Alabama’s Nick Saban on ‘horns down’ gesture: ‘It’s not classy’

Alabama head coach Nick Saban was not pleased with one of his players following a narrow 20-19 victory over Texas in Week 2. 

As Saban ran onto the field to shake hands with Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, cameras caught the Alabama head coach yelling toward his players. 

“Don’t do that s—,” Saban could be heard shouting as he ran toward midfield. 

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It turned out that Saban was telling a player to stop flashing the “horns down” sign, something opposing teams often throw up when playing Texas. 

On Thursday, Saban explained why he chastised the player when he saw what he was doing. 

“I told our players, ‘we’re not doing this,’” Saban said on his weekly radio appearance while displaying the “horns down” gesture. “Don’t do it. It’s not classy. We don’t need to degrade the other team’s traditions. Just go play.” 

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“It’s the same way in all the things that you do,” Saban continued. “You make choices and decisions, whether it’s in school, as a person, as a player. And every time you think you’re not doing the right thing, and most people who don’t do the right thing know it’s not the right thing before they do it, they just do it anyway. So, don’t do that stuff. We need to have that as a motto. And maybe that will help the discipline.”

The ‘horns down’ gesture could result in a penalty during a game depending on how it is used, a fact that Saban addressed in the week leading up to the game against Texas, according to The Tuscaloosa News.  

“I have not addressed it with the team, but I appreciate you letting me know that,” Saban told a reporter when asked if he had spoken with his team regarding the gesture. “We’ve got a lot of other things we really need to worry about, but I think that’s a good thing for me to go over with the team, so I appreciate that.”

Alabama, ranked No. 2, plays UL Monroe on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. ET.