Oklahoma Offensive Coordinator Jeff Lebby Apologizes for Art Briles' Postgame Presence
NORMAN — Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby apologized Monday for bringing Art Briles — his father-in-law and the central figure in the Baylor sexual assault scandal — and said it won’t happen again.
“His presence on the field after the game the other night is something that created a distraction, and I do apologize for that,” Lebby said. “That was not the intent at all. Intent was just to celebrate with my family.
“Do want to correct some reports that claimed he had a sideline pass. There was not a sideline pass given out. He was actually on the field only when other families were down there and were present.”
Lebby read a prepared statement and declined to answer any questions about the incident during his weekly news conference. Instead, he answered questions about the SMU game and this week’s game at Tulsa.
Lebby said athletic director Joe Castiglione and head coach Brent Venables “both have addressed concerns with me, have talked to me about it, and again, can make sure that everybody understands that this is something that will not come up again."
Lebby, 39, came to Oklahoma as a 4-star offensive line prospect from Andrews, TX, but never played for the Sooners as he suffered a debilitating back injury.
Instead, he immediately turned to coaching, joining Bob Stoops’ staff as a student assistant and then joining the high school ranks in Texas in 2007.
In 2008 he joined Briles’ staff at Baylor in 2008, when he took over an offensive quality control role for three years. He coached Baylor running backs from 2012-14, was elevated to run game coordinator in 2015-16.
In 2017, after Baylor purged the last of Briles’ coaching staff, Lebby resurfaced as offensive coordinator at Southeastern University in Florida, then joined Josh Heupel’s UCF staff as quarterback coach in 2018 and was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2019.
Lebby coached at Ole Miss as Lane Kiffin’s offensive coordinator in 2020-21 before returning to his alma mater in 2022 under Venables.
In his final years in Waco, Lebby was named by a former female Baylor student, Dolores Lozano, who claimed she reported to Lebby allegations of assault by Bears running back Devin Chafin. Chafin disputed the allegations and was later dismissed from the team.
Following Lebby and Venables’ postgame press conference Saturday night after taking down SMU 28-11, Castiglione was asked to comment following a social media firestorm.
“I was just as disappointed as many of our fans when I learned of the postgame situation tonight,” Castiglione said. “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.”
After Castiglione’s admonishment — issued in a statement after 11 p.m. Saturday night — Lebby changed his Instagram profile (and added a post) showing himself and his children posing with Briles before the game.
- Sign up for your premium membership to AllSooners.com today, and get access to the entire Fan Nation premium network!
- Follow AllSooners on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest OU news!
- Want even more Sooners news? Check out the SI.com OU team page here!
- Listen and subscribe to the AllSooners Podcast!
- Watch more Sooners videos and subscribe on YouTube!
