Christian Hackenberg reportedly blaming James Franklin for struggles during interviews

Former Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg is reportedly throwing coach James Franklin under the bus over his regression, and NFL teams don’t think much of that.

Hackenberg was brought to Penn State by Bill O’Brien and had a great freshman year under the current Texans coach. But Hackenberg has struggled under Franklin since O’Brien left for the NFL, throwing 28 touchdowns and 21 interceptions over his sophomore and junior seasons.

According to Robert Klemko of SI’s Monday Morning Quarterback, when asked why he’s struggled, Hackenberg laid the blame at Franklin’s feet.

NFL evaluators aren’t pleased.

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

There are diplomatic ways of putting this. Saying “I struggled to adapt to Coach Franklin’s offense” isn’t a great look for Hackenberg, but teams don’t want to hear players throwing coaching staffs under the bus, even if they may well have a point.

Of course, Hackenberg has done certain other things that make his feelings for Franklin quite clear. Not a great look.