With Texas heading to the SEC in 2024, the SEC’s coordinator of officials, John McDaid, said that the "Horns Down" gesture will not be an automatic penalty when the Longhorns join the conference.
Per McDaid, the gesture, used as a taunt by opposing fans and players, will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
"Unsportsmanlike conduct needs to fit one of three categories: Is it taunting an opponent? Is it making a travesty of the game? Is it otherwise compromising our ability to manage the game? There’s a difference between a player giving a signal directly in (the) face of an opponent, as opposed to doing it with teammates celebrating after a touchdown or on the sideline," McDaid told Action Network at SEC Media Days.
"To net all that out, every single 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" signals.
The "Horns Down" gesture has been a topic of controversy over the last several years as the Big 12 has often called unsportsmanlike penalties on opposing players who flashed the sign during games.
Big 12 director of officiating Greg Burks addressed the gesture at last year’s Big 12 Media Days, saying it would be a judgment call by officials.
"Let me be very clear with 'Horns Down,'" Burks said in July 2022, according to ESPN. "I have no ownership on this symbol. This symbol is the same as all other signals. It's when you do it, who you do it to and which manner 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 was running to midfield to shake hands with Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, cameras caught the seven-time national champion yelling toward his players.
Saban was telling a player to stop flashing the "Horns Down" sign following the victory.
"I told our players, ‘We’re not doing this,’" Saban said on his weekly radio appearance while displaying the "Horns Down" gesture. "Don’t do it. It’s not classy. We don’t need to degrade the other team’s traditions. Just go play."
"It’s the same way in all the things that you do," Saban continued. "You make choices and decisions, whether it’s in school, as a person, as a player. And every time 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 before they do it, they just do it anyway. So, don’t do that stuff. We need to have that as a motto. And maybe that will help the discipline."
Texas and Alabama are set to face off in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in Week 2 of the 2023 college football season.
