"I started the year breathing fire": Dan Hurley addresses "heavy" scrutiny and dealing with 3-peat pressure at UConn

Dan Hurley's UConn Huskies face the mounting pressure of a three-peat after winning two consecutive titles in 2023 and 2024. Standards are pretty high for the Huskies, who are feeling the heat from all corners.

Speaking on the same with Chris "Mad Dog" Russo on his radio show on Thursday, the Huskies coach feels the scrutiny has been "heavy" for them while also acknowledging the standards the team has built around themself over the years.

"Well, Chris, you know the standard—you've heard it from Tomlin, and you've heard it from coaches in organizations with championship brands," Hurley said.

"The standard is the standard. For us, it's an all-out pursuit of championships, or else you feal like the season is a disappointment. I started the year breathing fire, talking like a coach who believed his team was going to compete for a three-peat.

Dan Hurley also spoke about coaching the 2024-25 Huskies as a lot different from his past seasons in UConn. He referenced the failure in the Maui Invitational, where they returned winless.

"But I realized I couldn't coach this team as hard as I've coached some of my other teams," Hurley added. "When you have guys like Cam Spencer, Andre Jackson, and Donovan Clingan, those guys could take hard coaching. But this year, with how our confidence got rattled so early in Maui, I've had to build this team up.

"And I don't think any of us were prepared for the level of scrutiny that has come with the success we've had the last two years. I think that's been heavy for all of us."

Dan Hurley is bullish on the Huskies to make it deep in March Madness

The Huskies are currently fourth in the Big East, with an 18-8 overall record and 10-5 in conference play. They are unranked going into the game against No. St. John's but Dan Hurley believes the team has the potential to do it well in March Madness.

"I still think this team has the potential to get on a roll late in the year with what we can do offensively and the improvements we've made on the defensive end," Hurley said.

"I do think this group has a lot of potential to get hot and maybe get some of that UConn swagger going again in March."

According to ESPN's latest bracketology update from Joe Lunardi on Tuesday, the Huskies are predicted to take the No. 8 seed in the East (Newark) bracket.