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Texas brings a rich history of customs to the SEC. Their new conference foes will also likely maintain the time-honored tradition of trolling the Longhorns.
For years, opponents have turned the school’s “horns up” symbol into an inverted “horns down” gesture. Returning SEC members can learn how to taunt Texas with the hand signal from the conference’s other new arrival, Oklahoma.
On Monday, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey officially welcomed Oklahoma to the conference. During the ceremony, he deflected an inquiry about any potential discipline for teams deploying “horns down.”
“I won’t be answering questions about football penalties on July 1st,” Sankey said, via SoonerScoop’s George Stoia.
John McDaid, the SEC’s coordinator of officials, addressed this issue last year. McDaid explained that an act must taunt an opponent, impact officials’ ability to call the game, or make a “travesty” of the game to constitute unsportsmanlike conduct.
The horns down gesture wouldn’t necessarily qualify for a 15-yard penalty unless done with malice toward a Texas player.
“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 said, via Action Network’s Brett McMurphy. “To net all that out, every single occurrence is not an act of unsportsmanlike conduct.”
Although they never instituted a specific rule, the Big 12 took a similar approach and only considered calling taunting if an opponent directed horns down right at a Longhorns player.
Related: SEC Reveals If ‘Horns Down’ Taunt Will Be Automatic Penalty