St Kilda coach Ross Lyon offered to consider his position after offending a group of the club's Indigenous players with a comment he made at training.
Lyon on Tuesday conceded he had "made an error" and been held to account by his players regarding remarks made during a session ahead of the Saints' AFL bye in early April.
On Monday night, the Seven Network reported after three Indigenous players linked up with the ball at training, Lyon said, "I love the brother boy connection but we all have to remember we are part of a bigger team here".
The report said club leader Bradley Hill and fellow Indigenous star Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera were among those who took exception to the comment, with Hill contacting Lyon the following day.
Lyon subsequently met with the group and resolved the situation, with the players satisfied their coach had said the wrong thing but not intended to be racist.
In a statement issued to Seven on Monday night, Lyon confirmed the story was correct, conceding he had "misjudged" the moment.
"Was I being flippant? Could it be described as casual racism?" Lyon said in the statement.
"It didn't land where it should have landed, and I have to wear that, and I take full responsibility for what I said.
"I was very emotional at the meeting, and I offered to consider my position."
In the wake of the initial story by journalist Caroline Wilson, Hill and Wanganeen-Milera both threw their support behind Lyon on social media on Monday night.
Hill posted a photograph of he and Wanganeen-Milera celebrating with Lyon to his Instagram story and captioned it: "Sorry Caro but we love Ross."
Wanganeen-Milera shared Hill's story and added: "Ross the goat."
Lyon spoke to media on his way into Saints headquarters on Tuesday and addressed the story in person.
"Culture's really important and behaviour's really important, and I made an error, unintentionally, resolved it with my players and I'm thankful for their support," Lyon told reporters.
"As a leader of the club, it's important that you get it right every time.
"We're all only as good as our next moment and it's good to be held to account and for everyone in the AFL industry, we need to stay vigilant."
St Kilda next play Carlton at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.