Ohio State quality control coach on administrative leave amid university investigation

COLUMBUS — Ohio State defensive quality control coach Joe Lyberger has been on paid administrative leave for the last month while the university investigates him.

Ohio State’s human resources department sent Lyberger a letter on Dec. 27 that noted he would be placed on leave immediately. The investigation is being conducted by the university’s Office of Institutional Equity.

The letter was obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press through a public records request. The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch first reported Lyberger’s situation and noted that the Office of Institutional Equity deals with complaints of harassment, discrimination and sexual misconduct among other things.

The letter didn’t specify the nature of the investigation.

“He’s going through proverbial hell and back,” said Sam Shamansky, an attorney representing Lyberger. “The university sets up a system whereby the lawyers are effectively neutered and reduced to advisers with absolutely no ability to assist in the hearing in a meaningful way. It’s an absolute travesty of justice.”

Shamansky said the university hasn’t given him any indication of how long the investigation could take.

“The university chooses to keep people in the dark and maintain a system of we’ll call it pseudo-justice that puts the accused individual under an incredible disadvantage,” he said. “That is done by design because the university is regrettably interested only in itself as an institution, and not in protecting basic rights of the accused, whether they be a student, coach, employee, an athlete. They couldn’t care less.”

Lyberger has been part of Ohio State’s football staff for the last four seasons. He previously had worked two seasons as a defensive assistant at Bucknell, and he was a graduate assistant at Ohio Dominican before that.

He played at Slippery Rock before graduating in 2016.