Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/503016
S P R I N G P R A C T I C E t times last season, Christian Hack- enberg couldn't completely block out the noise. The Nittany Lions lost three in a row by a touchdown or less, part of a four-game losing streak that followed four consecutive season-opening wins, and the quarterback acknowledges that there were frustrations. Not just for him, but for everybody at Penn State, including new head coach James Franklin and his coaching staff. What he has learned not to acknowledge, however, is that any lasting tension de- veloped between him, Franklin and the offensive coaches. Even if he's heard the speculation about it. When his relationship with Franklin, John Donovan and Ricky Rahne came un- der question at times last season – a trans- fer had once even been rumored – Hack- enberg said he took it personally. "It did bother me a little bit," Hackenberg said on a conference call with reporters last month. "But you can't be a prima donna about that. The minute I sat down and talked with those guys, I knew what they wanted to do. I knew that they're football coaches. It's their livelihood. It's what they do. So for me, I'm going to buy in and ride the storm out the best I can because they're guys who have the same goal as me. They want to win the game. They want to win as many games as they can. They want to put Penn State in the best situation to be successful as they can. "The people who sort of viewed me as a guy who isn't going to buy into that, it hurt my pride." Even if the competitive fuel overflowed at times, Hackenberg said he and his coaches have maintained "a great rela- tionship" throughout the year. But at first, he couldn't help but listen to some of the public assumptions made about a possible rift forming between him and his coaches. Eventually, though, he learned to not give it much attention. | A ON THE RUN With McSorley out, Hacken- berg played more than ex- pected in the spring game. Photo by Steve Manuel