While UConn’s success under Dan Hurley is undeniable, Mark Titus would prefer winning titles with a coach who isn't a jerk. Credit: ‘The Mark Titus Show’ on YouTube
By Sam Neumann on

Dan Hurley isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

He’s the perfect villain for college basketball, but that doesn’t mean he tickles the fancy of those who don’t root for the team located in Storrs, Connecticut. In fact, his recent behavior and the way he talks to officials — which Jeff Goodman called “disgusting” — have come into question, as his UConn Huskies look to become the first team to three-peat since John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins won seven consecutive NCAA titles.

But in getting there, Hurley has rubbed many people the wrong way. After a rare win over Creighton in Omaha, Hurley taunted Bluejays’ fans, pointing to his ring fingers and mentioning that, oh, by the way, he has two rings. He has every right to respond, but he’s also Dan Hurley.

And Gus Johnson wouldn’t change a thing about him. But Mark Titus would.

“UConn fans will tell you that that’s what makes them good, I guess,” Titus explained on The Mark Titus Show. “The ‘fake it until you make it’ type attitude, where if he’s carrying himself like he’s still the champ, then does that bleed into the locker room and the players’ confidence, and they’re like, ‘Yeah, we are the best team in the country.’ You want your guys believing they’re the best in the country.”

But at what expense?

“I do know that UConn fans love him,” the former Ohio State basketball walk-on, who joined Barstool in 2023, said. “I would push back on the idea that, like, every time you have a coach who’s an asshole or rough around the edges or is a Dan Hurley-type, it doesn’t have to be exactly in that personality, but just a controversial guy who’s coaching your team. Every fanbase says, ‘If he was your coach, you would love him,’ and I think that’s a cop-out — that’s not true.

“I’m being honest; of course, I’d want the winning. UConn fans are going to hear me say that and they’re going to be like, ‘Oh, I bet you enjoy not making the tournament then. ‘You’re telling me you’d rather not make the tournament than win back-to-back national titles?’ No, I’m telling you I’d rather win back-to-back national titles with, like, not an asshole. I’d rather do it with a guy who doesn’t f*cking suck. But, at the same time, UConn fans love him, and he does embody that whole idea of — that area of the country loves guys like that.”

For Titus, it’s not about winning at all costs; it’s about doing it with a coach who doesn’t rub everyone the wrong way. He’d take the back-to-back titles, sure, but he’d rather win with a guy who doesn’t come off as a jerk. And while Hurley might embody that “tough-guy” mentality loved by fans in the northeast, Titus doesn’t think it should be a requirement for success.

In his eyes, winning doesn’t need to come with all the baggage Hurley brings along with it.

But UConn fans will accept it and love Hurley for who he is as long as he keeps winning.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann