Following Saturday’s incident on the sideline between Texas Tech head
coach Tommy Tuberville and graduate assistant Kevin Oliver, the video of it hit
the internet and went viral before the game was even over.
The incident drew many different reactions across multiple media platforms
and overshadowed the game itself in the end.
In Monday’s weekly press conference Tuberville stepped up to the podium
and in his opening statement addressed the incident and formally apologized.
“Obviously, before we get started on Kansas and Oklahoma State, let's
have a little discussion here about last weekend. After watching the film when I got home,
it was obvious what a lot of people were upset about. It upset me too. You don't do things like that, and it
was obvious I reached up, grabbed his headset and pulled on it.
Heat of the battle, some things happen, and sometimes you'd like to take
back. I can't remember anything
like that happening to me. But that
was a tough game. We're fighting
hard. I've apologized to Kevin. We talked. Of course, we talked 30 seconds after
that for the rest of the game, because I talk to him more on the head set than I do anybody else because he helps me chart
special teams.
But it's unfortunate that that happened. I've got kids of my own. I've got a hundred kids on the sidelines
and coaches, and I've got to hold myself to a higher regard than that, and I
usually do.
But I will say this: Some
have reported that I slapped or hit.
You're dead wrong. I did not
do that. I'm a little bit
disappointed that most of you in here know me. I think you know me a lot better than
that. I can understand somebody in
L.A. or California doing it and making some kind of statement like that by
watching the film, but I never thought about it in 35 years. Never dreamed of
hitting anybody and never have. So
we'll just leave it at that. That's
also disappointing to me that that would be written here in this town, but
we'll get on with it. We'll get to
this week.”
The Red
Raiders hit the road this week as they travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma to take
on the Cowboys in a Top 25 showdown at 2:30 p.m.