Texas Longhorns 'embrace the hate' shirt somehow leads to outrage on social media

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Texas Longhorns head football coach Steve Sarkisian laid out the motto for the team heading into the 2023 season – "Embrace the hate."

He said earlier this month that it was his team’s mission to make their final season in the Big 12 Conference one to remember. He talked about how the team had a "John Wick mentality."

"I think that they've kind of assumed this mentality of, ‘Embrace the hate.’ We get it. We're the University of Texas, we get it. This is our last year in the Big 12," he said, via ESPN.

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Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian holds up the HookEm Horns sign after a Big 12 game against the Jayhawks on Nov. 19, 2022, at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. (Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

"We can sit there and be a punching bag, or we can go attack the people that we're going to play. And I think that they've assumed that responsibility to say, 'Hey, we're gonna go after everybody else too.' I think that that's the right mentality to have."

It wasn’t a novel concept.

Sarkisian said something similar ahead of the team’s game against Texas Tech last year.

"We’re the University of Texas. Nobody likes us. That’s OK. We embrace the hate. We’ll be ready to rock and roll Saturday at 2:30," he said, via On3 Sports last year.

But throwing "Embrace the hate" on a T-shirt appeared to be a bridge too far for some on social media.

Johntay Cook II of the Texas Longhorns reacts after a touchdown reception during the Texas Football Orange-White Spring Football Game at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on April 15, 2023, in Austin. (Tim Warner/Getty Images)

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