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Penn State Football: Christian Hackenberg right and wrong to blame James Franklin

By Patrick Schmidt

Oct 31, 2015; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Christian Hackenberg (14) warms up prior to the game against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 31, 2015; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Christian Hackenberg (14) warms up prior to the game against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports /
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Former Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Christian Hackenberg is blaming his struggles the last two years on his head coach James Franklin.

Christian Hackenberg was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year three years ago when he threw 20 touchdowns under the watch of then-head coach Bill O’Brien but the next two years saw the former top recruit toss a total of 28 touchdowns.

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It was clear that the loss of O’Brien to the NFL hurt Hackenberg who struggled mightily in Happy Valley as the offensive line couldn’t protect him and apparently, according to Hackenberg, neither could his coaching staff.

Hackenberg attributes his struggles to head coach,James Franklin, according to MMQB’s Robert Klemko and that’s not going to endear him to NFL teams to see him not take responsibility for his diminished play.

Sure, Hackenberg is completely right, because Franklin fired offensive coordinator John Donovan in an admission that he wasn’t getting the job done tailoring his system to the talent he has on the roster. Hackenberg just shouldn’t have said that.

“Despite the fact that it’s probably true, you don’t want to hear a kid say that,” one NFL evaluator told Klemko.

When you’re the quarterback you can’t deflect blame like this because you’re the leader of the team and in the NFL, you’re the face of the franchise, often with a large percentage of the salary cap devoted to paying for your services.

Standing behind a podium after a tough loss and blaming the head coach, offensive coordinator, offensive line, receivers or the defense for why things didn’t go the way you wanted is the quickest way to the bench, if not, the unemployment line.

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Hackenberg projects as a mid-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft after once looking like a future first round pick after his freshman season, but he’s saying all the wrong things during the pre-draft process as well as having two years of poor play on his tape.

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