UCLA's Mick Cronin Rips His Players in Most Angry Postgame Rant of College Season

The head coach blasted his "delusional" and "soft" players after a 19-point loss to Michigan.

Mick Cronin / Field of 68 on X

The Michigan Wolverines marched onto UCLA's home floor on Tuesday night and beat down the Bruins, 94-75. Nobody was more unhappy about it than UCLA head coach Mick Cronin, and he did very little to hide his intense displeasure while speaking to reporters after the game.

In the most angry press conference we've seen so far this young college basketball season, Cronin blew up on his roster, calling out his players for being "soft" and "delusional" while proclaiming he's the only one in the building with any passion (including his staff) for what they're trying to do.

"We're soft." Cronin said. "It's crazy. It's every day, and I'm tired of it. It's every day. I have the most energy of anybody at practice every day, I'm upset with everybody in that locker room. My assistant coaches and my players.

"What the truth of it has been," Cronin later continued, "It's really hard to coach people who are delusional. The hungry dog gets the bone. We got guys who think they're way better than they are. They're nice kids. They're completely delusional about who they are."

Mick Cronin went OFF on his players following their loss to Michigan 😳

“We’re soft… Every day, I have more passion and energy in practice than anybody else. I’m tired of it. It’s a joke… The truth of it is, it’s really hard to coach guys who are delusional” pic.twitter.com/abGQdPkfQN

— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) January 8, 2025

Quite the rant. Cronin was infuriated by the lack of adjustments his players were making and clearly decided they needed a wake-up call in the form of a public ripping.

The Bruins are 2-2 in the Big Ten and 11-4 overall after the loss.

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