Dan Hurley “Seriously” Considered Stepping Down From UConn Last Year | Page 5 | The Boneyard

Dan Hurley “Seriously” Considered Stepping Down From UConn Last Year

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Matt Norlander article. He seems to have a pretty good relationship with Hurley. They spoke for an hour in July and Hurley was in a much better place and ready to tackle the 2025-2026 season.

Excerpt from the book:

"I knew my mind, and I knew my body, and I could feel that I was completely cooked," Hurley writes. "Just burnt. I didn't even know how I was standing. I stared at the office walls, muttering, conducting a brutal review of our season. I didn't build a strong enough roster. I wasn't a good leader. I let everyone down in Maui. I lost control, emotionally, at various points. I came in here some days sad and defeated, when I needed to be positive and inspiring. Then I went through the self-lacerating what-ifs: What if we'd played a little bit better in Maui? What if we hadn't blown that game against Seton Hall? What if we'd been a better seed than an eight seed and hadn't needed to face a number one in the second round? Who knows?

"It was unhealthy to be ruminating this way. I was unhealthy. I desperately needed to get out of town, flee to my standard hideaway, Dorado Beach in San Juan. I needed to do some healing, not think about basketball for a few days. But that wasn't possible in this new era. The transfer portal and NIL deals made every college player a free agent, so right after the tournament I needed to be in my office, in Storrs. If I left town right then, I wouldn't have a team for the 2025-26 season.

"At that point, I wasn't even sure that I would return for the 2025-26 season."

www.cbssports.com

Dan Hurley briefly contemplated leaving UConn after turbulent 2024-25 season: 'I wasn't a good leader'

Winning two titles in a row is insanely hard. Going for three straight? As the face of the sport? It can drive a coach to the edge
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
 
HooperScooper said:
Matt Norlander article. He seems to have a pretty good relationship with Hurley. They spoke for an hour in July and Hurley was in a much better place and ready to tackle the 2025-2026 season.

Excerpt from the book:

"I knew my mind, and I knew my body, and I could feel that I was completely cooked," Hurley writes. "Just burnt. I didn't even know how I was standing. I stared at the office walls, muttering, conducting a brutal review of our season. I didn't build a strong enough roster. I wasn't a good leader. I let everyone down in Maui. I lost control, emotionally, at various points. I came in here some days sad and defeated, when I needed to be positive and inspiring. Then I went through the self-lacerating what-ifs: What if we'd played a little bit better in Maui? What if we hadn't blown that game against Seton Hall? What if we'd been a better seed than an eight seed and hadn't needed to face a number one in the second round? Who knows?

"It was unhealthy to be ruminating this way. I was unhealthy. I desperately needed to get out of town, flee to my standard hideaway, Dorado Beach in San Juan. I needed to do some healing, not think about basketball for a few days. But that wasn't possible in this new era. The transfer portal and NIL deals made every college player a free agent, so right after the tournament I needed to be in my office, in Storrs. If I left town right then, I wouldn't have a team for the 2025-26 season.

"At that point, I wasn't even sure that I would return for the 2025-26 season."

www.cbssports.com

Dan Hurley briefly contemplated leaving UConn after turbulent 2024-25 season: 'I wasn't a good leader'

Winning two titles in a row is insanely hard. Going for three straight? As the face of the sport? It can drive a coach to the edge
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
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Good share. Danny needs to regulate a bit. Coming off the B2B, has plenty of leash for multiple years with no need to be perfect annually. Has a fanbase that adores him. Follow your strategy, execute to your best and live with the outcome.

Sometimes you have to handle the winning as well as the losing and he honestly didn't seem to handle it all that well. The taste of those two runs must have been satisfying for so many reasons, but no need to treat it like a drug that you can't live without.
 
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Andrea was like "I can't live on that Fox Sports salary"
 
I certainly can understand his upset. The season's relative "failure" was mostly on him, but also shared by the other coaches and players. I can't imagine being in his shoes experiencing the shock of the Maui Mauling, and having to face the realization that the team was inadequately prepared defensively.

He also brought it on himself by his stubbornness to not make changes at Center by continuing to keep SJ as the starter throughout the season even though it was obvious that SJ was not the answer, while also realizing that the team did not have a skilled point guard. Then the injury to Liam, and Alex's surprising inability to make baskets, did not help the overall situation. And lastly, perhaps the team also did not have the chemistry needed to mix into the magic formula that jells into a Championship winning brew.
 
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from article on Urban Meyer:

“I’m a loss guy. I got to try to get off that,” he said. “There’s been some bad losses that I wish I had back. If you lose a game that you can say, ‘You know what, that team was a little better than us.’ But we also had some that you’re like, ‘Dammit, we want that one again.’”

