Whenever Dan Hurley calls seeking peace of mind, which he does quite often, the priest rarely knows where the conversation will go. But there’s one thing he understands for sure: how it will end. In an exasperated voice, Hurley trails off into, “All right, Father,” and then the line usually goes dead. That’s the kind of situation Hurley was caught in when struggling with mental health. But the hardest part? Opening up, especially to his father.

On the October 9th episode of ‘The Mental Game’ podcast, Hurley broke his silence on his mental health. He also shared how he approached that “huge moment” with his parents. “I mean, it was tough for me to differentiate between coach and father,” Hurley revealed.

Growing up in Jersey came with its own set of pros and cons. Robert Hurley Sr. has secured 28 state championships and three USA Today National Coach of the Year titles. The UConn coach believes himself to be a testament to what an incredible coach he was, and so has his respect. But on the downside, it had set an impossibly high bar of expectations for him.

“The way to build a life out of that environment is through excellence in something—either you become a great student or you become great in some type of activity, in sports,” he added. For Hurley, the situation was even harder since his college coach was also his father. That phase was the most difficult for Hurley. He reveals he’d stay in the room all day. Was unable to eat, sleep, or even face his friends.

And when it came to opening up, he says, “It was more of a me issue than a him issue.” But once Hurley opened up, it worked wonders for his relationship with his dad. “A lot of times it went from Coach/Father-Son to just straight Father-Son, and it took some courage for me to be able to have that conversation.” And he’s right. It would’ve been much easier to keep everything bottled up, but it took real courage to open up, which Hurley did.

Carrying the family name wasn’t easy for him.

Despite his success with consecutive NCAA victories, Hurley was terrified of the pressure from his parents—especially Bob, his father and coach, who could be brutal at times, always pushing for perfection. Bob’s goal was to ensure that his family’s name was nothing less than a shining gold.

And it wasn’t just limited to on-court dynamics. “Back then, you had to get your quizzes and tests signed by your parents, especially if you did bad. So, s**t, I would be so scared. I’d try to forge my old man’s name because I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m showing my dad a 71 on a math test.’ That’s what the standard was,” Hurley shared on JJ Redick’s podcast previously.

But it wasn’t all bad for Hurley. No one can deny the impact his dad’s level of strictness had on him. As a perfectionist, Bob led St. Anthony to a No. 2 national ranking, rarely losing a game. And as Hurley admitted, it wasn’t really his dad’s fault—it was more of an issue with him. In fact, this led him to know how to battle mental health issues.