The Ohio State Buckeyes have been dealing with a shocking amount of attrition on their coaching staff since winning the national championship. Columbus, Ohio, was left blindsided when defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, one of the most vital members of the team’s championship run, left the school to assume the same position at Penn State.
As if that weren’t enough, defensive quality control coach Joe Lyberger was put on administrative leave in December due to an ongoing investigation by the university office that handles complaints of harassment, discrimination, and sexual misconduct, per The Columbus Dispatch.
Head Coach Ryan Day is still on thin ice with much of the fan base. The Buckeyes have lost to their bitter rival, the Michigan Wolverines, for four consecutive years, something that seemed unimaginable when Urban Meyer was the head coach in Columbus.
Beating Michigan is so important to the Buckeye faithful, that Day’s wife revealed that their family received threats from fans following this year’s loss.
“The time between the Michigan game and the Tennessee game was as low and dark as you could possibly imagine,” Nina Day told the Columbus Dispatch.
“Extremely negative. Unprecedented hate. They told me multiple times to have Ryan follow in his father’s footsteps and kill himself.”
A big reason for the Buckeyes’ failures against Michigan has been Michigan’s ability to have its defensive line impose its will on the Buckeyes’ offensive line in recent years, with the unit being arguably the sole reason a below-average Wolverines team was able to win this season.
With those failures fresh on the minds of the Columbus faithful, the Buckeyes’ offensive line coach is resigning from his role with the team and off to greener pastures, or at least drier ones.
“BREAKING: Ohio State OL coach Justin Frye is expected to take the Arizona Cardinals OL job,” reported On3 early on Saturday.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Buckeyes fill their coaching staff in.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.