Oklahoma Sooners football coach Jeff Lebby issued a public apology after bringing disgraced Baylor coach Art Briles on the field after a September 9 home win over SMU.

Lebby, Oklahoma football's offensive coordinator, issued the statement about Briles, who is his father-in-law, on Monday in front of the media.

“One, [I] just want everyone to understand, my father-in-law, his presence on the field after the game is something that created a distraction and I apologize for that,” Lebby said. “That was not the intent at all. The intent was just to celebrate with my family. I do want to correct some reports that said that he had a sideline pass, he did not have a sideline pass given out. He was only on the field when other families were down there and were present. Joe Castiglione, Coach [Brent] Venables have both expressed concerns with me, talked to me about it to make sure that everyone understands that this is something that will not come up again.”

Oklahoma football Athletic Director Joe Castiglione commented about Briles being on the field with Jeff Lebby after the Sooners' win over SMU, via ESPN.

“I was just as disappointed as many of our fans when I learned of the postgame situation tonight,” he said in a statement. It shouldn't have happened and it was my expectation it never would, based on boundaries we previously set. I've addressed it with the appropriate staff.”

Art Briles was the head coach at Baylor from 2008 to 2015 and was terminated as the result of a sexual assault scandal at Baylor, where an independent investigation discovered that Briles had failed to address multiple allegations of sexual assault by his players during his tenure. Briles was recently hired as a head coach of the Dallas franchise in the IFA, a new professional spring football league that features three teams in the United States and three in Mexico.