Meyer calls his “maniacal approach” one of the key factors in him becoming one of greatest coaches in college football history.

“To the point where you don’t sleep, you don’t eat, you don’t act like a human being most of your life because you’re so fanatical about making sure everything’s done right,” Meyer said.

He recalled a moment after his first title when he was standing in a tunnel at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona.

“It’s one of those good news and bad news things,” Meyer said. “I got good news: you won it all. The bad news is you won it all. You become miserable when you’re not playing at that level, and that’s what happened.”
 
NJHusky said:
Calhoun Didn't....that's what my post was in ref to
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The implication is that it gives him some huge advantage. It doesn't. It's just a different set of rules
 
I’m sure 6 pages in enough people have said this, but the guy wrote a book, he wants to sell copies. I fully believe this is a bit of an embellishment related to what back to back titles can do to your expectations in a job from year to year.

Don’t be afraid he’s going to retire every season, but I don’t think he’ll be our coach until age 70. The game is more exhausting now for coaches, they’re retiring earlier it seems, so unless the nonstop demands of the coaching game starts to get spread among assistants a bit more, we might be in this mode in 5 yrs
 
Sounds like Sean McVay. Young coach who reached the mountain top early. Wasn’t sure if grind was worth it anymore. Think the dog in these guys will keep them in the ring though.
 
And why stop at Clingan. He’s never won without Diarra, ak, Johnson, Murray or Kimani either. It’s a flawed argument
 
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Coach Hurley produced a book about his personal struggles while chasing greatness. I don’t see this would harm recruiting. The title of the book is “Never Stop: Life, Leadership, and What It Takes to Be Great” NOT “I almost left UConn after winning two back to back NCs, but not three in a row”. As with most books, the media chases content that gives the most clicks.
 
This all seems pretty normal human behavior if you’re at all introspective. Dan is.

People are arguing over and over that him saying he was burnt out is…what? A lie? Unnecessary drama? I’m still confused what’s the take here. Why are people complaining about this sentiment and why you wouldn’t take it at face value and see the reality.

PS has Clingan been named to the top 10 players in basketball history yet? If not he’s being slighted; he’s the single reason for Hurleys success and he’s also our clear cut greatest big man in history and greatest defensive center in history as well. Very impressive.
 
Arod18 said:
Can’t be good for future recruitment
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I don’t think it matters much, or at all really. If Hurley is recruiting a player it means he will be at UConn for at least the following year. These days players are recruited year to year. Even developmental pieces.
 
UConnTrumbull said:
I don’t think it matters much, or at all really. If Hurley is recruiting a player it means he will be at UConn for at least the following year. These days players are recruited year to year. Even developmental pieces.
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Other coaches will use that. It’s blood in the water. The negative recruiting is a real thing.
 
Arod18 said:
Other coaches will use that. It’s blood in the water. The negative recruiting is a real thing.
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Sure they can. Same way they could say “hey, he might leave for the NBA.” All I’m saying is if Dan Hurley is recruiting a kid it means he’s all in on the player and the team. If a kid falls for the scare tactics from other coaches then that’s on them. Probably couldn’t handle hurley’s style anyway.
 
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Gburyhusky said:
I was fortunate to be able to attend one of the summer sessions at UConn in August. After the practice scrimmage we were given guided tours of the facilities, including the basketball staff offices. All of the doors were open and the staff were in their offices working. A group of about 10 of us were in the hallway when Coach Hurley appeared from his office and said to the group "Do you like the smell?" I thought it was a weird question, but I did notice that there was a unique smell throughout the building, like a high end air freshener. Hurley then explained to the group that over the summer that he and the staff had developed a plan to help the team with road trips during the season. The plan involves using a certain formula air fresheners in the Werth basketball facilities (he explained what was in them), and then using the same formula air fresheners in the hotel rooms of the players and staff for road trips this season. The concept is that this will help the players psychologically on road trips because the smell will be a familiar one and would help them more easily adjust to the road environment. I am posting this here because it's perhaps some insight into his mindset and focus. (He was incredibly gracious and friendly to everyone).
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It certainly can’t hurt as long as the fragrance isn’t repugnant to any of the players. Low cost and effort with potential big upside.

I think many of us have had experiences in which certain fragrances elicit past memories both good and bad.

Sometimes participating in certain conversations the reverse is true. There have been times I’ve read the pizza thread and I could imagine the aroma of a pizza. I have a very high correlation of reading that thread and spontaneously getting a pizza.

