Big 12 Coaches and Administrators Should Never Apologize for ‘Horns Down’
Another day of Big 12 sports means another day of “Horns Down” controversy.
On Saturday, it was Provo, Utah, where a handful of BYU fans dressed up in t-shirts that read “Horns Down”. The students were asked to remove their shirts, which they ultimately ended up doing.
After the game, head coach Mark Pope used the end of his press conference to address the situation, saying, “That’s just not us. That’s not how we roll. It’s just a miscalculation by a couple of eager kids, which we love the eagerness of these fans, but that’s just not what we do here… that’s not something we’re supporting.”
This comes two weeks after UCF players threw their “Horns Down” signs up towards their own fans after they upset Texas. After the game, Knights head coach Johnny Dawkins said, “That’s not the type of program we run, so if I see that I will be addressing that personally. I know Coach Terry, he’s a great man, I have a lot of respect for his program. … We’re all about having class as a program so I’ll go back and review what happened and if there’s any action that needs to be taken on my end I will do that.”
Now at least with Dawkins he’s talking about his own players, and at the time he wasn’t clear on if the “Horns Down” sign was directed at the Texas players or UCF fans. But regardless, this is getting ridiculous.
“Horns Down” is not offensive. It’s not racist, sexist, misogynistic, or offensive towards any one, in any way, and there’s no way to interpret it as such. And statements like these from Pope and Dawkins are completely unfair to their own players and fans. Just because Texas is soft (in fairness, this is more about the basketball team than the football team, as Steve Sarkisian has talked about “embracing the hate”), doesn’t mean everyone has to go around apologizing for it.
I have a five-year-old and a two-year-old, and occasionally the two-year-old likes to mess with the five-year-old. Classic younger sibling. And often times my oldest is just being soft. And she comes to me looking for a bailout. As a parent, you need to know when to actually reprimand the younger sibling, and when to tell the older sibling to toughen up.
Texas needs to toughen up. UCF players and BYU fans are just being the pesky younger siblings getting one over on the older sibling, and it’s all in good fun and sportsmanship. It what makes college sports great.
And with five more Big 12 road games left for Texas before the bolt for the SEC (TCU, Houston, Kansas, Texas Tech, Baylor), I hope their administrators, coaches and fans don’t act like the overeager parent looking to punish the younger sibling.
In the meantime, Horns Down. It’s going to be a fun next few weeks in the Big 12.
