UConn coach Dan Hurley considered stepping down after last season due to emotional burnout, he revealed in his new memoir.

His camp was also in discussions with FOX about Hurley joining the network as an analyst. Hurley’s former agent, Jordan Bazant, is now the executive vice president of FOX Sports.

The book, “Never Stop: Life, Leadership, and What It Takes To Be Great,” was co-written with best-selling author Ian O’Connor.

“I thought about leaving,” Hurley wrote, per Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. “Taking a gap year. Resigning as head coach of the UConn Huskies.”

After two straight NCAA championships, the Huskies lost to eventual NCAA champion Florida in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

“I knew my mind, and I knew my body, and I could feel that I was completely cooked,” wrote Hurley, the Jersey City native and former Seton Hall guard. “Just burnt. I didn’t even know how I was standing. I stared at the office walls, muttering, conducting a brutal review of our season. I didn’t build a strong enough roster. I wasn’t a good leader. I let everyone down in Maui. I lost control, emotionally, at various points. I came in here some days sad and defeated, when I needed to be positive and inspiring. Then I went through the self-lacerating what-ifs: What if we’d played a little bit better in Maui? What if we hadn’t blown that game against Seton Hall? What if we’d been a better seed than an eight seed and hadn’t needed to face a number one in the second round? Who knows?”

“It was unhealthy to be ruminating this way. I was unhealthy. I desperately needed to get out of town, flee to my standard hideaway, Dorado Beach in San Juan. I needed to do some healing, not think about basketball for a few days. But that wasn’t possible in this new era. The transfer portal and NIL deals made every college player a free agent, so right after the tournament I needed to be in my office, in Storrs. If I left town right then, I wouldn’t have a team for the 2025-26 season.

“At that point, I wasn’t even sure that I would return for the 2025-26 season.”

Numerous high-profile college football and basketball coaches – including Alabama’s Nick Saban in football and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina’s Roy Williams, Villanova’s Jay Wright, Virginia’s Tony Bennett and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim in basketball – have stepped down in recent years in the aftermath of the rise of the transfer portal and Name, Image and Likeness payments to players.

“I even talked to a TV executive about doing some commentary,” Hurley wrote. “The previous summer, I talked to Jay Wright about life after basketball. He said he was actually happy, sleeping. He wasn’t sick to his stomach nine months of the year.”

Hurley last summer turned down a six-year, $70-million offer to coach LeBron James and the L.A. Lakers in favor of remaining at UConn on a 6-year, $50 million deal.

Hurley has remained linked to the Knicks, which might be his dream job, although they just hired Mike Brown as their new coach.

“I think if Danny Hurley got into the NBA, there’s no doubt he can coach,” former Denver Nuggets coach Mike Malone told NJ Advance Media.

Meantime, Hurley’s team is ranked in the Top 5 of several preseason polls heading into the 2025-26 season.

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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter and Basketball Insider for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.

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