The head football coach at the US Air Force [Images] Academy apologized on Wednesday for saying the school needs to recruit more black athletes because they run faster than other players.

"I realize the things that I said might have been hurtful to many people and I want everyone to understand that I never intended to offend anyone," Fisher DeBerry told a news conference from the academy's Colorado Springs, Colorado headquarters.

DeBerry has been under fire for comments he made about his team's lack of speed after its 48-10 loss to Texas Christian University on Saturday.

"It was very obvious to me the other day that the other team had a lot more African-American players than we did and they ran a lot faster than we did," DeBerry said at a news conference on Tuesday that aired on Denver television stations.

"Their defense had 11 Afro-American kids on their team and they were a very, very good defensive football team. It just seems to me that Afro-American kids can run very, very well."

DeBerry was accompanied at Wednesday's news conference by Athletic Director Hans Mueh, who said DeBerry received a verbal reprimand from superintendent Lt. Gen. John Regni for the "inappropriate comments," but will face no further disciplinary action.

The incident was the second time in less than a year that DeBerry has stirred controversy. In November, academy officials forced him to remove a locker room banner that said, "I am a member of Team Jesus Christ" at a time when the academy was being accused of religious intolerance toward non-Christians.

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