As long as its not taunting or disrupting the game, horns down vs. Texas won’t be flagged in SEC

DALLAS (AP) — Flashing a horns down hand signal while playing Texas won’t automatically draw a penalty in the Southeastern Conference.

SEC coordinator of officials John McDaid explained the league’s approach to officiating opposing players doing the derisive play on Texas’ beloved horns up at SEC Media Days on Tuesday.

“We’re going to read the context in which it’s done,” McDaid said. “I ask my officials to use the judgment of, is it taunting an opponent, is it making a travesty of the game, or is it otherwise affecting our ability to manage the game?”

McDaid said if players are flipping the upside-down horns up while celebrating with teammates heading to the sideline, it probably should not draw a foul.

“If he tackles a player and stands over him and gives it, then we’ve got taunting, then we’ve got unsportsmanlike conduct,” McDaid said.

The horns down sign and whether it should be flagged for unsportsmanlike conudct was a not-so-serious topic of conversation for years in the Big 12, especially as Texas struggled to stay near the top of the conference.

In reality, though, Big 12 officials were given similar instructions to what McDaid laid out when it came to players flashing the horns down. Those judgment calls can be tricky during a pressure-packed game, when the line between celebrating and taunting can get blurred.

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Hence, whether horns down was a penalty became offseason fodder.

With Texas and longtime rival Oklahoma joining the SEC this year, the horns down debate switched conferences, too.

Sooners coach Brent Venables said he has no opinion on whether horns down should be flagged.

“Football is a game of emotion and intensity and passion, and if they say that’s going to be a penalty, then don’t do it. And if they say it’s, you know, a free-for-all, then have at it,” Venables said. “So everybody is different. Everybody celebrates different. But whatever rules that they have in place, we’ll follow those.”

Advocating for Leach

Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz began his podium session at SEC Media Days by advocating for the late Mike Leach to be deemed eligible for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.

“We need to put his name on the ballot,” Drinkwitz said.

Leach was coaching Mississippi State when he died suddenly of a heart condition at 61 in December 2022. After stints at Texas Tech and Washington State, Leach had a career winning precentage of .596.

The hall of fame requires coaches to have .600 career winning percentages to even be eligible for consideration.

One of the architects of the Air Raid offense that helped transform offense in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Leach’s coaching tree and influence on football is expansive.

“He impacted our game more in the last 50 years than a lot of other people, not only with his legacy, but also with his football acumen,” Drinkwitz said.

Drinkwitz said he called Steve Hatchell, the president of the National Football Foundation, which runs the hall of fame, and asked him to bend the rules to allow Leach to be eligible for selection.

Just do it

Georgia coach Kirby Smart said he had his staff and team study Nike this offseason to understand how it went from a company that mostly catered to runners to one of the world’s most recognizable and lucrative brands.

“I really think it’s good to study successful people, whether in the sports industry or whether that’s in the business industry,” Smart said.

Georgia has an apparel deal with Nike and Smart said he has met the company’s founder, Phil Knight, and wife Penny. Knight is an Oregon graduate and robust supporter of the athletic program.

“Wish I could get some of that NIL money he’s sharing with (Oregon coach) Dan Lanning, but that’s other note,” Smart quipped.

Lanning is Smart’s former defensive coordinator.

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Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP

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