UConn's Dan Hurley Talks Uniquely Challenging Year: 'Been Heavy For All Of Us'
UConn Huskies head coach Dan Hurley revealed on Friday that he’s markedly adjusted his coaching style this season.
Hurley appeared on Mad Dog Sports Radio and talked about how his program’s championship-or-bust mentality wasn’t the optimal way to approach the current season, something Hurley has realized on the fly.
“For us, it’s all-out pursuits of championships, or else you feel like the season was a disappointment,” Hurley said.
“I started the year breathing fire and talking like a coach that believed his team was gonna compete for a three-peat, and I still think this team has the potential to get on a roll here late in the year with what we can do offensively and the improvements we’ve made at the defensive end.”
“I do think that this group has a lot of potential to get hot and get some of the UConn swagger going again in March.”
“I realized I couldn’t coach this team as hard as I’ve coached some of my other teams. We had guys like Cam Spencer, Andre Jackson, Donovan Clingan (in the past) … these guys coach take hard coaching.”
“This year with how our confidence got rattled so early in Maui, I’ve had to build this team up and I don’t think any of us were prepared for the level of scrutiny throughout the year that’s come with the success we’ve had the last two years. I think that’s been heavy for all of us.”
Indeed, heavy lies the crown, and UConn has struggled this year to live up to its recently vaunted status in the world of not just college basketball, but all of sports.
The Huskies simply don’t have the type of talent on the roster this season that they’ve had the past couple of years. Liam McNeeley is an exception to that description, however, and UConn will need him to go on a Carmelo Anthony-like Syracuse run to have any chance at a three-peat.
Nothing’s impossible, especially with Hurley at the helm.
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-6cddf44b9a81eadb9d1a4c19c1b3db49.jpeg "Colin Keane")
Colin Keane is a contributing journalist for "UConn Huskies On SI." Born in Illinois, Colin grew up in Massachusetts as the third of four brothers. For his high school education, Colin attended St. Mark's School (Southborough, MA), where he played basketball and soccer and served as student body president. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Villanova University. Colin currently resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "UConn Huskies On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org