Penn State quarterback recruit Christian Hackenberg has roots in the Tamaqua area

Penn State quarterback recruit's roots, and influences, set in the Coal Region

Penn State recruit Christian Hackenberg, the nation's top QB prospect, has a work ethic worthy of his Coal Region heritageFebruary 05, 2013By Mark Wogenrich, Of The Morning Call

Christian Hackenberg bugged and begged the quarterbacks at Marian Catholic High to let him throw the football at practice. They did, and he loved it.

His mother Nicole, a Marian hall of fame athlete herself, has a photo of young Christian kneeling in front father Erick, then a volunteer assistant, watching the Marian football team work out. Had his family not moved to Virginia when he was in third grade, Hackenberg no doubt would have played quarterback for the Colts.

"I would have loved to play there," Christian Hackenberg said recently. "That's where my roots are. I respect the people there a lot."

The player ESPN calls the nation's top ranked quarterback prospect will sign his National Letter of Intent today to play for Penn State, assuring a sort of homecoming next fall. He'll do so at a ceremony at his school, Forks Union (Va.) Military Academy, that his father said won't be "anything crazy," because that isn't the family's style.

It's a style rooted in the Coal Region, where people have a "hard working, hard nosed, get it done attitude," Nicole Hackenberg said. It's also an ethos Christian said he will take to Penn State, along with a pretty favorable genetic line born from Tamaqua, Coaldale and the places built from coal mining.

Christian Hackenberg committed to Penn State almost a year ago, giving coach Bill O'Brien the centerpiece quarterback of his future offense. He's 6 4 with an athletic frame, hardy work ethic and plenty of quarterback polish. Tom Cass... Marsh L Jersey Luginbill, ESPN's national scouting director, called Hackenberg and Penn State's offense "the perfect marriage of skill set and offensive identity."

"Christian is a kid you build your program around," said ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer. "Your program is better Day 1 when he steps on campus."

Hackenberg began his road to Penn State at Marian Catholic, where his parents were standout athletes. Erick played quarterback at Marian, throwing for more than 2,900 yards in his career, earning a spot in the Big 33 game and receiving a scholarship offer from Virginia. He later played quarterback at Susquehanna University, throwing for 3,000 yards in two seasons.

Nicole (Miller) Hackenberg, meanwhile, played volleyball at Marian Catholic and Lehigh University, where she was named team captain and MVP. After college, Nicole returned to Marian to start and coach the girls volleyball team, which ultimately won a state title in 2003, after the Hackenbergs had moved to Virginia. Both Erick and Nicole were inducted into Marian's Hall of Fame in 2010.

Christian's athletic genes go far deeper, though. One grandfather, Richard Miller, captained the undefeated Coaldale High football team in 1962 and Lehigh University's 1967 team.

Miller, who played tight end and split end, once held Lehigh records for receptions in a game, season and career. His other grandfather, the late Barry Hackenberg, coached football for more than 30 years at schools such as Jim Thorpe, North Schuylkill and Daniel Boone.

Several uncles have played college football, including Justen Hackenberg, Marian Catholic's director of student services, who played at Army. Justi... Britt M Jersey Nicole's family also has deep ties to the Coaldale Big Green, one of the country's earliest professional football teams.

As a result, Christian Hackenberg grew up around football, and sports in general. While Nicole coached volleyball at Marian Catholic, Erick was a volunteer assistant for the football team. He coached quarterbacks, to whom Christian paid close attention.

"If he wasn't with me, he was with his mom at volleyball practice," Erick Hackenberg said, "Christian was raised in locker rooms, in gyms and on the sidelines. It's a natural Cass... Marsh 4XL Jersey part of how he was wired."

The Hackenbergs (Christian is the oldest of four boys) moved to Virginia when Christian was in third grade. At Fork Union, his mother said, Christian found an insistence on work ethic similar to what he knew growing up in Tamaqua.

"There's something about the people of the Coal Region that makes them value hard work," Nicole Hackenberg said. "Things aren't expected. What we've always said as parents is, 'Nothing is given to you. You have to earn it.' That's what Christian did."

Christian Hackenberg Justi... Britt Seahawks Jersey received scholarship offers from many of the nation's top programs, including Alabama, Florida and Stanford. But last February, after meeting O'Brien and visiting the campus, Hackenberg became the first recruit to commit to the class of 2013.

"The [NCAA] sanctions didn't affect me," he said. "I had to step back and think about it, of course, because having the chance to play for bowl games and championships taken away is tough. At the end of the day, though, it's a perfect opportunity for me to go in and still win."