Longhorns Coach Rodney Terry Apologizes to UCF for 'Horns Down' Confrontation

Texas Longhorns coach Rodney Terry has been criticized for his reaction to UCF players flashing the "Horns Down" hand sign on Wednesday.

AUSTIN -- After a thrilling 75-73 buzzer-beating win over No. 9 Baylor on Saturday, Texas Longhorns coach Rodney Terry took a second to step back and reflect on his postgame reaction three days earlier.

The Longhorns blew a 15-point second-half lead in Wednesday's 77-71 loss to UCF, which unsurprisingly led to Knights players flashing the classic "Horns Down" hand sign at the student section as the final buzzer went off. Video caught Terry telling the players "don't do that (bleep)" in the handshake line.

"That's classless!" Terry could be heard yelling repeatedly.

© Mikala Compton, Austin American-Statesman

While there were some Longhorns fans that backed Terry for confronting the UCF players, many Texas fans, haters and neutral onlookers alike bashed him for the emotional reaction after a tough loss.

Terry apologized to UCF and coach Johnny Dawkins after beating Baylor.

"We have a lot of passion for who we are and what we are representing. We try to do that in a class manner, at the highest level," Terry said. "If I offended some of our fans as well in not handling myself in the right way ... I apologize to our fan base as well, and understand what it means to be the head coach at the University of Texas and what our brand stands for."

"He has a good program and they're having a good year. Personally, if I offended him or his program, or anyone for that matter, that was not my intention."

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Terry appeared visibly emotional after Saturday's win over Baylor, likely feeling the weight of the past few days and back-to-back losses come off his shoulders a bit.

He and the Longhorns will look to ride the momentum of a top-10 win when they visit the Oklahoma Sooners on Tuesday.