Since becoming head coach in 1985, he has led UConn to 17 undefeated conference seasons (including eight consecutive), of which six were undefeated overall seasons, with 11 NCAA Division I national championships, the most in women's college basketball history, and has won eight national Naismith College Coach of the Year awards.

Auriemma emigrated with his family from Montella in Southern Italy to Norristown, Pennsylvania when he was seven years old, and he spent the rest of his childhood there.

[12] For many years, Auriemma and his wife, Kathy, maintained a home in Avalon, New Jersey, to be near their respective parents in the Philadelphia area.

[13] Prior to Auriemma's arrival in 1985, the Huskies women's basketball team had posted only one winning season in its history.

On February 3, 2015, Auriemma notched his 900th victory in only 1,034 games, reaching this milestone also faster than any college coach in history.

Auriemma was a member of the inaugural class (2006) of inductees to the University of Connecticut women's basketball Huskies of Honor recognition program.

Auriemma created controversy in 1998 when he arranged with Villanova coach Harry Perretta to orchestrate a shot at the beginning of their scheduled game.

Connecticut players then stood back and allowed Villanova an uncontested layup of their own before beginning regular play.

[28] The rivalry between the Huskies and the University of Tennessee Lady Vols extended to Auriemma's relationship with Volunteers counterpart Pat Summitt.

[30] In 2007, Summitt, who believed Auriemma had used less-than-honorable tactics in his successful recruitment of Maya Moore, canceled the yearly game between the two programs.

Former UConn men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun has been called Auriemma's "unfriendly rival", and he once mocked the women's team's fan base as the "world's largest nursing home.

"[34] Auriemma was named head coach of the US women's team that competed in the Junior World Championship in Brno, Czech Republic in July 2001.

The 97–27 final score represented the largest margin of victory by a USA team in Junior World Championship history.

With a home crowd cheering them on, the Czech team won 92–88 and went on to beat Russia 82–80 to win the gold medal.

[35] Auriemma was named head coach of the US women's national team in preparation for competition in the 2010 World Championships and 2012 Olympics.

Several players shared scoring honors, with Swin Cash, Angel McCoughtry, Maya Moore, Diana Taurasi, Lindsay Whalen, and Sylvia Fowles all ending as high scorer in the first few games.

Their closest match of the Olympics – and the only game in which their margin of victory was less than 25 points – was an 86–73 win in the semi-finals over eventual Bronze Medal winner Australia.

On April 15, 2009, he was selected to lead USA Basketball Women's National Team in the 2010 FIBA World Championship in the Czech Republic and the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

Auriemma has parlayed his heritage and his love of Italian cuisine into lines of wines and sauces along with several restaurants in Connecticut.