Colorado Buffaloes

Colorado coach apologizes for pushing assistant during Ducks loss

Published Oct. 6, 2015 5:23 p.m. ET

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Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre said he was sorry for getting into a sideline altercation with an assistant coach during a 41-24 loss to Oregon over the weekend.

Safeties coach Joe Tumpkin drew a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty for saying something to the officials in the second half Saturday night.

MacIntyre angrily pushed his assistant away from the field. He then placed one hand on Tumpkin to shove him farther back, followed by two hands to force him toward the bench. MacIntyre also wagged a finger at his assistant.

"That's not who I am. That's not in my character," MacIntyre said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. "Sorry for the way it was handled. Joe and I are fine. There are no issues there, whatsoever. That's something that won't happen again."

The Pac-12 isn't looking into the incident.

MacIntyre said defensive back Ryan Moeller was slammed to the ground after the play early in the third quarter and he asked one of the officials if a penalty would be called.

"He goes, `Coach, you better get your coaches off the field or I'm going to throw a (flag),'" said MacIntyre, whose team travels to Arizona State on Saturday. "So I turned, saw some of our coaches on the field. I got Joe and pushed him off. Then I turned around and saw the flag.

"I turned around and said, `Joe, you just got us a 15-yard penalty.' I was intense at the moment. We're in the heat of a battle. I will not handle it that way again."

Later, the official approached MacIntyre and warned him again about his coaches being on the field.

"I've got to do a better job with our coaches of controlling themselves and me controlling myself," MacIntyre said.

MacIntyre was reprimanded and fined by the league last season for conduct toward the officials. MacIntyre was yelling at the officials as he chased them off the field following a loss to Oregon State.

Tumpkin said there are no hard feelings over the incident Saturday.

"I was in the wrong. He was right. It is over. It's done," Tumpkin said. "Coach Mac was in a sense trying to protect me. In the heat of the game. In the heat of the battle, you are looking at it as an emotion."

The 44-year-old Tumpkin is in his first season at Colorado. Before his arrival in Boulder, he was the defensive coordinator for five years at Central Michigan.