ramster wrote:Only thing, URI'21, is that a HC will always be leaving players behind if he every leaves for another job
I think in this case he had his 5 Seniors (including his program building Medical Redshirt EC Mathews) to see through to graduation
I kind of thought if he was going to leave in the next 5 years or so this year would be especially vulnerable - and it was
You're totally right and make a great point, but I still find it very very odd.
Hurley put so much emphasis on loving his players and thinking of them as a true family, and not a fake one like other teams do.
ATPTourFan wrote:I wish Dan was still our coach, but he is not.
There are other ways to interpret this quote without working in absolutes:
Hurley -- 'It's also a time for college coaches in general to understand their role in young people's lives. It's not about winning championships and making as much money as you can in your own personal career. Coaching used to be an educator, a mentor, a teacher.' #URI
Dan literally has not chased the dollar his entire career. Certainly not as St Benedicts coach for 9 years. His entry to D1 head coaching at Wagner and the shocking reality of low 1 bid leagues was the motivation to try a school like URI in a league like the A10. While at URI, twice he was courted hard by Rutgers, and other schools showed interest (St Johns, GTown, etc) to some degree. If he was in this for fast cash he would have taken that second Rutgers offer a few years ago. He did not. Instead he used these opportunities to pull the University up the stairs with him to new levels of commitment and performance. He stayed at Rhode Island with Hass, EC, Jared, Jarvis and others. Together, they all earned NCAA tournament and championship experiences. He gave us, the fans, championship experiences -- as promised.
Now after doing so, one of his dream jobs becomes available. This job opening provided the least disruption to his family based on proximity and provides him the chance to make his last move and see what he can do without any limitations. Had UConn not opened, he'd still be our coach. He wasn't going to Pitt even with $3.5M offers.
Dan Hurley was and continues to be an educator, mentor and teacher. He will play a key role in the lives of those kids at UConn well beyond preparing them for professional careers.
My feelings on this would be completely different had he gone to a Seton Hall, Rutgers, Pitt for the big payday -- especially if he left before fulfilling promises made here. Dan Hurley leaves URI in an excellent position to continue this arc of winning consistently and winning bigger. He literally delivered on every single promise made the day he was hired. He made the University and State proud the way the team played on the court and represented themselves off the court.
We are poised to experience a clean continuation of success like we've never seen with this basketball program. At massively successful programs like Xavier, they found the formula where cultivating highly talented coaches within their staff is the best way to provide continuous program growth and success. Thadd Matta succeeded by Sean Miller who had never been a head coach. Sean Miller succeeded by Chris Mack who had never been a head coach. Dan Hurley has left URI with this excellent option at a time when administration and fan support is at its highest level in 2 decades.
This is a great time to be a Rhode Island Rams fan. Go Rhody!
I’m with ATP on this. A+ post!
Bleed Keaney Blue!
”I'm not coming there to be in the top 3 of the Atlantic 10. I'm coming to win the damn thing!”
No matter when you leave, you always leave somebody. By URI'21's logic, every college coach has to stay at their first job until they're fired.
I am disappointed that Dan left and kind of pissed about how I think it went down compared to what they are all saying about it publicly, and I'm not 100% convinced that UConn was always so revered in his mind as opposed to that being a replacement justification for "URI wouldn't step up with the investment" that was being set up in the days before. But that's all part of this business and it doesn't make Dan Hurley a worse guy than any other coach in college basketball. I think some of the saltiness here is justified but let's not get too carried away.
Some of what makes this so tough for so many fans is that so many of them bought into a narrative that was always really just branding. At the end, people that bought it are either mad that they were fooled or making up new excuses for how it could have always been true and still is despite the pretty obvious contradictions.
I'll always appreciate Dan Hurley as a basketball coach and for what he did for this program. The mythmaking part of it was never the appeal for me. If he had wanted to be here with us, I'd have rode with him til the wheels fell off. But he didn't, so I'm good to move on. Not super interested in trashing his legacy or his attacking his character OR making excuses for him at this point. He's the coach at Connecticut. Not my problem.
