Dan Hurley ‘deeply’ regrets ’embarrassing’ outburst after UConn’s loss to Florida, some other moments from 2024-25 season

Dan Hurley is self-aware. Just ask him.

And given some time to reflect, he feels the same way about some of his more colorful outbursts this season as his observers.

The UConn head coach sat down for an interview with “The Dan Patrick Show” on Monday, with just hours left in his Huskies’ reign as national champions. He spoke candidly about some of his headline-grabbing outbursts from this season and explained why he’s not been in San Antonio for the Final Four.

“I have enough self-awareness and situational awareness that I skipped San Antonio,” Hurley told Patrick. “I decided not to parade myself around the Final Four and to take a break — to let people have a little bit of a break from me.”

This opened the door for Patrick to ask Hurley, “How do you mature?”

Hurley responded that he hasn’t changed this season — that he believes that the perception of him changed in 2024-25 because UConn wasn’t competing for a national championship for the first time in three seasons.

“When you’re winning championships, it’s called relentlessness,” Hurley said. “I’ve been called relentless the last two years. Even though I’ve been experiencing the same types of interactions with fans and officials.

“This year it’s been called immature, it’s been called a lot of things because, you know, my team isn’t on top. I haven’t changed a whole lot that way.”

Hurley then addressed one of his biggest headline-grabbing moments of the season. UConn lost in the NCAA tournament in the second round in a tightly contested game to Florida, which has since advanced to Monday night’s championship game against Houston.

After the game, Hurley was recorded on video in the tunnel trashing the game’s officials as Baylor waited to take the court before its game against Duke.

“I hope they don’t f*** you like they f***ed us,” Hurley said. “I hope they don’t do that to you, Baylor.”

Hurley told Patrick that he’d like to have that one back.

‘That was embarrassing’

“The Florida postgame, I regret that one greatly,” Hurley said. “There was literally one play call — there was one drive to the rim that I felt we clearly got fouled on that would have kept that game at a two-possession game. It was ringing in my mind. It wasn’t like multiple calls I felt were missed.

“It was just this one play that I could not get out of my mind as I was heading through that tunnel and as I saw the Baylor players. I deeply regret that. We missed a lot of open shots. And credit Florida and [guard Walter] Clayton. They’re a championship level. That one, I regret deeply. I didn’t believe that. And that was embarrassing.”

Hurley also reflected on a moment in a January win over Butler in which he berated officials, appearing to tell one: “Don’t turn your back on me. I’m the best coach in the f***ing sport.”

Here’s what Hurley had to say about that incident to Patrick while in a considerably calmer frame of mind:

“When I look at other ones that were embarrassing. The ‘I’m the best coach in the country.’ That was embarrassing,” Hurley said. “I wish somebody could have stopped me from having that moment.”

So Hurley’s self-aware. But he has no intention of changing his coaching style that’s delivered proven results. What does he do to tamp down his self-proclaimed “embarrassing” moments?

“Some of the fan interactions,” Hurley continued. “I’ve got to get somebody, I think, that maybe can just walk me on and off the court. Maybe like college football has those guys that walk the coach to the other coach and then just get ’em off the court. Maybe I need to get somebody that can just — when the game ends — just get me on and off the court. …

“I think that the interaction with people not on my team, I would like to probably have less of that.”