Dan Hurley Ripped UConn Players for 'Stealing Taxpayers' Money' After Practice Error

Nobody can ever accuse Dan Hurley of not caring about the local taxpayers in his community.

A Thursday story from ESPN's Jonathan Givony detailed a time when the UConn men's basketball head coach used a rather interesting motivational technique when leading his team during a practice:

"Hurley then yelled to his team: 'You guys are stealing taxpayers' money' after a missed rotation. The quip came in between one of the thousands of F-words unleashed on his players, who are used to Hurley's coaching style. UConn staff reiterate Hurley's demeanor and his practice intensity are the same every day, whether it is June, October or March."

It's probably a safe assumption that most college coaches aren't invoking the use of taxpayers' money as a motivational tool, even in the era of name, image and likeness donations.

But Hurley isn't like most college coaches.

His demeanor on the sidelines is intense to say the least, and he rarely hesitates to let officials, the media and, apparently, his players know how he feels. It surely doesn't sit well with everyone, but it is also impossible to argue against his success.

After all, the Huskies enter the 2024-25 campaign as back-to-back national champions. They were especially dominant last season while going 37-3 overall and winning every game in the Big Dance by double digits, including the national title contest against Purdue.

They also figure to be among the top title contenders again during the upcoming season and checked in at No. 3 in ESPN's early Top 25 rankings last month.

All that recent success caught the interest of the NBA, and the Los Angeles Lakers made a push for Hurley this offseason after firing head coach Darvin Ham.

However, he ultimately turned down a six-year, $70 million offer from the Lakers that would have made him one of the NBA's six highest-paid coaches, per former NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski.

Had Hurley taken the Lakers job, he may have needed to adjust his approach during practices. After all, it is difficult to envision yelling about taxpayers' money working when interacting with the likes of LeBron James or Anthony Davis.

But it is working at the collegiate level, and he will be chasing yet another championship this season.