"I wasn't going to be in coaching much: UConn HC Dan Hurley explains how a morning routine helped after he "could not function"

UConn coach Dan Hurley is a household name among college basketball fans. But a few years back, he wasn't much popular and was suffering with his mental health.

In his first season at Connecticut after leaving Rhode Island, UConn finished ninth in the AAC standings, with only six wins and 12 losses. The next season saw an improvement in the team's performance, but they still couldn't qualify for the NCAA tournament.

During an interview with Graham Bensinger this week, Hurley opened up about the struggles he faced during those initial years and how he overcame them.

"It's tough like in your mind when you've just suffered this traumatizing personal failure, which is jarring and you're deflated and your insecurities flaring up," Hurley said. [Time Stamp: 03:32]

"I just found a couple years back when I literally could not get out of bed and I could not function and I wasn't going to be in coaching much longer," he continued. "Some really smart people got me to invest in a morning routine that would get me up and get me moving which find a way to kind of deal with the challenges that you're dealing with a lot of times in life."

Dan Hurley's morning routine would involve going into his 'weirdo room,' where he sits and performs his prayer, meditation art and journaling to start his day.

---

Dan Hurley opens up about the actual reason he declined Lakers job

Dan Hurley's coaching success echoed even in the NBA after his back-to-back national championship wins. The LA Lakers showed interest in landing Hurley and made a six-year, $70 million offer in June, which he turned down to return to Storrs.

Although, he had previously said that the offer wasn't compelling enough, in an interview with Graham Bensinger, Hurley revealed the real reason

"I want to be a college coach, like, I love the competitiveness, opportunity to win the championship and to produce NBA level players, Hurley said. "I love being a part of this transformation for the last point in a young man's life where you could really have a big impact on how their life is going to play out.

"Like what the man becomes. That, to me, was what I realized that I love about being a college coach that you don't get to do as an NBA coach because that's not the relationship there."

Moreover, Dan Hurley also mentioned that NBA players have different relationships with their coaches and don't need the same guidance as collegiate players.