Famously aggressive Geno Auriemma contradicts public opinion, says he's a good cop: "The players would much rather hang out with me..."

It is no secret that UConn coach Geno Auriemma is known for his hard-nosed, high-pressure coaching style. His demanding approach has yielded tremendous on-court success, with 11 national championships and countless NCAA tournament appearances.

Ahead of the Huskies' matchup against Fairleigh Dickinson on Wednesday, Auriemma spoke with the media and provided a surprising perspective on his coaching persona.

A reporter asked him about the dynamic between him and his assistant coach Chris Dailey, describing it as often being perceived as a "good cop, bad cop" relationship, with him being the tough one and Dailey seen as the kinder one.

"It's actually just the opposite," Auriemma said. "She's wanted to maintain that narrative, and it's not really true because if you were to ask our former players and our present-day players."

"When we're on the court, yes, that's different. But when those two hours are gone and the other 22 hours, they won't admit it, but the players would much rather hang out with me than they would with her," he continued, "because she's just always on them about things that they need her to be on them about. With me, I just keep it to the basketball part. I have fun with them off the court."

Chris Dailey joined Geno Auriemma as his assistant in 1985. She served in that role for three years before becoming the associate head coach.

Chris Dailey reveals why she stayed beside Geno Auriemma at UConn

Chris Dailey has been by Geno Auriemma's side since the beginning. Despite receiving offers to lead other teams, she has always remained loyal to UConn due to her deep ties to Storrs.

"Once I was here for a while, I realized how hard it is to do what we've done, and that if I was going to leave, it had to be for a place I felt confident they had everything I would need to be successful," Dailey said (via Hartford Courant). "The longer I stayed here, the more I knew that this was a special place."

Dailey also mentioned that the two have a lot in common in terms of philosophy and what they aim to achieve at UConn.

With the duo at the helm, the Huskies made it to their first Final Four in 1991, and four years later, they won their first national championship. UConn then completed a three-peat of NCAA titles from 2002-2004 and claimed four in a row from 2013 to 2016.

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