Geno Auriemma goes viral for great quote about winning
Mar 8, 2020; Uncasville, CT, USA; UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma watches from the sideline as they take on the South Florida Bulls in the second half of the American Conference Championship Semifinals at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma went viral on Tuesday for his great quote about winning.
Auriemma spoke with reporters from his charity golf tournament at the Hartford Golf Club in West Hartford, Conn. He was asked to talk about his team and their expectations for next season.
The 69-year-old coach maintained that winning a championship is always the expectation for his Huskies. The team will be touring Europe in August, where they will play four exhibition games and do some sight-seeing. The tour led Auriemma to offer his great quote, saying that his team shouldn’t need to have some sort of slogan for the upcoming season the way a band does when they go on tour at various points over several decades.
“This isn’t a 1970s rock band out for their 60th tour and they have to give every tour a name,” Auriemma said. “Everybody’s got ‘redeem team’ and everybody’s got ‘reload team’ and everybody’s got ‘unfinished business team’ and everybody’s got all this stuff going out there, you know.
“Maybe we’re not very social media savvy. How about we just shut the f— up and win games? How about we just do that? Maybe that’s what the tour should be. Shut the f— up and win games,” said the coach (censored by LBS).
Auriemma’s points are very well taken.
This isn’t about marketing or social media. For him, it’s just about focusing on the one goal.
Despite still being a very strong team, UConn has fallen off the last two seasons based on their standards. They have lost six games per year the last two seasons. By comparison, from 1993-2021, UConn had only lost more than five games in a season once.
Auriemma’s approach could serve the program very well if everyone sticks to that mindset. They’ll be in even better shape with Paige Bueckers returning from a torn ACL she suffered last year.
