Rodney Terry addresses viral comments regarding UCF 'Horns Down' incident

Texas coach Rodney Terry has come under fire recently for his reaction to UCF players doing a ‘Horns Down sign in the postgame handshake line following a 77-71 Longhorns loss on Wednesday. Video captured Terry telling the players “that’s classless” and he doubled down on his stance in his press conference.

Coaches around the Big 12 such as Houston’s Kelvin Sampson weighed in, saying Texas should actually view the ‘Horns Down as an “indirect compliment” to how good the athletic department is. Terry and the Longhorns bounced back Saturday with a 75-73 win against Baylor.

Speaking following the victory, Terry addressed how he’s taken the criticism over the past few days.

“There’s always gonna be different things you have to deal with in life,” the coach said. “I think you have controllables in your life in terms of what you’re able to control in terms of what happens. I always tell our guys there’s always consequences to any actions that you may have. I had no intentions of trying to show up anyone or offend anyone in terms of what occurred at the end of that game.

“(UCF coach) Johnny Dawkins is a good friend of mine. He’s a really good coach. He has a good program. They’re having a good year. Personally, if I offended him or his program or anyone for that matter, that was not my intention. I’m a God-fearing man. I lean heavily on my faith and there are no obstacles in front of me that I can’t ever overcome because God never leaves me no matter in good times, bad times. He’s always with me. So I think again, you control what you can control.”

It seems the coach is ready to put the incident behind him and turn things around after a rough start to conference play. Texas began Big 12 play just 1-3, and the victory against the No. 9 Bears on Saturday can hopefully give it some positive momentum.

Tyrese Hunter led the Longhorns with 21 points, including hitting the game-winning basket with one seconds to go. Texas next faces rival Oklahoma at 6 p.m. CT on Tuesday in Norman.

“I’m proud of our guys and what our guys did today,” Terry said. “We’ll keep it for one night and it’s on to another great program, great coach and a team that’s having a great year to this point right now that we have a lot of respect for.”

Rodney Terry’s initial comments on ‘Horns Down’ incident

After the loss to UCF on Wednesday, Terry gave a passionate answer about the situation and why he didn’t appreciate the gesture.

“I’m a big believer in you win the right way, you lose the right way,” Terry said. “I always tell my guys whether you win or lose, you win the right way, you lose the right way, you carry yourself the right way. You don’t go to the handshake line or prior to getting to the handshake line and have about six or seven guys putting the horns down. We don’t do that. Because when you do those kinds of things, it looks very classless and it also looks like you were just hoping to win. We never go into games trying to hope to win. We go into games expecting to win. So we don’t act like that. We expect to win.

“We don’t jump up and down like like we won a national championship — we sure don’t step on anyone’s home court deal and act crazy and try to show them up in any way, we don’t do that. So that’s what I was angry about. And I was letting those guys know you don’t do that. You guys won. Hey, we shake your hand, tip our hat to you. But we’re not gonna let you act that way in our building. You’re not gonna do that. You’re not gonna put your horns down and do all that nonsense.”

UCF coach Johnny Dawkins also addressed the situation, saying he would discuss the situation internally. He also acknowledged his relationship with Rodney Terry and Texas assistant Frank Haith, who used to coach at Tulsa.

“That’s not the type of program we run, so if I see that, I will be addressing that personally from my standpoint,” Dawkins said. “I know Coach Terry. He’s a great man, I have a lot of respect for his program. Coach Heath, he and I go way back, coaching against each other in the American. 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 from my end from my staff, I will do that.”