Shortly after the San Francisco 49ers used their fifth round selection on South Florida defensive end Aaron Lynch, USF strength coach Hans Straub sent the following tweet: "@CoachStraubUSF: Thought an organization with 5 Super Bowl titles would have a stricter draft criteria. Clearly, integrity & character are not a priority."
His account has since gone private.
On Tuesday, Bulls247 reported that Straub has been suspended "indefinitely" from the program. We have reached out to the staff and will update with what we hear.
Lynch, who spent one season at South Florida after beginning his college career at Notre Dame, slipped from a projected first to fifth round pick after compiling 30 tackles, 12.5 TFL and six sacks on the season.
Straub is in his second year at South Florida. Bulls head coach Willie Taggart has a well-documented long and close relationship with the Harbaugh family, which proved to be instrumental in Lynch landing with the 49ers. Taggart gave a "strong endorsement of Lynch as a pro prospect and a person," according to the Chicago Tribune.
A First Team All-American for the Fighting Irish in 2011, Lynch said of his draft prospects, “I am a first-round talent, (but) I've made some mistakes in my past and I figured that's what hurt me a little bit.”
“I think you need to dig into him a little bit more,” San Francisco general manager Trent Baalke said of Lynch. “This isn't a young man that has a rap sheet that you're dealing with. He's not a young man that's been in a lot of trouble. He's made some mistakes. He's got to do some things differently. He understands that and we as an organization understand that.
"We have a structure here, a system here, that we feel we can help him. But ultimately it comes down to the individual, as we all know. With Aaron it will be a process, but a process that we're comfortable he will be able to endure and flourish in."
Update> Willie Taggart has confirmed the suspension.
Update: Straub has resigned.