For 38 Years at UConn, Chris Dailey Has Been the Yin to Geno’s Yang

[SVCBeercats]

For 38 Years at UConn, Chris Dailey Has Been the Yin to Geno’s Yang (Published 2023)

Assistant coaches usually move on after a few seasons. Not Dailey, Connecticut’s associate head coach, who sticks to a routine and brings balance to the bench.

www.nytimes.com

"For 38 years, Dailey’s routines have kept the Connecticut women’s basketball program running at full steam. She is the yin to Coach Geno Auriemma’s yang, the steady voice to his occasional courtside outbursts, the structure to his more fluid approach. The two couldn’t be more different — he arrives five minutes before a plane is scheduled to take off, she prefers not to travel with him anymore — but together, they have transformed the Connecticut program, and with it, women’s basketball at large."

“The way that we are, the one unit that we are, that’s all C.D.,” said the sophomore guard Caroline Ducharme. “She’s the leader in that and I think a big reason that UConn has the image that it has.”

 

[BRS24]

Wowser. This is an amazing quote from DeMoss:

"After the Huskies’ win (in 1995), Mickie DeMoss, a friend and assistant coach for Tennessee, pulled Dailey aside to tell her that Tennessee would have to start playing basketball differently now.

“I said to Geno, ‘You’re not going to believe this — Tennessee is going to change their style of play because of us,’” Dailey said. “We didn’t want to be just a one-hit wonder."

 

[JellyBean]

Could not read the article but I am sure it was awesome. We are super lucky that Coach CD has stayed with the program. Hard telling where we would be without her over these 38 years. So many assistant coaches and coaches have eyes toward leading their own programs or going to those "elite" programs. I forgot who it was, but one coach said it best when they said, "Make the Big Time where you are". Coach CD has done that. Never created any type of drama. Or had any type of ego. We are just blessed that we have this, IMHO, national treasure. Coach CD is that rare jewel that you treasure for life.

 

[BRS24]

Gifted link:

For 38 Years at UConn, Chris Dailey Has Been the Yin to Geno’s Yang (Published 2023)

Assistant coaches usually move on after a few seasons. Not Dailey, Connecticut’s associate head coach, who sticks to a routine and brings balance to the bench.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Redux]

CD [never] had any type of ego

I'm not sure I buy that, at all. Like Geno, her personal self-regard is so tightly intertwined with the success* of the players & the team that it may seem invisible. Obviously there's a style difference (though if you've never seen her run a practice or heard her interact at length with players you may have an incomplete impression of CD; she's driven by the same fires as Geno). Unlike the head coach, she simply doesn't have continual exposure to the media, with the opportunity to riff and the thousands of hours of practice at it.

She's Ginger Rogers to Geno's Fred Astaire: does it all, but has to do it backwards and in heels.

* BTW, by "success" I don't mean just wins & losses or even final fours or championships. Both these coaches have a much larger world view of what they are doing with their lives.

 

[TCC Kid]

For 38 Years at UConn, Chris Dailey Has Been the Yin to Geno’s Yang (Published 2023)

Assistant coaches usually move on after a few seasons. Not Dailey, Connecticut’s associate head coach, who sticks to a routine and brings balance to the bench.

www.nytimes.com

"For 38 years, Dailey’s routines have kept the Connecticut women’s basketball program running at full steam. She is the yin to Coach Geno Auriemma’s yang, the steady voice to his occasional courtside outbursts, the structure to his more fluid approach. The two couldn’t be more different — he arrives five minutes before a plane is scheduled to take off, she prefers not to travel with him anymore — but together, they have transformed the Connecticut program, and with it, women’s basketball at large."

“The way that we are, the one unit that we are, that’s all C.D.,” said the sophomore guard Caroline Ducharme. “She’s the leader in that and I think a big reason that UConn has the image that it has.”

Caroline is right, CD is the heart and soul ad mother confessor. She's much more. For years she has taken care of the SENIOR or disabled fans with correspondence. A relative turned 100 and CD sent a card. Sounds small but from CD it is second only from the President.

 

[Carnac]

I'm not sure I buy that, at all. Like Geno, her personal self-regard is so tightly intertwined with the success* of the players & the team that it may seem invisible. Obviously there's a style difference (though if you've never seen her run a practice or heard her interact at length with players you may have an incomplete impression of CD; she's driven by the same fires as Geno). Unlike the head coach, she simply doesn't have continual exposure to the media, with the opportunity to riff and the thousands of hours of practice at it.

She's Ginger Rogers to Geno's Fred Astaire: does it all, but has to do it backwards and in heels.

* BTW, by "success" I don't mean just wins & losses or even final fours or championships. Both these coaches have a much larger world view of what they are doing with their lives.

An excellent and true analogy of her relationship with Geno. Daley is as much a part of UConn lore as Geno. Anyone with any familiarity with the program knows that. Geno knew the areas he was lacking in when he hired CD in 1985. He knew he needed to surround himself with assistant coaches that filled the void in his coaching style and acumen. CD fits that bill perfectly. The article references them as basketball's "Odd Couple."

 

[Bone Dog]

When Geno retires, I suspect she’ll run the program just long enough to train the next coach. She doesn’t leave things to chance.

 

[hoopsfan22]

When Geno retires, I suspect she’ll run the program just long enough to train the next coach. She doesn’t leave things to chance.

She's said she is leaving when Geno does, but I've thought like you that in a specific circumstance she'd stick around a little longer if the university needed her to, like say if Geno suddenly retired.

 

[Beemer]

Geno & the players are blessed to have her not just as a coach but as a friend/mentor. It will be a sad day when she decides to retire.

 

[Rowdy831]

The do make a good team. If Geno retired in two weeks she might stick around to coach next years group but other than that I think she will ride off into the sunset with Geno. She will always get a lot of credit for the success of the team and it would be crazy to put that in jeopardy to coach a year or two.

 

[Bone Dog]

The do make a good team. If Geno retired in two weeks she might stick around to coach next years group but other than that I think she will ride off into the sunset with Geno. She will always get a lot of credit for the success of the team and it would be crazy to put that in jeopardy to coach a year or two.

It’s not about getting credit. She put her life into building this program, and she is a very detail-oriented person. She’s not just gonna turn it over to someone else until she’s sure they’re ready to take it on. That may mean one year, or it may mean three or four. Look at Denise Dillon. She took over Villanova and kept the main assistant who’d been there for thirty years.

 

[Beemer]

It’s not about getting credit. She put her life into building this program, and she is a very detail-oriented person. She’s not just gonna turn it over to someone else until she’s sure they’re ready to take it on. That may mean one year, or it may mean three or four. Look at Denise Dillon. She took over Villanova and kept the main assistant who’d been there for thirty years.

That was smart of Dillon and rare- most new head coaches want only their own people on staff.