SEC Media Days: Horns Down Can Be Penalized in SEC

Horns Down / Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

DALLAS — Horns down? Hold up.

Oklahoma players will be assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty if game officials determine it was used for taunting.

But that will continue to be a judgment call in the Sooners’ new conference, much like it was in the Big 12.

That’s what Southeastern Conference coordinator of officials John McDaid said Tuesday at SEC Media Days.

John McDaid, SEC’s coordinator of officials, on penalizing for Horns down signal: “Unsportsmanlike conduct needs to fit 1 of 3 categories: Is it taunting an opponent? Is it making a travesty of the game? Is it otherwise compromising our ability to manage the game? There’s a…

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 16, 2024

“Unsportsmanlike conduct needs to fit one of three categories,” McDaid said. “Is it taunting an opponent? Is it making a travesty of the game? Is it otherwise compromising our ability to manage the game? There’s a difference between a player giving a signal directly in face of an opponent, as opposed to doing it with teammates celebrating after a TD or on the sideline. 

McDaid made an interesting analogy about the Horns Down, saying “if you take the act out of a football stadium or put it in a shopping mall or in a grocery store, is it something that would offend the senses of the majority of reasonable people?” He doesn’t think it’s offensive.

— Kirk Bohls (@kbohls) July 16, 2024

“To net all that out, every single occurrence is not an act of unsportsmanlike conduct.” 

SEC coordinator of officials John McDaid explaining the horns down penalty in 2024. pic.twitter.com/qUIUZsl6co

— Daniel Homrok (@danielhomrok) July 16, 2024

McDaid clarified that would be the same result if Florida players do the “Gator chomp” in the face of an opponent, or if Ole Miss players execute the “land shark” gesture in a taunting fashion.

Published 9 Hours Ago|Modified 11:28 AM EDT

JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers.

During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more.

In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide.

John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools.

Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national “Beat Writer of the Year” from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma’s “Best Sports Column” from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two “Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting” Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association.

John holds a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK.

Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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