UConn fans run wild with Geno Auriemma retirement rumors after team posts throwback snaps: “These posts are scaring me”

UConn coach Geno Auriemma is the longest-tenured coach in women's college basketball after joining the Huskies in 1985. If he is still the coach for the 2024-2025 season, it will be year 40 for him, and it will take him through to his 71st birthday.

After a single-basket loss to Caitlin Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes in the Final Four of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, questions have arisen about the longevity of Auriemma's tenure and when he will retire.

Over the past two days, the Huskies' social media channels have posted a clip of their coach reminiscing about his first days in Storrs when he was hired in 1985 while driving around the area.

They also posted a series of pictures of the coach over the years, giving rise to fears among fans that their legendary coach was on the verge of retirement. The news has hit women's college basketball after the retirements of Iowa Hawkeyes' coach Lisa Bluder and the winningest basketball coach, Stanford Cardinals' Tara Vanderveer.

UConn fans on Instagram took to speculating about the long-serving coach's future underneath the post.

"These posts are scaring me," a fan wrote.

Check out some more comments:

UConn's IG comment section

UConn's IG comment section

UConn's IG comment section

UConn has a Geno Auriemma succession plan

Replacing a coach like Geno Auriemma would be daunting for most programs. He has led the UConn Huskies to 11 national championships and has won the Naismith College Coach of the Year award eight times during his 39-year tenure.

UConn is not like other programs, though, and there is already a succession plan for when the day comes.

College basketball analyst Chantel Jennings of The Athletic revealed that UConn had a list of possible candidates ready to take over when Geno Auriemma finally retires.

“For a long time at UConn, that person [in line to replace Auriemma] was Shea Ralph,” Jennings wrote. “But she’s now a few years into a great rebuilding process at Vanderbilt. I’m not sure she’d leave, but UConn would need to try.

“In addition to Ralph, Jamelle Elliott is still on staff and should be given a look. Outside of the current staff, I’d imagine Carla Berube — UConn grad and current Princeton coach — would be high on the list.”

Shea Ralph is the prime candidate and comes from the Auriemma school of coaching, having played under the legendary coach when the Huskies won the 2000 national championship and was an assistant coach on the team for 13 years.

UConn also has an internal succession option in coach Jamelle Elliott, who won a national championship with the team and has been an assistant coach for 16 years.

It is debatable whether Geno Auriemma could quit just when his team has found new momentum, headlined by star Paige Bueckers and the departure of college standouts like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese to the WNBA.