The talk of Penn State over the past month has been about James Franklin. From finding a new head coach to talking about what he did well and poorly on the football field, everything has truly come to light. 

Former players have stuck up for him, while it sounds like one former Penn State quarterback doesn't believe what others have been saying about him.

That's Christian Hackenberg, the former Penn State quarterback who played for Bill O'Brien and Franklin. Hackenberg came into Penn State during a very weird situation, amid many sanctions that the program had to deal with.

Speaking about Franklin recently, Hackenberg admitted he thought he was consistent, but some of his deficiencies as a coach really started to show, due to his hirings and the way he recruited.

“He was consistent, and I’ll give him that,” Hackenberg said, per Yahoo. “There was a lot of positives to his tenure at Penn State in terms of development around the program, building facilities, lobbying for money and getting an injection into the program.”

“That’s a CEO type of role to me, and that’s what he’s really, really good at,” he said. “When you look at his hires, with the exception of probably Joe Moorhead, from a coordinator standpoint and the actual X’s and O’s on the field, and the execution of the talent accumulation he did through recruiting and the transfer portal, it just hasn’t matched up...

“You can have all the toys and trinkets and fireworks around a program,” Hackenberg added. “But it comes down to production on the field and success, and that’s ultimately what you’re going to be judged by.”

Each and every year, Penn State had an above-average recruiting class. On average, Penn State typically fell around the 15th-ranked recruiting class under Franklin, which is decent, but perhaps not good enough. 

There are a few factors in that, especially with NIL in the mix, as well as Pennsylvania not exactly being a hotbed for college football. 

I wouldn't blame all of the recruiting on Franklin, but he could’ve done a better job, and certainly could’ve used some of his big-time talents a bit better.

Nonetheless, it'll be interesting to see and hear what others have to say about him in the future. It seems like he was well-liked, but others didn't always agree with his moves.