With Texas heading to the SEC in 2024, the SEC Officer CoordinatorJohn McDaid said the «horns down» gesture will not be an automatic penalty when the Longhorns join the conference.
According to McDaid, the gesture, used as a taunt by fans and rival players, will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Ian Marshall of the Oklahoma State Cowboys celebrates with the «Horns Down» sign after defeating the Texas Longhorns at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas on October 16, 2021. (Tim Warner/Getty Images)
«Unsportsmanlike conduct must fit into one of three categories: Is it taunting an opponent? Is it parodying the game? Is it otherwise compromising our ability to play the game? There’s a difference between a player giving a signal directly in (the) face of an opponent, rather than with teammates celebrating after a touchdown or on the sideline,» McDaid told Action Network on SEC Media Days.
«To sum all of that up, every occurrence is not an act of unsportsmanlike conduct.»
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McDaid said the same rules will apply to other team-specific gestures, such as the «Gator Chomp» and «Land Shark» signs.
The «Horns Down» gesture has been a subject of controversy in recent years as the 12 grand it has often called unsportsmanlike penalties on opposing players who displayed the signal during games.
Big 12 director of officiating Greg Burks addressed the gesture last year The 12 great days of the mediasaying that it would be a judgment of the officials.
Dante Stills of the West Virginia Mountaineers celebrates with the «Horns Down» sign after the game against the Texas Longhorns at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas on November 3, 2018. (Tim Warner/Getty Images)
«Let me be very clear with ‘Horns Down,'» Burks said in July 2022, according to ESPN. «I have no ownership of this symbol. This symbol is the same as all other signs. It is when you do it, who you do it to, and how you do it.»
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Last season, Alabama head coach Nick Saban was visibly upset with one of his players following a win over Texas in Week 2.
As Saban ran to midfield to shake hands with the Texas head coach Steve SarkisianCameras caught the seven-time national champion yelling at his players.
Saban was telling a player to stop showing the «Horns Down» sign after victory.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban looks on before the game against Texas at Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas on September 10, 2022. (Greg Nelson/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
«I told our players, ‘We’re not going to do this,'» Saban said in his weekly radio appearance while flashing the «horns down» gesture. «Don’t do it. It’s not fancy. We don’t need to demean the other team’s traditions. Just go play.»
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«It’s the same in all the things you do,» Saban continued. «You make choices and decisions, whether it’s in school, as a person, as a player. And anytime you think you’re not doing the right thing, and most people who don’t do the right thing know it’s not the right thing to do.» before they do, they just do it anyway. So don’t do those things. We need to have that as a motto. And maybe that will help discipline.»
Texas and Alabama will meet in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in Week 2 of the college football season 2023.