If you haven't heard Baylor assistant coach Jeff Lebby was on the Tulsa sideline during Saturday's game in Norman. In case you are wondering this is a rule violation.
Jake Trotter tweeted out the specific violation from the NCAA rulebook.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">If there was an assistant coach from another Big 12 school on Tulsa’s sidelines, it would violate NCAA bylaw 11.6.1: <a href="http://t.co/DinsP86AgO">pic.twitter.com/DinsP86AgO</a></p>— Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jake_Trotter/status/646013761363447808">September 21, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Here is Art Briles' statement on the issue.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Art Briles' full statement today on assistant Jeff Lebby standing on sideline for Tulsa-OU game <a href="http://t.co/NEyxNqs1aQ">pic.twitter.com/NEyxNqs1aQ</a></p>— Max Olson (@max_olson) <a href="https://twitter.com/max_olson/status/646025080309309440">September 21, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Here is Tulsa coach Phillip Montgomery's statement on the issue.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Philip Montgomery on Baylor assistant Jeff Lebby being on the Tulsa sideline against OU: <a href="http://t.co/FJZKctiFor">pic.twitter.com/FJZKctiFor</a></p>— Kelly Hines (@KellyHinesTW) <a href="https://twitter.com/KellyHinesTW/status/646074580482703360">September 21, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Why this is Kinda a Big Deal
It's nearly impossible to play the ignorance card in this situation. Art Briles said that he "hates it for the perception standpoint." It's almost as if he saying that perception is all that matters. In this situation a rule was broken and it almost seemed like Briles was essentially saying, "The rules aren't as important as the perception of a football program." This is my major problem with what happened. A mistake was clearly made and Briles response basically amounted to this.:
1- It's no big deal
2- It gave us no advantage
3- It made us look bad
I'm not ready to say that Briles has no regard for the rules or the NCAA, but this is the kinda of apology that is more along the lines of:
"I'm sorry you are upset"
"I'm sorry you are offended
Would it really have been an issue for Briles to say something along these lines?
"As the head coach of Baylor the buck ultimately stops with me. I should have made sure this didn't take place on my watch, but I failed. I apologize to Bob Stoops, the Sooner coaches, and football team. We must make sure that things like this aren't a part of the way we do things in the future."
As far as a schematic advantage, I'm not sure how much more of advantage Baylor needs. Remember last year's game. I am already having nightmares about going to Waco later this season.