For Dan Hurley, his aggressive coaching style hasn’t been optional. Ever since he has stepped foot on the hardwood, he has worn his aggression on his sleeve. We have seen glimpses of it quite frequently, especially in his confrontations with referees, making him a hot topic on the front page and the subject of criticism. Now, a former Duke player has shared his unhinged perspective on UConn’s coach’s tactics.

Jay Bilas, a former Duke player and current analyst, recently decoded Hurley’s coaching tactics at UConn. During his conversation, Bilas claimed that Hurley is “weird and cool” but not truly polarizing in that sense. “I’m not sure I would necessarily buy into the idea of Dan being polarizing cause I don’t think he is,” Bilas said. “I think he’s really quirky, but he’s old school. His practices won’t be any different if you went to a practice 30 or 40 years ago, where there wasn’t much sensitivity to what people refer to as hard coaching.”

“I don’t think college sports shouldn’t be like an office setting, it doesn’t need to be full metal jacket either. I think that Dan walks that line really well. Now, could he behave better with officials, and like that, yeah, he could. He’s a high character person, and we don’t have as many characters as we used to,” Bilas added.

Bilas was spot-on with his assessment. Hurley has never been about style and charisma on the court; it’s about discipline and aggression. And what he demands is that his players push their limits on the court in an old-school fashion. Oftentimes, he might get carried away in the process while on the sidelines, lashing out at officials and his players, but that’s a part of his natural element, and he doesn’t push any of it.

Jay Bilas isn’t the only one who has found this balance in Hurley’s coaching methods, though. His NCAAB counterpart, Tom Izzo, also echoed the same sentiment for the UConn coach last week.

“Danny is, if you want to say old school, I hate that term. I say right school; he’s as old school a young guy as you can get,” Izzo said. “I love Danny Hurley. Not because it’s a love-fest. Not because I have to say the right things. He’s not afraid of saying what he has to say to the players he has. He’s even better, to me, that he takes it to the officials.”

The blunt nature of Dan Hurley has also been his Achilles heel at times, especially during his recent standoffs with officials, as Bilas mentioned. The most recent one came during the UConn-Duke Elite Eight, when Hurley got into a head-to-head with referee Roger Ayers. Several claimed that Hurley should have received a technical. But for Hurley, it was just a celebratory moment of his team’s win.

And Hurley had enough reasons to be elated following the game, given his team had clinched a place in the Final Four right away, courtesy of a buzzer-beater from Braylon Mullins. And for Hurley, the celebration seemed perfect because that’s what he is: a bundle of passion for the sport and for winning, which he doesn’t shy away from showing on the sidelines.

Furthermore, this is the style that has given him so much success over the years. Winning back-to-back National titles with UConn and solidifying their status further as a Big East powerhouse is no easy feat within eight years. And when the opportunity is knocking on the doors for a third National Championship title, Dan Hurley is yet again leaning towards that same mentality.

Dan Hurley Pinpoints UConn’s Mentality Going Into the Final Four Game

For Dan Hurley and UConn, the stakes will be immensely high on Saturday in the Final Four. They are facing an Illinois team that has been statistically similar almost all metrics. Moreover, the Fighting Illini are a more formidable offensive team this season than UConn, and they are playing without any chip on their shoulders.

And quite naturally, for a team of UConn’s stature, the pressure would be immense, given it’s a must-win matchup to validate their season. But for Hurley, his team is prepared regardless of any situation or outside noise. “The mentality is pretty much the same. It’s not a situation where there’s, like, more pressure or less pressure [because] you’re the favorite [or] you’re considered the fourth favorite,” Hurley said.

“For us, you’re just so dialed into how you prepare for games at this point. What doesn’t get measured when you’re dealing with teams and efficiencies is the will, the fight, a team’s refusal to lose games,” the UConn head coach added.

This again reflects what Dan Hurley’s coaching book conveys: irrespective of the situation, he just wants to win. The Duke game in the Elite Eight was again a similar example. A high-flying Blue Devils team went into the game as the favorites, but Hurley’s team managed to sail past them in a tightrope game.

For Hurley, the percentages don’t matter. Even in the Illinois game, the Huskies are going as underdogs as per ESPN analysis. The Huskies just have a 41.1% chance of winning the game. But with the Huskies peaking at the right time, the Fighting Illini are far from being in a comfortable space.

The game will tip off on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium at 6:09 p.m. ET. What are your expectations from this game? Can Dan Hurley lead his team to yet another Championship game? Or will they succumb under the burden of their expectations? Do let us know in the comments.