Texas Longhorns coach Rodney Terry sparked a controversy Wednesday night when he went on a rant about the “classless” use of the “Horns Down” hand gesture.
Several days later, critics are still calling him out for blowing the situation out of proportion.
For those who missed the initial controversy, after UCF rallied to defeat Texas in Austin, several Knights players flashed the “Horns Down” sign, an inversion of the Longhorns’ trademark hand signal. Terry addressed some of those players in the handshake line, yelling, “That’s classless!,” and “Don’t do that s***!”
But he was still upset during his postgame media conference, talking at length about the situation and calling it “very classless.”
Critics have been calling out Terry for days in response to that. And ESPN’s College GameDay joined the discussion Saturday. There, analyst Seth Greenberg didn’t hold anything back in criticizing Terry.
“I’m a Rodney Terry fan, having said that, you’ve just lost three out of four … so you are absolutely stressed out, and you’re a little more sensitive to anything that happens,” Greenberg said. “Coach your own team! Control your controllables! End of conversation.
“If I’m Rodney Terry, I’m more concerned about taking care of the basketball and defending the 3 than worrying about what UCF is doing.”
Greenberg’s conclusion: “You know what? Horns up, horns down, who cares!”
Fellow analyst Jay Williams used the situation to pose a question.
“First off, why do we still have handshaking lines,” Williams said. “Why do we still do that? It’s like the dumbest thing there is. This whole thing about sportsmanship to me, it doesn’t make sense.”
Analyst Andraya Carter said Terry’s actions during the handshake line were bad enough.
“I think the worst part is he doubled down in the press conference,” she said.
With Terry having earned almost universal condemnation from fans and analysts alike, it will be interesting to see how he reacts the next time he sees the upside-down horns. Because you know there is someone, somewhere, just waiting to test him.
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About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.