Super State honors from the Lincoln Journal Star and selection to the Omaha World-Herald All-Nebraska second-team. His play soon earned him offers from Northern Illinois, Illinois State, Penn, South Dakota, South Dakota State and Yale. But bigger schools wanted to see him in person. The Husker's liked his film and had it not been for the pandemic shutting down in-person contact, Frost would have certainly had Appleget on campus a couple of times during 2020.

They finally got their chance on June 1. Appleget arrived on campus around 9 a.m. and was welcomed by Sean Dillon and Barrett Ruud. The Huskers took his height and weight and then went right into testing. Five Husker coaches watched Appleget run the 40-yard dash (ran a 4.60-flat), perform the vertical jump (jumped 36") and pro agility run - three components of Nebraska’s strength index. After he completed those, he worked some drills at inside and outside linebacker, as well as at tight end. The staff was impressed by his workout and liked his potential as an outside linebacker. After completing his workout, Appleget was taken on a tour of the football facilities, and then he and his father had a meeting with Frost, Chinander and Ruud. After talking for about 30 minutes, Frost offered Appleget a scholarship.

The following day, Appleget was in Minneapolis doing essentially the same thing for Gopher coaches, resulting in a Minnesota offer. Not long after, he starting hearing regularly from Iowa State and Kansas State.

Nebraska had Appleget back on campus for an official visit June 18-20, which also included a Big Red BBQ. During his talk with Husker coaches at his June 1 workout, coaches told him the offer was as an "athlete" because they were open to him playing outside linebacker or tight end. During his official visit, however, Frost got more specific and told Appleget they preferred him on defense. Jake spent time on his visit watching film with Mike Dawson, being shown how he would be used in the defense. His player host was Garrett Snodgrass and the two spent a lot of time with Randolph Kpai and Ernest Hausmann, who Kpai was hosting on an official visit.

At the end of his visit, Appleget had a meeting with Frost, Chinander and Dawson. He told them he wanted to end his recruiting process and commit, which he did June 20.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Appleget was a three-year starter for Southeast. He amassed 197 career tackles and nine interceptions, as well as over 900 yards and 13 touchdowns offensively. As a senior he was an Omaha World-Herald All-Nebraska second-team selection and second-team Super State selection by the Lincoln Journal Star.

Appleget is a good athlete as his testing numbers suggest. He has a nose for the ball and his time playing receiver really helped him develop ball skills that most defensive players at his position don't have. He'll spend his first season redshirting and getting bigger and stronger.

Nebraska seemed to cover all three linebacker spots in this class. They grabbed an inside prospect in Hausmann, and outside guy in Appleget, and someone they could possibly groom to play Domann's Swiss Army Knife position. That would be Omaha's Gage Stenger out of Millard South High School.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Stenger is coming to Nebraska as an athlete. He is capable of playing safety or linebacker and will even get a look at quarterback when he initially arrives in June. I like him as a hybrid linebacker - or possibly growing into an inside 'backer, so I'll include him here for the purpose of my writeup.

Stenger might not be the highest-rated player in the state of Nebraska, but he's often been the best player on the field in every game he's played this season. When Millard South went up against schools featuring the most sought-after players in the state, it was Stenger who was regarded as the standout. Stenger outshined four-stars Devon Jackson (Omaha Burke), Kaden Helms and Micah Riley-Ducker (Bellevue West) during 35-13 and 42-28 wins, respectively. He also separated himself in a 33-7 win over Elkhorn South, which is the home of top 2023 recruit Maverick Noonan. Patriots head coach Andy Means, who coached Millard South for 36 years, has called Stenger the best player he's coached.

Stenger is a two-way standout, playing quarterback and defensive back. As a senior, he threw for 1,385 yards and 19 touchdowns with no interceptions. He also rushed for 581 yards and 11 touchdowns. He led the Patriots to an undefeated 9-0 season and the No. 1 seed in the state playoffs. Unfortunately, his team was upset by Omaha North 49-42 in the first round after having defeated the Vikings 43-21 in the regular season. Stenger set a Class A state record in the game by throwing six touchdown passes.

For his efforts, Stenger was named to the Super-State first-team by the Lincoln Journal Star as an athlete. He was also Omaha World-Herald All-Nebraska first-team as a defensive back and was named honorary team captain.

Gage Stenger / Gage Stenger via Hudl

The Husker staff was a bit late to the party with Stenger, who had received a scholarship offer from Kansas State on June 21, 2021, and ended up committing to the Wildcats less than a week later. To their credit, coaches kept him on their radar and circled back after a strong start to his senior season. They offered Stenger a scholarship on Oct. 1, the day after he led Millard South to a 36-0 win over Pius X. The staff invited Stenger to attend their Homecoming game against Northwestern the following day, but Stenger had already made plans to attend Kansas State's home game against Oklahoma, which he did.

Stenger ended up visiting Lincoln the following week on Oct. 7. Gage called Nebraska his "dream school" and ended up flipping his commitment to the Cornhuskers on Oct. 13.

Stenger is a physical kid, whether it's running the ball as a quarterback on offense or sticking his nose into a ball carrier on defense. He also has good playing speed. If he indeed transitions to linebacker, like I project, he'll need to get accustomed to being in the box. That'll be new to him. He'll need to learn how to handle taking on blocks and being in the wash more. He certainly has the skill set to do it, though.

Husker coaches have told him he'll get a crack at quarterback this summer, but I don't think anyone expects that to be his position moving forward. The staff spent the majority of his recruitment telling him they envisioned him playing a safety-linebacker hybrid position - the nickelback role JoJo Domann has made famous. I think he'll really take to that spot. His experience at quarterback should help him grasp the responsibilities of the position, and he certainly has the frame and athleticism to thrive there. Once he gets into the program and is afforded the chance to sit back and develop and learn that spot over the next few seasons, he should be a nice piece of the defense down the line.

Related

• HuskerMax 2022 recruiting page
• HuskerMax recruiting forum

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