"If you build it, they will come." --Us, circa 2011
1) UCONN was his dream job. There were 2-3 jobs in the country he would leave URI for. TRUE. 3 Jobs, and the other two have more national championships than UConn.
2) He had a list of these 2-3 jobs TRUE, those closest to Dan were aware of the 3 jobs, UConn being one.
3) Dan said on Monday night he was deciding between UCONN and Pitt but then Thorr came with an unbelievable offer
Interviewed with each school. URI's offer was more than all of us would have imagined they could do. What looked like an easier choice (UConn) was now a difficult one.
4) How could he interview for TWO jobs on the 2nd day after coaching URI vs Duke if there were only 2-3 jobs IN THE COUNTRY that he would leave for? UConn was one of 3 jobs on his list and it was available and they needed to move quickly. The other two jobs are not in any risk of losing their head coaches. We know his agent always makes him listen to big offers to set market value. Pitt was not being seriously considered -- UConn was. (it was on the his list).
5) It’s not about the money. It isn't, but money comes with this class of destination job. How many times does Dan need to turn down easy quick big money for us to understand it's not even close to the primary driver in his decision making?
ATP, maybe my post was too long and the point was missed. Your responses were all UCONN.
Why did he interview for Pitt job? Why did he say it was between UCONN and Pitt on Monday night?
Was Pitt also on the list of 2-3 team? I say bullshit that they were.
I also believe Dan wouldve left for Pitt if the UCONN job wasn’t offered.
Not saying he didn't listen or use Pit for leverage...I'm sure he did...I just don't think he was ever going there (in response to 83 post that "Dan would've left for Pitt if the UCONN job wasn’t offered")
1) UCONN was his dream job. There were 2-3 jobs in the country he would leave URI for. TRUE. 3 Jobs, and the other two have more national championships than UConn.
2) He had a list of these 2-3 jobs TRUE, those closest to Dan were aware of the 3 jobs, UConn being one.
3) Dan said on Monday night he was deciding between UCONN and Pitt but then Thorr came with an unbelievable offer
Interviewed with each school. URI's offer was more than all of us would have imagined they could do. What looked like an easier choice (UConn) was now a difficult one.
4) How could he interview for TWO jobs on the 2nd day after coaching URI vs Duke if there were only 2-3 jobs IN THE COUNTRY that he would leave for? UConn was one of 3 jobs on his list and it was available and they needed to move quickly. The other two jobs are not in any risk of losing their head coaches. We know his agent always makes him listen to big offers to set market value. Pitt was not being seriously considered -- UConn was. (it was on the his list).
5) It’s not about the money. It isn't, but money comes with this class of destination job. How many times does Dan need to turn down easy quick big money for us to understand it's not even close to the primary driver in his decision making?
ATP, maybe my post was too long and the point was missed. Your responses were all UCONN.
Why did he interview for Pitt job? Why did he say it was between UCONN and Pitt on Monday night?
Was Pitt also on the list of 2-3 team? I say bullshit that they were.
I also believe Dan wouldve left for Pitt if the UCONN job wasn’t offered.
83,
Did Pittsburgh offer 3.5 million per year? Is that right?
1) UCONN was his dream job. There were 2-3 jobs in the country he would leave URI for. TRUE. 3 Jobs, and the other two have more national championships than UConn.
2) He had a list of these 2-3 jobs TRUE, those closest to Dan were aware of the 3 jobs, UConn being one.
3) Dan said on Monday night he was deciding between UCONN and Pitt but then Thorr came with an unbelievable offer
Interviewed with each school. URI's offer was more than all of us would have imagined they could do. What looked like an easier choice (UConn) was now a difficult one.
4) How could he interview for TWO jobs on the 2nd day after coaching URI vs Duke if there were only 2-3 jobs IN THE COUNTRY that he would leave for? UConn was one of 3 jobs on his list and it was available and they needed to move quickly. The other two jobs are not in any risk of losing their head coaches. We know his agent always makes him listen to big offers to set market value. Pitt was not being seriously considered -- UConn was. (it was on the his list).
