Oklahoma football: The Art Briles sighting Saturday has quite a few fans up in arms

The natural frivolity and excitement of a postgame on-field celebration following the Oklahoma football win over SMU on Saturday night became engulfed in controversy when former Baylor head coach Art Briles was sighted down on the field wearing a long-sleeve, officially licensed T-shirt with the OU logo.

Briles was seen down on the field talking with Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, who happens to be Briles’ son-in-law. Lebby’s wife. Staley, is Briles daughter. The situation caught head coach Brent Venables and athletic director Joe Castiglione completely by surprise and brought an immediate backlash from Sooner fans who were disturbed by the incident.

What’s really behind all the controversy? Briles was fired as head coach at Baylor in 2016 after an investigation determined that he and his staff were negligent of their duties and took no action against players named in sexual assault allegations. Briles was the head coach at Baylor from 2008 to 2015. He led the Bears, who were the doormats of the Big 12 before arrived on the scene and had suffered through 12 consecutive losing seasons, to four 10-win seasons and two conference championships (2013-14).

The sexual scandal involving Baylor football players during Briles’ time there has forever tainted the name and reputation of the once highly successful football coach. He is considered toxic in the world of high school and college football.

When Venables was asked about the situation during his postgame interview session with reporters, his response was:

"“I was made aware of it just before I came in here. It is being dealt with,” he said."

In a statement issued later Saturday night, Castiglione said:

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

The entire postgame situation at Owen Field on Saturday was handled very poorly and could have been avoided or at least handled more discreetly. No one should have been blindsided. If Venables had been informed beforehand that Briles was planning to attend the game as a family matter and in support of Lebby and his family, none of this probably would have happened.

Instead of dealing with the public relations implications up front — which, from what Venables and Castiglione have indicated, points the finger at Lebby more than anyone else — now the university and, particularly the OU athletic department, is faced with damage control to manage the fallout.

It almost sounds as if Lebby was following the philosophy that under the circumstances it was easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission.

Whether it would have been as big a deal if Briles would have attended the game but not gone down on the field afterward, I don’t know. Or possibly as a guest in a private suite. After all, there is nothing illegal about him attending the game. It is purely a public relations and image issue.

Briles is part of Lebby’s family, which of course puts the OU offensive coordinator and alum in a very difficult and awkward situation. What happened with his father-in-law has nothing to do with Lebby other than by association. All of this is unfortunate, but Briles has to be well aware that his reputation precedes him, and it wasn’t necessary for him to attend the OU game, let alone show up down on the field — yes, with all the other Sooner fans and their families — all decked out in Oklahoma gear.

"“That’s my father-in-law. He’s my father-in-law,” Lebby explained in a postgame press interview.“That’s the godfather to my two kids. So he was down with our entire family, after the game, well after the game. He was down there with the entire famly.”"

I have no way of knowing if Lebby knew about all of this in advance or if Briles’ attendance was planned independent of the Sooner assistant coach. I know the OU officials have long been aware of the family relationship between Lebby and Briles and discussions and policies have been discussed since Lebby’s hiring concerning public relations issues and implications surrounding Briles.

Lebby made it clear during his weekly press conference on Monday that his father-in-law was not issued a sideline pass. He was allowed to come on the field after the game the same as any other fan or family member.

Regardless, it should be quite clear now that Art Briles’ presence at Oklahoma home games, especially donning Oklahoma apparel, is not appreciated or welcome by many Sooner fans and is an unnecessary and unwanted distraction to the overall game environment.

However unfortunate and personal, that’s just the way it is.