SEC will not penalize usage of ‘Horns Down’ gesture

• Dave Wilson, ESPN Personnel WriterJul 16, 2024, 06:26 PM ET Close Dave Wilson is a college football press reporter. He previously operated at The Dallas Morning News, San Diego Union-Tribune and Las Vegas Sun.DALLAS– Texas shows up

for its very first appearance at SEC media days Wednesday, however an old Longhorns storyline preceded them a day prior.SEC planner of authorities John McDaid was asked if”Horns Down,”the teasing gesture used by Texas foes, would be a penalty as it frequently remained in the Huge 12, where it fell under the meaning of unsportsmanlike conduct.In the SEC’s case, it doesn’t pass the mall test.” The act itself requires to be offending to the senses, “McDaid said.”If you took that act out of a football arena and did it in a shopping mall or a grocery store, would it upset the senses to a bulk of the sensible people in the area? That signal would not. You might have some people that share that signal with you, if you did that at a supermarket or a shopping mall, depending where you are. We’re going to examine it in context.”The Longhorns have not formally pressed back on any of the”Horns Down”discussion in the last few years. In January, Texas basketball coach Rodney Terry said sorry after getting heated and calling UCF players”classless”when they ridiculed Texas players with the sign after the game. But football coach Steve Sarkisian has actually leaned into the enmity, stating his group’s mantra last year was”welcome the hate.”Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte has actually said he considers the gesture a compliment to be on the minds of opponents.Editor’s Picks

1 Related And with all brand-new opponents– including revived rivalries with Texas A&M and Arkansas– they’re most likely to see it a lot more. McDaid said he hasn’t heard anything from Texas about it, and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said Monday that any concerns about Texas’ past influence over conference boardrooms is a nonissue.

” [Texas and Oklahoma] are now part of a conference with peer athletic programs and peer universities, so they’ll fit, and we’ll fit together, the 16,” Sankey said.On Tuesday, Oklahoma security Billy Bowman Jr. said he wasn’t sure what the huge deal was about the problem.

“It should not be a penalty anyway,” Bowman stated. “Everyone has a hand signal. If you let a hand signal affect you and affect the game, perhaps you shouldn’t be there.”

So it appears the problem is settled in the SEC.

“It’s not teasing, it’s not making a travesty of the game, it’s not impacting our capability to handle the game,” McDaid said.