"He's like 'are you f-ing kidding me? This is who we hired?'": When UConn HC Dan Hurley said first Jim Calhoun meeting had him "running out" the door
Dan Hurley has established himself as one of the finest coaches in UConn history. However, his first meeting with former Huskies coach Jim Calhoun didn't quite go according to plan. Nonetheless, Hurley said that it shaped him into a better coach.
When Hurley took charge of UConn in 2018, it wasn't smooth sailing at the program, and the coach wanted out due to the high demands. However, a rigorous conversation with Calhoun appeared to change Hurley's attitude toward the Huskies' job.
Hurley said to Graham Bensinger in an interview in September 2024 (1:06:13):
“I mean I walked in [to Jim Calhoun’s office], like with the sad face. I almost went back to like the player from Seton Hall with the sh***y attitude and the shaking his head and just that like Jersey City like, ‘this is BS’ like 'can you believe all the people here that that are going to get in my way of succeeding here? And you know this thing is a disaster, coach.'
"And I could see him looking at me and there's no empathy, like no compassion whatsoever."
Hurley continued:
"You could just see it, he's like not nodding. He's like looking at me like I'm like a punk and he just like 'are you F-ing kidding me? Like this is a joke, right? Like, this is this is who we hired? Like, you need to get your you know what together, bro. Like, get yourself moving. Do you have the right staff?'
"'All right, then go hire them. You need NBA players? Go get them. You know if things aren't in place, go like brutalize your AD and the people at the school until everything's in place. But don't come in here again like this. You look weak.' And [I went] running out the door, running down the hallway like, let's go, oh yeah.”
Calhoun coached at UConn from 1986 to 2012 and won three national titles. He was succeeded by Kevin Ollie, who led the Huskies to the national championship in 2014.
When Ollie was fired in 2018, UConn hired Hurley. After a rough start with the Huskies, Dan Hurley has seemingly found his groove with the program.
Dan Hurley needs one more national title to equal Jim Calhoun's championships at UConn
Dan Hurley led UConn to national titles in 2023 and 2024. He was on course for a historic three-peat until the Huskies lost to Florida in the second round of this year's NCAA Tournament.
Nonetheless, Hurley needs just one more national title to match Calhoun's record at the program. Calhoun won national titles in 1994, 2004 and 2011.
However, Hurley still has a long way to go before he can surpass Calhoun's program record of 629 wins at UConn.