Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian took time out of his Monday press conference to apologize for not singing the school’s fight song along with his team following Saturday’s loss to Oklahoma State.

Tradition dictates that Longhorns players and coaches gather to sing “The Eyes of Texas” in front of the crowd at the end of every game, win or lose. Sarkisian — the former Alabama offensive coordinator — left the field without doing so Saturday, when Texas lost 41-34 after leading much of the game.

“As you know, I owe an apology to Longhorn Nation,” Sarkisian said, via ESPN. “I made a mistake at the end of the game in not singing ‘The Eyes of Texas’ when the game was done. That was not anything intentional. That was not anything that had to do with our players. I think our players just followed me up the ramp into the locker room, obviously upset by the way the game ended.”

The song, which is sung to the tune of “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” has a controversial history, as it has its origins as a minstrel tune sung by performers in blackface. Former Texas coach Tom Herman made singing the song voluntary for players, which led to widespread criticism from powerful Longhorns boosters.

Sarkisian pledged upon his hiring prior to the 2021 season that his team would be required to sing “The Eyes of Texas” after each game. However, after the Oklahoma State loss, only a handful of players did so.

“I apologize to everybody for that,” Sarkisian said. “That’ll never happen again. But again, it was not intentional. It was not premeditated by any means. That was just a mistake on my part. Nothing to do with the players. They had followed my lead on that. So that won’t happen again.”

Texas is now 5-3 overall and 4-2 in the Big 12 after Saturday’s loss, and fell out of the top 25 rankings. The Longhorns are at No. 22 Kansas State on Saturday.