Dan Hurley nearly quit coaching for Fox Sports before returning to UConn

Dan Hurley was done.

Not the usual post-loss frustration or offseason burnout that every coach experiences. The UConn coach who built his reputation on relentless intensity had hit the wall after last season’s March Madness exit, and according to his new book, he seriously considered walking away from it all. According to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, Hurley even had preliminary talks with Fox Sports about joining the broadcast booth.

The revelation shouldn’t surprise anyone who watched Hurley’s emotional unraveling during the Huskies’ tournament run.

“I thought about leaving,” Hurley wrote in his book. “Taking a gap year. Resigning as head coach of the UConn Huskies.” He described himself as “completely cooked” and “burnt,” unable even to understand how he was still standing in his office after the season ended.

The modern college basketball landscape had worn him down. The transfer portal and NIL deals turned every player into a free agent, forcing coaches to recruit their own rosters year-round. Hurley couldn’t even escape to his usual retreat in Puerto Rico because he needed to be in Storrs immediately after the tournament to prevent his team from dissolving.

Fox Sports offered a tempting out. One of Hurley’s former agents, Jordan Bazant, is a top executive there, and Hurley had seen Jay Wright make the jump from championship coach to respected TV analyst. Wright’s experience, which came to an end last week, stuck with him.

“I even talked to a TV executive about doing some commentary,” Hurley revealed. “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.”

Television promised the kind of balance coaching never could. Wright had built a solid broadcasting career after Villanova, and the idea of stepping off the sideline and finding that peace was clearly appealing to Hurley.

Hurley’s media relationships have been complicated, to put it mildly.

He’s called national reporters “Skip Bayless wannabes” and claimed local beat writers treated him more fairly than television talking heads. He’s feuded with analysts who criticized his sideline behavior, with Jeff Goodman calling his referee outbursts “disgusting” and Jay Bilas dismissing his antics as bad behavior.

But those same confrontational instincts that made him enemies in coaching could make him valuable in broadcasting.

Ultimately, Hurley decided to return to UConn for another season, writing that he “cherishes” his job despite the toll it takes. But his Fox discussions reveal how close college basketball came to losing one of its most polarizing figures to the broadcast booth.

And while Fox Sports missed out on landing Hurley this time, his admission suggests the door remains open. If UConn’s championship window closes or the coaching grind becomes unbearable again, television might offer the escape route Hurley needs.

For now, he’s back in Storrs, trying to build another championship team while battling the same systemic problems that nearly drove him away. But Fox Sports will be waiting.