If you’ve never attended a UConn men’s basketball game in person, just look up pictures of Dan Hurley. Unless he’s sitting for a press day, the majority of pictures show him screaming at something. They could be positive or negative but his stressed face is a constant. He believes in superstitions as any good athlete does but the tension of a game can get to anyone. This season, as the coach tries to repeat history, he’s taking inspiration from the Chicago Bulls.

On the Locked On UConn podcast, Mark Zanetto refers to the mindset the current Huskies are going to have to win another championship. “We’re in dynasty mode…I didn’t know this but Hurley’s got every player wearing a bracelet that says ‘dynasty’. That’s the mindset he’s pushing on everyone. Embrace it,” Zanetto says.

Then he reveals another tactic Hurley is using, “He played everyone a huge feature video highlighting the Chicago Bulls’ three peat before the first practice of the offseason.” No team in the NBA had ever come back from being down 0-3 to win in the playoffs. The Bulls did it in the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals to get their first three-peat.

Just like the trio of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman dominated the team’s victories, Hurley believes UConn has the advantage of a rotation of players every season. While these three were constant in Chicago, what the UConn chief does is bring together players that fit each other’s styles. And he believes that’s exactly what makes the Huskies worthy of being called a dynasty.

“Look at that definition, which I can’t pull from my brain right now, but look at Webster or what have you,” Dan Hurley said in September. “It’s like a succession of rulers. For us, it’s even more fitting for. Unlike other dynasties that have kept the same players, for us it would truly be a succession of rulers because it’s all different people who would have created a three-peat. A true dynasty. So it’s, are you guys truly the next rulers of college basketball? Our mindset is, yes, we will be.”

So maybe Zanetto had it right when he said that if you want a Michael Jordan fan fired up, show them a Chicago Bulls highlight reel. The same will hopefully go for Dan Hurley’s boys, who might be a mishmash of players but they respect the coach. Alex Karaban said the UConn head for hungrier this season, more intense than ever. But if you want to follow in legend John Wooden’s footsteps, that’s the mindset that will be needed.

However, just in case, Hurley still has some of his superstitions to carry him. Just like Michael Jordan wanted to wear new shoes with every game, the back-to-back NCAA champion coach also has some things in place.

How fire-breathing dragons and certain colored M&Ms helped Dan Hurley win

Two seasons ago, when UConn celebrated getting into the Final Four for the first time since 2014, Dan Hurley’s wife revealed a hilarious secret about the big man. During the team’s first four wins in 2022-23’s NCAA tournament, Hurley wore the same pair of fire-breathing dragon underwear, Andrea Hurley, told the New York Post in March 2023. “They’re like Underoos for adults.” As we now know, the Huskies ended up winning the championship.

Exactly a year later, Dan Hurley’s son Andrew busted his dad’s other superstition – eating M&M’s but taking out the opposing team colors (even if they match UConn’s blue and red, like the Florida Atlantic). The head coach himself gave a specific number as to how many, “Eight. Right before the game. Just before the game. A half-hour before the game. Seven if I drop one on the floor.”

While the Hurleys have revealed these secrets, the UConn chief also has lucky hats and socks that he insists on wearing. In the 2022-23 season, Dan Hurley even asked his wife to wear the same jacket to Huskies postseason games! With these superstitions to aid a coach with a strategic mind and talented players, how could a three-peat not be possible?!