Athletic director Ross Bjork apologizes for Ole Miss’ decision to play Tommy Tuberville video

Published 3:51 pm Sunday, November 19, 2017

Ole Miss athletic director Ross Bjork has issued an apology for a video of former football coach Tommy Tuberville that was played on the jumbotron at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium during the Rebels’ game against Texas A&M on Saturday.

A video of Tuberville leading the “Are You Ready?” chant from his days as the Rebels’ coach from 1995-98 was shown during halftime of Ole Miss’ 31-24 loss. Considering the way Tuberville left his job at Ole Miss for Auburn — Tuberville made the infamous statement that he’d have to be carried out of Oxford in a pine box in response to rumors about the Auburn job — the clip struck a nerve with Ole Miss fans, many of which took to social media to question the decision. A smattering of boos rang out among fans in attendance when the video was played.

On Sunday, Bjork posted an apology on his Twitter account.

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“As the Vice Chancellor of Athletics, I am responsible for everything that happens in our program,” Bjork posted. “I take the good with the bad & I also take the extreme ownership of any decision. I apologize that we played the Tuberville video. We were trying to provide levity but it was too polarizing.”

Tuberville returned to Oxford for the game as an analyst for ESPN.