The University of Texas at Austin is officially set to join the Southeastern Conference in the upcoming season and many universities are likely already planning to hit the school with the well-known “Horns Down” gesture upon arrival.
Colleges and universities around the country have a history of mocking the hand gestures used by rival schools, though the “Horns Down” gesture has been one of the most well-known for years.
Despite actions taken by the Big 12 in previous years to dissuade athletes from making the gesture during games, SEC officials said potential penalties for making the gesture will vary on a case-by-case basis.
SEC coordinator of officials John McDaid was asked whether the conference would consider making the gesture an unsportsmanlike penalty during football games, to which he responded by saying that officials are “going to read the context in which it’s done.”
“I ask my officials to use the judgment of, is it taunting an opponent, is it making a travesty of the game, or is it otherwise affecting our ability to manage the game?” he explained, per The Athletic.
“If an opponent of Texas scores a touchdown and in celebration with their teammate going back up the sideline, gives the signal, that’s not an issue. … If he tackles a player and stands over him and gives it, then we’ve got taunting, then we’ve got unsportsmanlike conduct.”
McDaid further noted that “Horns Down” in and of itself is not “offending to the senses” and that factor plays a major role in whether the conference would ban the gesture.
“If you took that act out of a football stadium and did it in a shopping mall or a grocery store, would it offend the senses to a majority of the reasonable people in the area? That signal would not,” he said, per ESPN.
“You might have some people that share that signal with you, if you did that at a grocery store or a shopping mall, depending where you are. We’re going to evaluate it in context.”
The SEC’s decision to judge the “Horns Down” gestures on a case-by-case basis is similar to the policy used by the Big 12 in previous years, though the two are not one and the same.
Big 12 coordinator of officials Greg Burks made similar statements in 2021 and said context would be a major aspect of the decision, but also clearly said that doing it to an opponent would be penalized.
“If you do a Horns Down to a Texas player as an opponent, that’s probably going to be a foul,” he said, per FanNation.
The university has reportedly not pushed back on any of the comments made by McDaid regarding potential penalties, though some Longhorn officials have previously expressed frustration when opponents hit them with the “Horns Down.”
The most notable outburst in recent memory came in January, when Texas Basketball Head Coach Rodney Terry called players from the University of Central Florida “classless” for making the “Horns Down” gesture.
UCF came back from 16-points down to beat Texas tonight and celebrated by doing Horns Down.
Texas coach Rodney Terry called them “classless” for doing it.
Longhorns fell to 1-3 in conference play thanks to the loss. @UCFStool pic.twitter.com/nOtrF2PpGi
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) January 18, 2024
Although it remains to be seen whether penalties will be called during SEC games in any sport, opposing athletes and fans will likely test the limit to which they can make the gesture during the conference’s first season with the Longhorns.
