“I was pissed at every pass, every shot, every cut. I was brutal”: Geno Auriemma explains how he pulled off UConn’s 111 game win streak

40-year UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma has been through probably everything possible in college basketball. From almost a dozen national titles to tallying the most wins ever by any college coach, Auriemma is a special kind of tactician, where only a few like him can define a D1 program for decades long.

One of his greatest feats is when he steered the UConn Women's basketball team to 111 wins straight from 2014 to 2017, which included two national titles. In an episode of the What Drives Winning podcast entitled "The Psychology of Feedback," where Auriemma appeared as a guest, he revealed how he was able to pull the win streak off with his Huskies:

"I coached like we were gonna lose. I was pissed at every pass, every shot, every cut. I was brutal, and we won 111 games in a row. I showed them (the players) film the next day and if you didn't see the game before, you would've swore we lost," he explained. (8:41)

Prior to detailing how he coached the teams that were a part of the 111-game win streak, Auriemma discussed how he spearheaded the program while they were losing in his first couple of years:

"I coached like we were gonna win...Even though in my heart, I knew we were going to lose." (8:20)

Auriemma's experiences in both winning and losing can serve as a testament to his overall coaching greatness. Now, at the age of 70, Auriemma has been able to adapt his coaching skills to the continuously revolutionizing game of basketball with the success he experienced.

While the 2024-2025 UConn Huskies are currently commanding an undefeated 8-0 record and has stayed in the mix of national tournament appearances for years now. The program's last championship came about eight seasons ago in 2016.

As conference play ramps up shortly, Auriemma will use his wisdom and experience to lead the Huskies back to the mountaintop, especially after a huge 85-52 victory over the Louisville Cardinals last Saturday, Dec. 7. Their next hurdle of the campaign will be the rising Hannah Hidalgo and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Thursday, Dec. 12.

Geno Auriemma says there is two sides to his style of coaching

For Auriemma, he shared that what separates him from other coaches is that he coaches differently during the regular season from the start of a season to March 1st versus whenever it's March Madness.

"You never go after a player or a team when they're struggling. It's like you're piling on. The best time to really get after someone is when they are at the top of their game, when you have a team that is playing their absolute best basketball," Auriemma shared. (9:00)

"Diana Taurasi made a great point. She said, 'Coach Auriemma will punch you and punch you and punch you and punch you and punch you and if you're still standing in the Final Four, he'll hug you cause you just won the national championship,'" he expounded in detail. (9:48)

As the year is coming to a close, we may continue to see a more fiery version of Auriemma, especially with Big East games coming up. This could run throughout the start of 2025, where we could see a more reserved version of him in March if the Huskies go all the way.