UConn coach Dan Hurley was viewed almost as a God among men entering the 2024-25 season after he led the Huskies to back-to-back championships and then drew interest from the Los Angeles Lakers. His coaching star had shot to new heights. But last season’s struggles in Storrs, starting with an 0-3 trip to Hawaii in the Maui Invitational in November and then culminating with a second-round NCAA Tournament loss, prompted a moment of reflection for him in the offseason.
Hurley, in an interview with CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, acknowledged Monday on Inside College Basketball that the grind of a grueling season and the challenges last year specifically presented moved him to consider stepping away from his post entirely. Hurley, 52, ultimately chose to remain in his role at UConn, but he candidly admitted the accumulation of pressures and frustrations over recent years caught up with him — pushing him to consider transitioning to TV before dialing back in.
It’s also the second consecutive offseason Hurley, who briefly flirted with leaving UConn for the Lakers last offseason, at least contemplated the idea of parachuting out of his current situation.
“I don’t know how serious I was about [stepping away] in the end,” Hurley said. “I went and saw the Lakers (last offseason) because I thought it was something I thought I needed to consider. Same with the TV thing (this offseason). I had a couple of conversations while I was recovering from the season. But in the end, it took two days to snap out of it and to get locked in on trying to put together a group of people who can have a legitimate chance to go [win another title].”
Being a college coach in this era means juggling the transfer portal, NIL, NBA draft decisions, waivers for potential fifth-year players and recruiting, among other things. It’s a lot. Hurley said all that caught up with him last year, and the frustrations of it played out publicly with sideline fits of rage and anger, and a good-not-elite UConn team exacerbated his ability to cope.
“From an ego standpoint, you go into the season last year and you’ve got the magic dust,” he said. “No matter how you feel about the team in the summer when you see the flaws, in your mind when you take the court, the magic is going to happen. The championship fatigue, the Lakers thing, the total disappointment and ego explosion, coaching mad, coaching frustrated.”
He also said he was keenly aware of being viewed as “Combustible Dan” because of his sideline antics, and that the criticism of him — on television and elsewhere — was impossible for him to completely tune out.
Here are some other highlights of the conversation.
Coaching future
Despite a brief flirtation in 2024 with the Los Angeles Lakers for their head coaching vacancy, Hurley said he finds it unlikely he will coach anywhere but in college — and anywhere but at UConn.
“It’s hard to predict the future,” Hurley said. “But I’m pretty convinced I’ll be a college coach until the end. In terms of where I’m most effective — the age range, the amount of control you have over your fate as a college coach — I still think you have greater control, and I think I get a chance to live my purpose. You can change lives.”
As for how long he’ll keep at it, he can’t quite put a timeline on it.
“When I can’t do it 11.5 months out of the year full tilt, foot on gas … when I can’t drive an organization at a championship level,” he said about when he may eventually call it quits. “I don’t want to pace myself. I feel like UConn, the fans, the players, they don’t deserve a coach who is pacing himself to get to 72 years old. I’d rather go at a max and maybe I get to 62, but I did it all out, and I took it as far as I could take it, then I give it to another guy who can give it that type of energy.”
Looking in the mirror
Hurley not only reflected on himself as a coach and person but also as a team-builder. He said in looking back at how he constructed last year’s team, he over-valued some aspects of how he built the team while under-valuing other aspects. As a leader, he said he learned from some of those mistakes and feels better about how he put together this year’s team.
“There were roster construction things that needed to be addressed from decisions that I had made,” Hurley said. “There were issues with how I was putting together the personalities and the skill sets.
“In my mind, it was enough to be culture, toughness, will, and athleticism to get us to a national championship. No. You need guys who can process the game, guys who can shoot the ball, guys who can pass and handle. Good offensive players. It’s hard to win a six-game single-elimination tournament unless you go on scoring runs. Looking at those things, look-in-the-mirror things, led to some corrections that needed to be made.”
This year’s team
Watch Hurley for a second in the interview with Rothstein, and his eyes light up as he talks about the possibility of what this year’s team can do. Perhaps that is every college coach in the preseason as they dream about the unknown. But he seems thrilled about the group he’s put together and the dynamism on both ends of the floor he pieced together.
“Fun team,” he said. “I think I love all aspects of the team potentially. We’ve got a chance to get championship-level play at point guard. All types of firepower on the wing. This is a deep and talented roster. I think the defense will be fixed by the peer pressure that if you don’t guard, your ass is going to be on the bench.”
It seems there will be an added emphasis on that last point.
“I promise you our defense won’t suck [like last year] again this year,” Hurley added.
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