Dan Hurley Explains Away Headbutt, But Referee Roger Ayers Won’t Call Final Four

Ayers had worked four straight Final Fours.

Dan Hurley reacts to a call during UConn’s win against Duke. | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

Turns out Dan Hurley really was just sharing an awesome moment with someone he liked when he greeted referee Roger Ayers with a light headbutt after Braylon Mullins hit a shot to send UConn back to the Final Four last Sunday. Ayers will not be in attendance in Indianapolis this weekend, but it's not because Hurley has a problem with him.

The UConn coach appeared on The Triple Option podcast this week and he explained what was going through his mind in that odd moment. Despite the optics, it was just one of college basketball's most intense coaches pressing his forehead against the forehead of a "cool ass ref."

"Really, at that point in the game, we had it won," Hurley said on the podcast. "And he's such an easy guy to work with during the game that I thought he was coming over to chest bump me to celebrate the shot. You know, 'cause its not like that for me with him. My experience with him has been, we haven't won every game, I haven't agreed with every call... So that was in no way, was that like me and a ref that I had been at their throat the whole game. There are other parts of the game where I had my arm around him, walking out of the timeout. You know, we were cracking jokes and laughing."

Here’s Hurley talking about that with Mark Ingram and Rob Stone:

Turns out @dhurley15 wasn’t worried about getting a technical at all.

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— The Triple Option (@3xOptionShow) March 31, 2026

Hurley said that Ayers was simply telling him there was still time left on the clock and then the coach went on to call Ayers a "cool ass ref," which might be the very first time those words have been used in that order. Maybe ever.

Between this and ESPN's Seth Greenberg insisting that Ayers didn't even remember it happening, Hurley can certainly be let off the hook in this instance. But just make sure to note that even Hurley understands that he crosses the line from time to time:

"Now the one at Marquette," Hurley continued. "You know, when I was on my man's neck, screaming into his neck. Yeah, that was a guy that's like coming right up to the line and losing his mind."

Now, if you can agree to that and then go so far as to concede that a coach pressing his forehead against the forehead of a referee in the middle of a basketball game is the kind of thing that is frowned upon and even penalized in any other situation, we might just get this nation to start healing.

Hurley and UConn will be back in action on Saturday night as they take on Illinois in the Final Four. Ayers has not been assigned to any of the Final Four games this year, which breaks a four year streak for an official who has been praised openly by coaches and commentators following the friendly run-in with Hurley.

Last year he worked the national semifinal game between Houston and Florida. Before that he worked the 2024 championship game between Hurley's Huskies and the Purdue Boilermakers. He also worked UConn's Final Four win over Miami in 2023 and Duke-UNC in the 2022 Final Four. According to ESPN, Ayers has refereed in seven Final Fours overall.

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