Unfortunately sometimes when I read a Boneyard thread where there is a lot of negative emotional charge I imagine the scent of being in a men’s restroom where the stalls are occupied by players who just ate bad calamari. Just kidding of course. I know how not to do that to myself. But I imagine some people get this image and understand the reference.
 
Inyatkin said:
The implication is that it gives him some huge advantage. It doesn't. It's just a different set of rules
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It's a HUGE advantage when you are trying to rebuild. You don't have to wait for HS kids to commit, then mature...so best case you are 3+ years before you have any upperclassmen...
 
ctchamps said:
It certainly can’t hurt as long as the fragrance isn’t repugnant to any of the players. Low cost and effort with potential big upside.

I think many of us have had experiences in which certain fragrances elicit past memories both good and bad.

Sometimes participating in certain conversations the reverse is true. There have been times I’ve read the pizza thread and I could imagine the aroma of a pizza. I have a very high correlation of reading that thread and spontaneously getting a pizza.

Unfortunately sometimes when I read a Boneyard thread where there is a lot of negative emotional charge I imagine the scent of being in a men’s restroom where the stalls are occupied by players who just ate bad calamari. Just kidding of course. I know how not to do that to myself. But I imagine some people get this image and understand the reference.
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Probably using that stuff George Muresan is always selling on QVC.
 
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temery said:
When you're part of back to back championships, it's human nature to wanna bail. There's nothing else to prove other than the back to back wasn't just luck.

If he bailed, he'd be forever thought of as the coach who rode Donovan Clingan to two consecutive national titles.

A coach's legacy is built over time, not as a result of his two best years. If Hurley stays another 10 - 15 years, my guess is he'll win at least another two championships.
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What ? He "rode Donovan Clingan to two consecutive national titles" ? He rode the guy that wasn't even the best player on EITHER team to two titles ?
 
HooperScooper said:
Matt Norlander article. He seems to have a pretty good relationship with Hurley. They spoke for an hour in July and Hurley was in a much better place and ready to tackle the 2025-2026 season.

Excerpt from the book:

"I knew my mind, and I knew my body, and I could feel that I was completely cooked," Hurley writes. "Just burnt. I didn't even know how I was standing. I stared at the office walls, muttering, conducting a brutal review of our season. I didn't build a strong enough roster. I wasn't a good leader. I let everyone down in Maui. I lost control, emotionally, at various points. I came in here some days sad and defeated, when I needed to be positive and inspiring. Then I went through the self-lacerating what-ifs: What if we'd played a little bit better in Maui? What if we hadn't blown that game against Seton Hall? What if we'd been a better seed than an eight seed and hadn't needed to face a number one in the second round? Who knows?

"It was unhealthy to be ruminating this way. I was unhealthy. I desperately needed to get out of town, flee to my standard hideaway, Dorado Beach in San Juan. I needed to do some healing, not think about basketball for a few days. But that wasn't possible in this new era. The transfer portal and NIL deals made every college player a free agent, so right after the tournament I needed to be in my office, in Storrs. If I left town right then, I wouldn't have a team for the 2025-26 season.

"At that point, I wasn't even sure that I would return for the 2025-26 season."

www.cbssports.com

Dan Hurley briefly contemplated leaving UConn after turbulent 2024-25 season: 'I wasn't a good leader'

Winning two titles in a row is insanely hard. Going for three straight? As the face of the sport? It can drive a coach to the edge
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
Expand ...
I get that this reality kind of sucks. But he's got assistants. He can take a week to go to the beach and relax. He also needs to realize that losing a close game to the eventual champion isn't a failure. Not every team is going to come together the way you expected. Doesn't happen for any coach.
 
This is all a big nothing to me. I'm sure most people in high stress jobs that make a lot of money have thoughts of quitting at some point. I don't make nearly what Hurley makes and I have these thoughts all the time! Hurley is just too forthright when expressing his feelings. He admitted he asked if he was sharing too much with the author but decided to open up about everything. I'm sure he was burnt out and was wondering if this was all worth it. But shortly after realized this is what he likes to do. Don't most people go through this? He wasn't even close to leaving so no big deal.

This thread is classic Boneyard. Lol
 
If it’s for a book, smart business move and ignore everything else

If it’s not, Hurley is completely driven as a coach (and likely a human) by emotion. He takes his job more seriously than is likely healthy in the long term. The highs are really high and I’m sure the lows are really low. Expecting more highs than lows over the course of his time here, but hopefully he’ll learn how to recognize and handle stress before it bubbles and blows up

I’m sure “the back to back national champion coach that had 9 guys drafted to the NBA in the last 5 years (4 lottery) wanted to quit once, but then didn’t and was 1 possession away from making the sweet 16” won’t deter any recruits from coming here
 
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