Dan Hurley defends behavior, mostly, after UConn official apologizes for threatening reporter who captured his rant

[ASFN Admin]

Dan Hurley has no plans on changing, though that was hardly the debate at this point.

Speaking with reporters on Wednesday to unpack a frustrating year for UConn, the Huskies head coach reflected on the pressure his team felt as the two-time defending champions and how his own behavior can put pressure on them.

He also addressed what happened after UConn was bounced by Florida from the NCAA Tournament, snapping a record-tying 13-game win streak in March Madness.

As many college basketball fans are now aware, Hurley loudly complained about the officiating in the game as he walked into the tunnel with the team. The rant was captured on video by reporter Queen City News reporter Joey Ellis, who posted it on X. That earned the ire of UConn director of communications Bobby Mullen, who threatened to ruin Ellis' life in front of reporters if he didn't take the video down.

Mullen has since apologized and the video remains up, though Hurley still clearly had a problem with the fact he was recorded in the first place:

"I said something in the heat of the moment in an area of the arena that pretty much every game I've ever coached in college has been media-free, past the tunnel, but the locker rooms, in the hallway where the coaches go, that's for the combatants. That's for the competitors. That's not for camera phones."

That is a completely inaccurate representation of the area in question, as reporters use the same tunnel to move between their seats in press row and the media areas inside the arena. The path between the court and locker rooms is cordoned off when players and coaches are using it, but reporters are still allowed to be nearby. Hurley has coached enough NCAA Tournament games to know this.

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Dan Hurley has a lot of thoughts on how Dan Hurley should be behaving. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Sarah Stier via Getty Images

Hurley is also obviously no stranger to controversies like this. He has earned a reputation as a firebrand who isn't afraid to berate both officials on the court and fans in the crowd. It could be seen as a downside of having him as head coach, but he also noted that same passion is what drives much of his success:

"Listen, it's tough for a person like me. It's my rocket fuel. It's what makes me successful. In large part, the intensity, the desire, the competitive fire, it's what attracts my players to me. It's what's been able to attract success for me, this aspect as a coach. But at times, yeah, I've got to apologize to my wife, say 'I'm sorry, that was embarrassing. I shouldn't have said that.'

"Trust me, I've had these moments throughout my career. This is what UConn knew they were getting. This is how I've coached, obviously, my entire career. I'm not bragging about that. I'm just surprised that people just discovered it, if they're college basketball experts. They could have been breaking me down the last couple years, or even five years ago. Getting into it with fans or coaching my ass off, I've been doing this for a long time."

Again, Hurley is not being entirely honest there. If this was just a matter of Hurley's temper, outlets such as Yahoo Sports would not be writing about the story three days later. As Hurley said, he's been doing this for a while.

This became a bigger story, however, when the person in charge of his communications threatened to ruin a reporter's life because he documented this supposedly normal behavior. It's understandable why someone would be sick of this kind of coverage, but the reason why Hurley is still talking about it is coming almost entirely from inside the building.


Hurley didn't completely excuse his behavior, though he made sure to note it could be worse:

"It's one of those things where there are mistakes, there are things I wish I didn't do. It's part of what you get with me. I hope to not do it again. I'm going to look to attempt to take measures, both internally mentally and externally — not a security team, but just being able to get me — I wouldn't change one aspect of how I coach a game or how hard we fight.

"I don't think I'm a bad guy. I'm not a victim. I do stupid s*** sometimes, but it's not like I'm some phony, fake cheater. You can talk more about somebody with those attributes than somebody that just tells a fan that's been cursing them out the whole game 'Screw you.' I don't think that's the worst thing in the world, but you take account of it. You don't want to become a distraction for your team too and bring more weight for your players."

What changes Hurley makes remain to be seen.

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