Linebacker Jaiden Ausberry Is An Elite Young Man On And Off The Field

According to University Lab head coach Andy Martin, star linebacker and top Notre Dame target Jaiden Ausberry is as special off the field as he is on it

From the moment that four-star linebacker Jaiden Ausberry stepped on the field at the high school level, University Lab head coach Andy Martin knew the Baton Rouge native had the intangibles to be a special player.

“He diagnoses plays and sees things before a lot of people do and I think that’s a big part of the instincts he has,” Martin explained.

That tenacious nose for the football, closing speed and athleticism he displays led Ausberry to starting from game three and on of his freshman season. Ausberry finished that season with 95 total tackles. Fast forward a few years later and Ausberry enters the summer of 2022 as one of the top linebacker in the country, with offers from top programs across the country.

You don't get offers from programs like Notre Dame, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, LSU, Florida, Texas, USC and Miami without being a gifted football player. But as gifted as Ausberry is athletically, Martin couldn’t stop praising the aptitude for commanding his teammates respect on the field and in the locker room.

“Outside he probably looks like a quiet kid, once you get to know him he really starts to open up a little bit more," Martin affirmed. "But he’s a kid that’s big for us in terms of his leadership, both in the way that he leads by example, and also by his play on the field.”

Beyond the football field, Ausberry isn’t just your do-it-all type of defensive player; he’s a willing listener and a great student inside of the classroom as well, a specific focus of players Notre Dame tends to recruit.

“He’s one of our hardest workers," the University Lab head coach added. "He’s a good guy, he doesn’t get in trouble, he makes good grades, he does everything he’s supposed to do.”

Martin described the 6-1, 215-pound linebacker as more of a quiet young man, especially early in his career. As the years have gone by, though, Martin says his teammates are not only rallying around his athletic ability on the field, but his progression as a more vocal leader who holds his teammates accountable entering his senior season.

“Up to this year, he’s been the person that would lead by example, put his head down, getting it done and the guy’s seeing that," Martin noted. "This year he’s become more vocal and he sees that it’s his turn to lead, he’s a senior now … It’s his defense and he’s gotta be the guy taking responsibility for it.

“It’s not just about getting on a guy," Martin continued. "That’s what I tell him all the time, and he’s very good about that, it’s about coaching younger guys, it’s about teaching these younger guys on how to do it the right way, and that’s what he does, he’s going to pull a guy aside and say ‘This is how you do things.’”

The relationship Martin has built with Ausberry is one built on trust, and it extends both ways. Ausberry trusts his head coach, and Martin trusts the four-star second level defender to reiterate the vision of the football program.

“He’s coachable in many different things,” Martin declared. “Whether it’s school, whether it’s life, whether it’s on the field stuff, Jaiden’s going to listen to you, he’s going to take your advice, he’s always asking questions, he wants to be the best person and best player he can be, and that’s all we want our kids to be … off the field, you get the same stuff, you get what you see, he’s a really good kid off the field and he’s got a great personality and his teammates really like him.”

Martin even goes on to say that Ausberry’s teammates ‘attract to him’ which further drives home his point of how important he has been inside of the locker room, and on the field in the recent successes’ of the University Lab Football team.

Coming off a Division II state championship in Louisiana in December of 2021, Martin, Ausberry and rest of the University Lab squad will be looking for more. If they repeat as state champions, the talented Ausberry will be leading the way, plowing through offensive linemen and leaving his mark one last time before he suits up for whatever college he chooses.

Ausberry is ranked as the nation's No. 32 overall player and No. 4 linebacker according to ESPN. Both Rivals (No. 80) and 247Sports (No. 92) also rank him as a Top 100 recruit. Ausberry graded out as as Top 50 recruit on the Irish Breakdown board.

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