A Texas college football coach whose players stole campus newspapers from their racks after a negative story about the program has apologized for applauding the move.

Texas A&M-Commcerce coach Guy Morriss initially said that the mass theft was "the best team-building exercise we've ever done."

Just another example of the jocks pushing around the nerds. Classic plot line.

On Monday, however, Morriss changed his tune and called his comments a "lapse in judgment."

The messiness kicked off when the paper ran a front-page article about two football players' drug arrests.

The school's athletic director said the football program will pay for the reprint of the edition and that it would be distributed by players and coaches.