SEC official makes 'Horns Down' penalty decision as college football season nears

SEC coordinator of officials John McDaid made it official this week.

The "Horns Down" taunt will not result in an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for teams in the conference. The celebration is directed at Texas Longhorns players across all sports, but mostly in football. 

The taunt was a penalty while the school was in the Big 12 Conference but McDaid changed course.

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A Texas Longhorns helmet sits on the sidelines during the Big 12 Championship game between the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma State Cowboys on December 2, 2023, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. (Chris Leduc/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

"The act itself needs to be offending to the senses," he said, via the Austin American-Statesman. "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. 

"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."

In 2021, Big 12 Conference officials determined that the mocking move to taunt Texas players would bring a penalty.

Dante Stills, #55 of the West Virginia Mountaineers, celebrates with the Horns Down signal after the game against the Texas Longhorns at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on November 3, 2018, in Austin, Texas.  (Tim Warner/Getty Images)

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"If you do a Horns Down to a Texas player as an opponent, that's probably going to be a foul," the Big 12’s coordinator of officials Greg Burks said at the time, via SI.com. ". . . Please all of you note, I said 'probably.’ We have to consider intent and consider the situation. We'll leave it to officials."

Not only is Texas joining the SEC, but Oklahoma is coming with them. "Horns Down" will almost certainly be used when the two teams matchup on October 12.

The Longhorns start the season at home on Aug. 31 against Colorado State. The team then has a marquee matchup against Michigan on September 7.

Ian Marshall, #97 of the Oklahoma State Cowboys, celebrates with the horns down sign after defeating the Texas Longhorns at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on October 16, 2021, in Austin, Texas. (Tim Warner/Getty Images)

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Texas’ first SEC matchup will be against Mississippi State on September 28.

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