Christian Hackenberg has an all-time story about the end of his time with head coach Bill O’Brien at Penn State.
The former Nittany Lions star says he was doing a keg stand at a New Year’s Eve party when O’Brien called to tell him he was taking a new head coaching job with the Houston Texans.
“It was awkward as hell the rest of the night,” Hackenberg said during his recent appearance on the Next Up with Adam Breneman podcast.
Take a look at his full story here:
Christian Hackenberg found out Head Coach Bill O’Brien was leaving Penn State while doing… A KEG STAND 🤣
Never change, Hack. pic.twitter.com/EkjoEOtIhZ
— Next Up with Adam Breneman (@NextUpWithAdam) March 24, 2023
O’Brien landed Hackenberg to Penn State as one of the top five-star recruits in the 2013 class. But, the head coach/QB combo only shared one season together as O’Brien left for Houston after Hackenberg’s freshman campaign.
Hackenberg was selected by the New York Jets with a second-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. For the next couple seasons he bounced around on different practice squads, but never took the field for any regular-season NFL action.
After a stint with the Alabama Crimson Tide, O’Brien is now back in the NFL as offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots.