UConn head coach Dan Hurley admits he was on the edge of walking away from college basketball after last season.
Running after a third straight championship left Hurley physically and mentally drained, and he revealed in his new book that he even considered resigning from one of the sport’s top jobs, via The Athletic.
UConn's season ended in the second round with a loss to Florida, the eventual national champion. That defeat didn’t just sting; it sent Hurley into a spiral of second-guessing. He wrote about staring at his office walls, replaying every misstep, every blown lead, every poor seeding that forced UConn into an early clash with a No. 1 seed.
Dan Hurley nearly walked away from UConn after the grueling season
Hurley admitted he felt “cooked” and questioned whether he had anything left to give.
A possible exit to TV
At his lowest point, Hurley entertained a future outside of coaching. He spoke with Fox Sports about a potential role as an analyst, following a path that Villanova’s Jay Wright had already taken. Hurley even sought Wright’s advice, who told him how freeing it felt not to wake up with a sick stomach every morning during the season.
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The timing made things tougher. With the transfer portal and NIL deals reshaping college hoops, Hurley felt he couldn’t even take a short break. “If I left town, I wouldn’t have a team for next season,” he admitted.
This wasn’t the first time
This wasn’t the first time Hurley almost left UConn. Just a year earlier, he turned down a massive six-year, $70 million offer from the Los Angeles Lakers to stay in Storrs. Both summers, he came close to walking away, once for the NBA, and once because of pure exhaustion.
Still, Hurley stayed put. He wrote about the paradox of his job: loving the school, the fans, and the chance to win at the highest level, but recognizing the toll it takes. “I’m not a machine,” he said. “The grind eats away at you, even when you’re winning.”
Now entering another season, Hurley remains the face of UConn basketball. But his book makes clear that even the most successful coaches can feel the weight of the job crushing them.