The Ohio State football program is celebrating a national championship. They did everything they needed to do in order to get hot for four games. It was one of the greatest runs in college football history. In the middle of their run, they tried to keep distractions to a minimum.
Despite the great run, they did have a few distractions. They had to dismiss Caden Davis due to some social media issues. That happened prior to the Cotton Bowl against Texas. Unfortunately, they had another distraction that they had to deal with during the run.
Assistant coach Joe Lyberger was put on leave in the middle of the Buckeyes' CFP run. Lyberger is a quality control coach who worked with the linebackers. He was placed on leave on December 27th and has been on paid leave ever since. There aren't many details as to why he's being investigated.
Ohio State football staffer placed on paid leave after being investigated
While no details were immediately provided by the school, there are some rumors it has something to do with something with HR. That's as far as I'm comfortable sharing at the moment. However, Lyberger will certainly be fired if there is any wrongdoing that is found.
As far as Ohio State distractions go, this one is fairly low on the list since there aren't many details coming out. The Buckeyes are more concerned with replacing their defensive coordinator. There's a chance that they could lose both their offensive coordinator and their offensive line coach as well.
Until there is something more that comes out, there's not much more the Buckeyes can do. According to Lyberger's lawyer, he's not even sure what Ohio State is accusing him of doing. That seems not great when you're put on leave for something and taken off the team during a run to a national title.
Investigations like this don't tend to go quickly. The Buckeyes will likely find a new DC before this investigation is finished and we learn what all of the details are. For now, fans should worry about recruiting and replacing Jim Knowles.