Texas coach Steve Sarkisian apologized at the start of his news conference Monday after walking off the field before singing the school song “The Eyes of Texas” following the Longhorns’ 41-34 loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday.
“As you know, I owe the Longhorn Nation an apology,” Sarkisian said.“At the end of the game, I made the mistake of not singing “The Eyes of Texas” at the end of the game. It was not intentional. It had nothing to do with our players.
I think our players followed me up the ramp to the locker room, clearly upset with the way the game ended. My apologies to everyone for this.
This will never happen again. But again, that wasn’t the intention. At least it wasn’t premeditated. It was simply a mistake on my part.
Nothing to do with the players. They had followed my example. So this won’t happen again.
»The school song “The Eyes of Texas” came into the national spotlight amid Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.
The song’s origins are tied to minstrel shows, where performers most likely wore blackface.
After Saturday’s loss, Texas is now 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the Big 12. The Longhorns will play a bye next Saturday before facing Kansas State on Nov. 5 in Manhattan.
