SEC Official Explains How League Will Handle ‘Horns Down’ Penalties

The SEC outlined its plan to handle disciplinary action for teams and players using the “Horns down” gesture when Texas joins the conference in 2024.

The sign is used to tweak the Longhorns and their fans, who have used the “Hook ’em Horns” gesture since the 1950s. John McDaid, the SEC’s coordinator of officials, wrote in a statement Tuesday that a potential unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for “Horns down” would need to fall within at least one of three areas.

“Is [the 'Horns down' gesture] taunting an opponent? Is it making a travesty of the game? Is it otherwise compromising our ability to manage the game?” McDaid said, per Action Network’s Brett McMurphy.

• Get your seats to Texas Longhorns games at SI Tickets

From there, the decisions made by the officials will determine the extent of the punishment. Instead of officials’ categorizing each offense with the same penalty, they will look at each situation on a case-by-case basis.

“There’s a difference between a player giving a signal directly in face of an opponent, as opposed to doing it w/teammates celebrating after a touchdown or on the sideline,” McDaid said, per McMurphy. “To net all that out, every single occurrence is not an act of unsportsmanlike conduct.”

The gesture has generated widespread discussion and reaction in recent years. Notably, Alabama football coach Nick Saban was angry when some of his players gave the “Horns down” gesture following a tightly contested win against Texas early in the ’22 season.

Texas and Oklahoma officially will join the SEC on July 1, 2024.