Hackenberg, Franklin address questions regarding futures at Penn State

After a set of regular-season games spent honoring Christian Hackenberg’s preseason request that he not be asked about his future in the NFL, he was asked. Sort of.

The question posed toward the quarterback following Saturday’s 55-16 loss to Michigan State was more of the “what’s next for you” variety, but Hackenberg knew what it meant.

“Just getting better each day,” he said. “Just taking practice as seriously as ever, you know, coming out, executing and making sure that the bowl game is a great experience for all of us, and that we’re prepared as we can to come out and execute and do what we need to do to get the job done there.”

“And then go back and just work on getting better. We have some time where we can focus on ourselves, almost like a mini spring ball, so just work on that, do some evaluation, and be ready to come out for the bowl game.”

He was asked to clarify — does he plan to sit down with head coach James Franklin to discuss his future?

“I mean, again, I’m not really thinking about my future too much,” he said. “I’m just focusing right now on getting better and what we need to do, working through everything this whole season and being able to put it together for one more game.”

But if he decides to declare early for the NFL Draft, he will need to submit his name within the next few weeks. The deadline for filing of underclassmen early declaration papers is Jan. 15.

Hackenberg, a junior who was projected prior to the season to be a first-round pick in this year’s NFL Draft, insisted he hasn’t thought about it.

“To be completely honest with you, I haven’t even looked into any of that,” he said. “I don’t even know where to go, how the process works.”

For Franklin, questions about personnel will remain as well. The staff that came with him from Vanderbilt, especially offensive coordinator John Donovan, offensive line coach Herb Hand and special teams coach Charles Huff, are under public scrutiny.

“We're evaluating every single day,” said Franklin. “The evaluation will happen between now and the bowl and after the bowl when the season is over.

“The season is not over, but we will have some conversations with a number of guys and come up with a plan that makes sense for them and makes sense for Penn State and we look forward to doing that here in the next couple of weeks.”

This story was originally published November 28, 2015 at 9:37 PM with the headline "Hackenberg, Franklin address questions regarding futures at Penn State."