A New York High School basketball coach was fired after this egregious violation of one of his players. His name was Jim Zullo and he was fired the day after this was filmed.
No doubt, Zullo, who has been coaching basketball for 30 years and was in the High School Hall of Fame in New York, has preached to his players about staying poised and in control during stressful times on the court.
( Beware, inappropriate language in the above video, not suitable for children) Univeristy of Connecticut head basketball coach Dan Hurley, who coached the men's Husky's to back to back NCAA National Championships in 2023 and 2024, here shouts to the oncoming team that he hopes the officials don't do to them what Hurley proposes they did to him and his team.
It's a rude, offensive and callous remark caught on video, one of several Hurley made this past 2025 season that did not live up to the expectations placed upon him and his team.
No doubt, Hurley, who comes from a well known but fiery basketball family, has worked with his players on focusing on the controllables, not using blame and taking responsibility for his players actions.
In a clip from last year, Illinois head basketball coach Brad Underwood is shown unloading on his players, one in particular. Some media called him exceptional for "holding his players accountable."
In a hilarious Saturday Night Live skit, coach "Sheila Kelly" at "Middle Delaware State" is called out on her coaching behavior and giving her reasoning for her ridiculous over the top behavior.
Sport is a volatile atmosphere. Winning, losing, pressure, ego: it's an amalgam of potential disruptive and certainly at times, negative behavior and consequences. It's not the purview of this blog to chastise these coaches for their lack of self control caught by a cell phone lens, but it is a reminder to us all.
Like it or not, we, as coaches, ARE role models for our athletes. Hold them to a standard of behavior you cannot sustain, and you will lose their respect and the locker room. Show them you cannot withstand the heat, and they will soon follow. Complain and blame and you will create athletes in your image. Telling them to now worry about the uncontrollables and then bring them up in every post match lecture, they will zone out.
These are examples of coaches having regretful moments of losing control. Why is subjective to the coach and the moment: ego? A costly mistake in crunch time? Lack of faith in a player? The reasons are plentiful.
But the one lesson from all of these moments, and the many YOU have seen and consciously collected in your coaching memory is stark.
They hurt.
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