UConn Head Coach Dan Hurley Makes Strong Guarantee Heading Into the Offseason
Dan Hurley and the UConn Huskies' quest for three straight NCAA Championships ended on Sunday at the hands of the Florida Gators. While UConn went down, they didn’t go down without a fight and had plenty of chances to shock the hottest team in the tournament.
Now, the Huskies lick their wounds and head into an offseason trying to answer a lot of questions about their team and their program. The 2025 version of UConn was a far cry from the 2024 team that won each of their tournament games by an average of 23 points.
This year’s Husky group never looked the part. They got off to a very slow start at the Maui Invitational before ripping off eight straight wins in the month of December.
They were up and down throughout the month of January before hitting rock bottom when they lost to Seton Hall in the middle of February. They were beaten in the second round of the Big East Tournament and then, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, they were beaten again.
After Sunday’s loss, Hurley was asked what he has learned over the last three years and what his mindset will be heading into this offseason.
“There is so much that goes into it when you win it. Not just when you win it once, when you win it twice. You get pulled in so many different directions. You don’t have as much time (in the offseason) to be preparing for the next season… You have no idea what’s coming in terms of the scrutiny… The envy, the jealousy, the constant critiques, I think I was prepared for.”
Dan Hurley on what he's learned over the past 3 years as a coach, from winning back-to-back National Championships through today's game: pic.twitter.com/UVNxxUwUzR
— Storrs Central (@StorrsCentral) March 23, 2025
The Hurley experience has been a roller coaster. There are just two schools of thought around the coach. He is either beloved or he is hated and there is not much gray area.
This offseason, UConn won’t be coming off of a championship. They will be coming off of an up-and-down regular season and a disappointing postseason. Hurley will be ready.
“This is going to be an offseason where I'm able to do some re-wiring and a lot of soul-searching and come back as a much-improved coach... I love the process, I love the climb to get to where we are and where we were. I'm excited to get back on the pursuit.
The Huskies are no longer the hunted, they will again be the hunters, and Dan Hurley is going to be back and better than ever.
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Anthony Moeglin is a northeast Ohio native, who most notably quarterbacked John Carroll University to the NCAA DIII National Semifinals in 2016 after beating the No. 1 team in the country twice in a 4-week stretch. He contributes written and video/podcast content across a variety of the sites in the On SI network, including regular video coverage of the Cleveland Browns, Ohio State Buckeyes, Cleveland Cavaliers.