5) It’s not about the money. It isn't, but money comes with this class of destination job. How many times does Dan need to turn down easy quick big money for us to understand it's not even close to the primary driver in his decision making?
ATP, maybe my post was too long and the point was missed. Your responses were all UCONN.
Why did he interview for Pitt job? Why did he say it was between UCONN and Pitt on Monday night?
Was Pitt also on the list of 2-3 team? I say bullshit that they were.
I also believe Dan wouldve left for Pitt if the UCONN job wasn’t offered.
83,
Did Pittsburgh offer 3.5 million per year? Is that right?
19.5 million for 6 years is what Pitt offered? Coaching in the ACC.
I would have taken this over UCONN.
But I agree 83, Hurley was ready to go. He would have taken the 19.5 million if UCONN hadn’t popped.
rambone 78 wrote:Wonder if he told anybody during his time here [not at the very end of course] that UConn was one of his dream jobs.
Did Dan have Thorr and Dooley duped?
ramster, I heard Pitt offered 3.5 for 8 years. Dan wanted UConn to close in on that, and they did.
If they didn't, my guess is 50-50 he stays or takes the Pitt job.
Oh well...he's going to find out that the AAC isn't the old BE.....and if he doesn't improve his end game coaching he might not be there too long.
He didn't say it to me, I'd be lying if I said he did. But since I expressed my skepticism about it here a couple of hours ago, I've heard from multiple people offline to let me know he did in fact express that there were three jobs that he didn't feel he could turn down, and UConn was one of them. Still cannot verify that, but I'm more inclined to believe based on who reached out to me. If what I was told is true, the other two might be the two best jobs in the country and are so unlikely to be open that I think if the UConn job didn't open when it did then he may have been at URI forever. Oh well.
"If you build it, they will come." --Us, circa 2011
Reading through some ten month old posts about UConn, it seems we were advised that UConn was a position of high significance to Dan Hurley. My own distaste for UConn and personal biases made me totally discount this. I suspect most all of us did ( but not reef!).
This post in the Calhoun at Stop and Shop thread is noteworthy:
I am not questioning that UCONN was on his list. However, if you put together all of Dan’s comments you will find holes.
Someone with knowlwdge of the list should post the other 2 schools. Let’s compare those 2 schools with his comment that “he would never take a job outside the Northeast”. Or that “he knew he had to make one more move”.
Dan and his agent know the PR game. They play it well.
If you think the only realistic move Dan would have ever made to leave Rhody was UCONN, you are fooling yourself.
I can think of 3.5 million reasons per year why he would. Plus he hadn’t even upped the ante yet with Pitt.
ACC vs AAC? Why he would stay at URI would astound me. He came close to taking the Rutgers job so why all of a sudden is it only 3 jobs he would consider?
I think he should have taken the Pitt job over UCONN right now. How would I not want to be playing Duke, UNC, Syracuse, Florida State, Clemson, NCState, etc? Strange indeed to me. East Carolina? Tulsa? Tulane? Not even close between the two conferences. Almost like UCONN would be a stepping stone to a job in the ACC and he turned it down. Don’t try to explain it to me because I will never get passing on the ACC .
He said he would never take a rebuild again. You can argue that UCONN is not as big a rebuild as URI was but then he did not think URI was as big a rebuild as he originally thought.
Can’t at this point in time have an over abundance of trust in what comes from what the man says.
ramster, if you have read anything I’ve written since Tuesday, you will know that you won’t get much of an argument from me on your last point. But I think taking UConn over Pitt does prove a few things: he really wanted to coach at UConn, he really wasn’t going for every last dollar, and that he really likes living in this part of the country. So you could extrapolate those same reasons out for why he would have chosen URI over Pitt. I don’t know how close he was to taking the Rutgers job, but supposedly it was closer than we thought at the time. However, URI at that time was not what it is right now, either. I think going to UConn disproves a lot of the narrative and mythology that built up around Hurley during his time here, particularly with respect to building a program the right way and with the right values - UConn is as dirty of a program and culture as you will find in the sport, IMO - but it doesn’t disprove the idea that there were three jobs he would have left URI for and UConn was one of them. He swears it and people around him have said it. Obviously nobody can prove that and I’m not sure how much it matters at this point. But I do not believe he’d have taken the Pitt job. You can believe whatever you want.
"If you build it, they will come." --Us, circa 2011
ramster wrote:I can think of 3.5 million reasons per year why he would. Plus he hadn’t even upped the ante yet with Pitt.
ACC vs AAC? Why he would stay at URI would astound me. He came close to taking the Rutgers job so why all of a sudden is it only 3 jobs he would consider?
I think he should have taken the Pitt job over UCONN right now. How would I not want to be playing Duke, UNC, Syracuse, Florida State, Clemson, NCState, etc? Strange indeed to me. East Carolina? Tulsa? Tulane? Not even close between the two conferences. Almost like UCONN would be a stepping stone to a job in the ACC and he turned it down. Don’t try to explain it to me because I will never get passing on the ACC .
He said he would never take a rebuild again. You can argue that UCONN is not as big a rebuild as URI was but then he did not think URI was as big a rebuild as he originally thought.
Can’t at this point in time have an over abundance of trust in what comes from what the man says.
Perhaps he didn't have the confidence in himself to bring Pitt into the upper echelon of the ACC. The UConn job seems easier by comparison, and his ego can still be stoked in a conference similar to the A10. I loved everything that happened at URI while Dan was here and certainly supported him, but I don't see him as a great coach.
Was there enough talk of the Uconn brand for the naysayers to realize just winning isn’t enough. Fwiw there are already 2 billboards on CT highways emblazoned with a “Welcome Dan” message. It’s not the medium (billboards), it’s the big time feel it evokes. Hopefully as part of our transition to the next coach we also embark on some sophisticated upleveling of how we market the program, the team, the players.
The advantage that a UConn has is that it is the only big dog in a bigger state than RI, whereas URI has to share a small state with another school who is in higher league. When you are in that position, you have to do "more" all the time and URI has never responded appropriately to that reality. When you question this approach, you always get the lack of money excuse and Catch-22 reasoning. Hopefully the offer to get Hurley to stay indicates a real change in the URI approach.
ramster wrote:I can think of 3.5 million reasons per year why he would. Plus he hadn’t even upped the ante yet with Pitt.
ACC vs AAC? Why he would stay at URI would astound me. He came close to taking the Rutgers job so why all of a sudden is it only 3 jobs he would consider?
I think he should have taken the Pitt job over UCONN right now. How would I not want to be playing Duke, UNC, Syracuse, Florida State, Clemson, NCState, etc? Strange indeed to me. East Carolina? Tulsa? Tulane? Not even close between the two conferences. Almost like UCONN would be a stepping stone to a job in the ACC and he turned it down. Don’t try to explain it to me because I will never get passing on the ACC .
He said he would never take a rebuild again. You can argue that UCONN is not as big a rebuild as URI was but then he did not think URI was as big a rebuild as he originally thought.
Can’t at this point in time have an over abundance of trust in what comes from what the man says.
Perhaps he didn't have the confidence in himself to bring Pitt into the upper echelon of the ACC. The UConn job seems easier by comparison, and his ego can still be stoked in a conference similar to the A10. I loved everything that happened at URI while Dan was here and certainly supported him, but I don't see him as a great coach.
I think he has enough confidence in himself to meet any challenge...I don't think lack of confidence had anything to do with not going to Pitt. He just wasn't going there...He was (I think, and no one has told me this, so remember...just a nitwit on a board) going to stay in the NE (Pitts is not in the NE) or a place like UConn, Duke, UNC or Syracuse...and...good for him on that, that he got to make the choice that he wanted...
