Jeff Lebby makes notable social media change amid Art Briles controversy

The presence of Art Briles on the field following Oklahoma‘s win versus SMU Saturday turned some heads, as the former Baylor head coach was fired from the program in 2016 amid a sexual assault scandal involving the football team.

Briles is the father-in-law of Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, and family members of coaches being on the field following games is normal. But afterward, Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione said that Briles’ presence on the field “shouldn’t have happened,” and Sooners’ head coach Brent Venables said he was unaware of the situation and that it was “being dealt with.”

Lebby quietly made a response to the Briles situation, as it was revealed by Oklahoma beat writer Eli Lederman on Sunday that Lebby changed his Instagram profile picture to one of himself, Briles, and his children.

As first noted by @OUDaily, this is Sooners’ OC Jeff Lebby’s new profile picture on Instagram: pic.twitter.com/y7m1MGIg0q

— Eli Lederman (@ByEliLederman) September 10, 2023

Along with Castiglione and Venables, Lebby himself also commented on the situation regarding himself and Briles.

“He’s my father-in-law. That’s the grandfather to my two kids. He was down there with my entire family well after the game,” Lebby said.

Along with being the son-in-law of Briles, Lebby was also a part of Baylor’s staff under Briles for the entirety of his tenure with the Bears from 2008 to 2016. And following the termination of Briles, Lebby publicly defended him and even played a role in the making and selling of #CAB (Coach Art Briles) shirts in support of Briles.

Following Briles’ firing, he was hired by the Canadian Football Leauge’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats as assistant head coach for offense, which was faced with criticism and pressure that resulted in the organization later announcing Briles would not join the team.

He coached football professional football in Italy on two separate occasions and at the high school level for Mount Vernon High School in Texas, but has not returned to the collegiate level. He was hired as the Grambling State offensive coordinator in 2022 but resigned shortly after following another dose of public backlash.

Castiglione implied that Briles’ involvement with Oklahoma football had been previously discussed, and it will be interesting to see if the program further addresses the instance publicly following Saturday.

“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.”