PHILADELPHIA — One coach has thrown his suit jacket, sarcastically applauded referees’ calls and stomped a good 10 feet onto the court to earn a technical foul.
The other coach might consider all that tame, having compared his latest meltdown to Chernobyl.
Fans could be as riveted by what happens on the sideline as what transpires on the court Sunday evening inside Xfinity Mobile Arena.
UCLA coach Mick Cronin and UConn counterpart Dan Hurley are two of the most animated — to put it nicely — figures in college basketball heading into their teams’ second-round showdown in the NCAA Tournament
Expect plenty of yelling. Lobbying officials. Barking at their own players.
And that’s just before the first TV timeout.
Anticipating what might unfold, fans have called it must-see TV on social media. They’ve wondered how many technical fouls might be called on coaches known more for din than zen.
Both coaches have faced criticism for a lack of restraint when dealing with officials and sometimes their own players.
“What are you talking about?” Cronin deadpanned Saturday when a reporter asked about the scrutiny of the coaches’ sideline demeanor, prompting laughter from the reporters in the room.
Told that criticism mostly came from the national media, Cronin called it “ridiculous.”
“Everybody needs to get a life, bro,” Cronin continued. “Get a life, man. Come on, man. Get a life, bro. You want to win big? But you think Coach Hurley is not supposed to be intense, but you want to win? Come on, man. We’re not coaching Little League, buddy. Everybody doesn’t get an at-bat. Come on, man. Paying us a lot of money to win games.”
Hurley echoed that sentiment, rattling off the names of elite coaches Nick Saban, Curt Cignetti and Jay Wright in saying that the best teams demand a high level of accountability.
“Holding 18-, 19-, 20-year-old young men to those standards on a daily basis is what forges championship teams,” Hurley said. “It’s also what helps develop strong men that will enter the adult world and be successful people, be able to not only function at a high level, but be productive, be successful, lead productive lives.”
The coaches’ answers showed their level of introspection in calmer moments. Cronin also flashed his sense of humor when he interrupted a reporter asking about the common traits between the coaches.
“Hair?” Cronin said, triggering more laughter.
Maybe it’s no coincidence that both coaches have none given their sideline antics.
Hurley was ejected in the final seconds of a recent loss to Marquette after confronting an official within bad-breath distance, an exchange that earned him a $25,000 fine from the Big East Conference.
“My Chernobyl at the end of the game as it was ending was just incredible frustration,” Hurley would explain later, referencing the Russian nuclear reactor meltdown.
Cronin was widely panned for throwing Steven Jamerson II out of a game for thinking the backup center was trying to hurt Michigan State’s Carson Cooper with a hard foul. (The coach later apologized to Jamerson, explaining that he didn’t get a good initial look at the play.)
In the midst of a tough stretch earlier this season, Cronin received a call from former Notre Dame coach Mike Brey.
The message? You have nothing to prove.
“You already won by being where you’re at,” Cronin said Brey told him. “But it’s tough because in the moment, the competitive spirit that you see out of Dan and myself is why we are where we are.”
Surface similarities aren’t the only ties between these coaching staffs.
Cronin said he was close friends with Kimani Young, the Huskies’ associate head coach. UCLA assistant coach Darren Savino grew up on the same block in Jersey City, New Jersey, as brothers Dan and Bobby Hurley, bonding over sports.
“I ruined his Little League baseball career,” Savino cracked of Dan Hurley, “because I would smack home runs off him when he was pitching.”
Countered Hurley: “It was a big home run that I gave up to Darren. I don’t think it was multiple home runs. … Appreciate Darren sharing that.”
Both Cronin and Hurley — the sons of hardened high school coaches — are intensely driven, having joked about jumping off bridges after losses.
“If you don’t like me,” Hurley quipped, “you’d hate my dad. I’d say Mick would say the same thing.”
Maybe that passion is part of the reason they win so often, buffering them from even more heat.
UConn won back-to-back national championships in 2023 and ‘24. Cronin banked plenty of goodwill with an unexpected Final Four run in 2021, though he hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament’s second weekend since getting knocked out of the Sweet 16 in 2023.
That puts increased pressure on Cronin to beat the Huskies; otherwise his last three seasons will have ended with a missed NCAA Tournament berth followed by two consecutive second-round exits.
That’s not good enough at the program John Wooden led to 10 national titles in 12 years.
“The standard is real,” Cronin said. “I think it’s not for the faint of heart. But I wanted it. I left a place that I loved, my alma mater, for the chance to sit in a seat at UCLA. So it’s been everything I’ve dreamt it would be.
“Our recruiting advantages of weather, campus, tradition, Pauley Pavilion — we have an unbelievable practice facility — all went out the window when it came to pay-for-play, but you have to keep fighting on.”
Fortunately for the Bruins, they have a coach perfectly suited to do so.
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