I gotta believe as a resident of Connecticut there has to be more to this offer. My gut tells me that UCONN has a lead into a different conference in the next few years. If anyone watched Swin Cash during the March Madness reports - she said UCONN's problem isn't Kevin Ollie - it's the AAC. I have to believe that someone is whispering the strong possibility that UCONN changes conferences in the near future.
It is killing them.
This is why I think Danny took the job. I also think Danny's knows that the possibility of a RHODY team winning a National Championship is slim. I think UCONN has higher odds right now - barely ....but if they get into one of the better conferences - those odds go way up.
Got to disagree with that premise FIGI. Forget the BigEast as there is no way Uconn goes independent in football or gives up the sport. The ACC and Big10 are both maxed out and do not need another team to share in their TV revenue and have no need for a very poor football program
I think that Dan's move was a repudiation of his father who stayed at a prep school for his career even though he had many high paying offers. I am not sure about the ages of his sons but he put his desires in front of their well being - something his dad was unwilling to do for him and Bobby. Whether Dan was making $1M or $3M will have little impact on the lifestyle of his family but staying at URI would have provided a more stable environment for his family. It will be interesting in seeing how it works out.
TruePoint wrote:No matter when you leave, you always leave somebody. By URI'21's logic, every college coach has to stay at their first job until they're fired.
You're straw-manning me. Hurley lied to us about staying if we showed our dedication to the basketball program. He also called his players true family, and then left for a bigger job a week later.
Of course he did amazing things with our program and we all should be very thankful, but that doesn't change the fact that Hurley was dishonest to us.
I don't see the appeal in defending a man who led us on to believe he was serious about staying
I think if you read what I've said here over the last week, you'll not be able to say I'm just defending the guy. Or that I'm going after him. My thoughts about Hurley at this point are complicated. And I don't need to try to paraphrase them here - I've put almost all of them down on these pages.
"If you build it, they will come." --Us, circa 2011
Rhody72 wrote:I think that Dan's move was a repudiation of his father who stayed at a prep school for his career even though he had many high paying offers. I am not sure about the ages of his sons but he put his desires in front of their well being - something his dad was unwilling to do for him and Bobby. Whether Dan was making $1M or $3M will have little impact on the lifestyle of his family but staying at URI would have provided a more stable environment for his family. It will be interesting in seeing how it works out.
His oldest son is a student at Seton Hall (no impact on him). His youngest son is a Fr at Hendricken and the impact on him is probably minor.
A rumor I heard is that there is a nice home for the coach on the Storrs campus....
F*ck Alacki, DarthFriar, DirtyBeanFriar94, xCoachK, Boxworth, Friar Faithful, bicycleicycle, Matt_Keough, Patrick Norton, the Rosato brothers, and especially Benjamin Lord !
My note to Dan Hurley would include, "how about a home and home in a couple of years? Would help both get a good opponent." I actually mentioned it to the one UConn grad I know, I he likes the idea. He says he has an interest in Rhody and doesn't want to see them fall back down. Not sure if he as a UConn fan is an aberration or not.
Bleed Keaney Blue!
”I'm not coming there to be in the top 3 of the Atlantic 10. I'm coming to win the damn thing!”
ramster wrote:I can think of 3.5 million reasons per year why he would. Plus he hadn’t even upped the ante yet with Pitt.
ACC vs AAC? Why he would stay at URI would astound me. He came close to taking the Rutgers job so why all of a sudden is it only 3 jobs he would consider?
I think he should have taken the Pitt job over UCONN right now. How would I not want to be playing Duke, UNC, Syracuse, Florida State, Clemson, NCState, etc? Strange indeed to me. East Carolina? Tulsa? Tulane? Not even close between the two conferences. Almost like UCONN would be a stepping stone to a job in the ACC and he turned it down. Don’t try to explain it to me because I will never get passing on the ACC .
He said he would never take a rebuild again. You can argue that UCONN is not as big a rebuild as URI was but then he did not think URI was as big a rebuild as he originally thought.
Can’t at this point in time have an over abundance of trust in what comes from what the man says.
Perhaps he didn't have the confidence in himself to bring Pitt into the upper echelon of the ACC. The UConn job seems easier by comparison, and his ego can still be stoked in a conference similar to the A10. I loved everything that happened at URI while Dan was here and certainly supported him, but I don't see him as a great coach.
I think he has enough confidence in himself to meet any challenge...I don't think lack of confidence had anything to do with not going to Pitt. He just wasn't going there...He was (I think, and no one has told me this, so remember...just a nitwit on a board) going to stay in the NE (Pitts is not in the NE) or a place like UConn, Duke, UNC or Syracuse...and...good for him on that, that he got to make the choice that he wanted...
Straight from the horses mouth.
“I thought long and hard about (Pitt),” Hurley said. “I just felt like passing up the dream was too hard.”
Thank you, Sir, for taking this job. Many of us will be eternally grateful, and I mean that. You gave us a foundation, you gave us hope, you gave us excitement. NO REGRETS WHATSOEVER.
You go out there and do your best with zero regret, guilt, or remorse. I wish you well. You left us better off than we were, and gave us some unforgettable moments to remember along the way. Would we do it again if we could... A. In a heartbeat.
Know that we have to take it from here. We accept the baton. Everything else from this point on, sink or swim, is on us, and won't tarnish your legacy one iota, no matter what happens.
Perhaps he didn't have the confidence in himself to bring Pitt into the upper echelon of the ACC. The UConn job seems easier by comparison, and his ego can still be stoked in a conference similar to the A10. I loved everything that happened at URI while Dan was here and certainly supported him, but I don't see him as a great coach.
I think he has enough confidence in himself to meet any challenge...I don't think lack of confidence had anything to do with not going to Pitt. He just wasn't going there...He was (I think, and no one has told me this, so remember...just a nitwit on a board) going to stay in the NE (Pitts is not in the NE) or a place like UConn, Duke, UNC or Syracuse...and...good for him on that, that he got to make the choice that he wanted...
Straight from the horses mouth.
“I thought long and hard about (Pitt),” Hurley said. “I just felt like passing up the dream was too hard.”
I understand he "said" he thought long and hard about Pitt...he probably did...for leverage...I mean...because...math.
But I don't think there was any shot (zero) that he was going there... just my opinion.
NYGFan_Section208 wrote:
I think he has enough confidence in himself to meet any challenge...I don't think lack of confidence had anything to do with not going to Pitt. He just wasn't going there...He was (I think, and no one has told me this, so remember...just a nitwit on a board) going to stay in the NE (Pitts is not in the NE) or a place like UConn, Duke, UNC or Syracuse...and...good for him on that, that he got to make the choice that he wanted...
Straight from the horses mouth.
“I thought long and hard about (Pitt),” Hurley said. “I just felt like passing up the dream was too hard.”
I understand he "said" he thought long and hard about Pitt...he probably did...for leverage...I mean...because...math.
But I don't think there was any shot (zero) that he was going there... just my opinion.
I don't doubt Dan considered Pitt (though it would fly in the face of the master conspiracy theory on here that UConn was a settled matter mid-season).
Anyone that thinks Pitt was a serious landing spot for Dan and his family does not know/has never talked to his wife.
If you say you’re a Rhody fan, I know you are my brother. For you have suffered as I have suffered.
steviep123 wrote:My note to Dan Hurley would include, "how about a home and home in a couple of years? Would help both get a good opponent." I actually mentioned it to the one UConn grad I know, I he likes the idea. He says he has an interest in Rhody and doesn't want to see them fall back down. Not sure if he as a UConn fan is an aberration or not.
I’ve actually thought more about this.
As a kid I hated uConn more than pc
Post 1978 of course Friartown become the hatred front runner.
So I’ll begrudgingly accept a home and home vs the slimey dawgs
Only because it would drive Friartown nuts.
That accomplishment is most important
We're gonna run the picket fence at "em.....now boys don't get caught watchin' the paint dry!
