The Dallas Wings announced Tuesday that Chris Koclanes would not be returning, a week after the New York Liberty parted with coach Sandy Brondello and nine days after the Seattle Storm announced Sunday that Noelle Quinn will not return.
With the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo joining next year as expansion teams, there are now five coaching openings in the league for the 2026 season.
Last offseason, the league saw a record seven coaching changes — not including the Golden State Valkyries hiring for their inaugural campaign.
ESPN will track all of the coaching hirings and firings, and provide analysis, as they happen.
Former coach: Chris Koclanes (Sept. 30)
Koclanes is out after a single year with Dallas, which went 10-34 — tied for worst record in the league — this season. He was hired to succeed Latricia Trammel last December after the Wings went 9-31 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
He previously spent two seasons as an assistant under Lindsay Gottlieb for the USC women’s basketball team and eight seasons in the WNBA working under current Wings GM Curt Miller, who previously coached the Los Angeles Sparks and Connecticut Sun.
Analysis: It’s hard to judge any coach on one season. Considering Dallas’ struggles last year, it’s not as if everyone was expecting the Wings to make a huge jump in 2025. Injuries to players like Arike Ogunbowale and Maddy Siegrist hurt, and offseason moves to bring NaLyssa Smith and DiJonai Carrington to Dallas didn’t work out as both then were traded during the season.
One thing that has been consistent about the Wings? Coaching changes. The organization now will be hiring its fifth head coach since 2019. The Wings have brought in coaches from different backgrounds and experience levels, and nobody has been able to stay for long. Koclanes might have grown into the job if he were given more time, but that has not been how the Wings operate.
The Wings started in Detroit in 1998 and won three WNBA championships in 12 years in that city. Since moving to Tulsa in 2010 and then Dallas in 2016, they have had winning records just twice in 16 years, making the playoffs six times. With a rising superstar to build around in Rookie of the Year guard Paige Bueckers, and another upcoming lottery pick in 2026, the new coach should have some good young talent to work with. But that’s no guarantee the Wings will be improved. — Michael Voepel
Former coach: Sandy Brondello (Sept. 23)
The Liberty announced they will not renew Brondello’s contract. She’s out after four seasons, and exits a year after leading New York to the 2024 WNBA title. The Liberty went 27-17 this season and were the No. 5 seed in the playoffs.
In a statement, Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb said, “Sandy finishes her tenure in New York as the winningest coach in franchise history, and she took us to never-before-seen heights as the first head coach to lead the Liberty to a championship. We wish Sandy the very best in her next chapter.”
Brondello, 57, was hired to coach the Liberty in December 2021 and went 107-53 in four seasons. Prior to New York, Brondello coached the Phoenix Mercury from 2014-2021, winning her first WNBA championship in 20214. She had a 150-108 record in eight seasons with Phoenix, making the playoffs every year.
Brondello also has coached the Australian Olympic team and played in the WNBA from 1998-2003.
MORE: Liberty GM: Moving on from Brondello was proactive move
MORE: Liberty’s top coaching candidates, and where does Brondello land?
Former coach: Noelle Quinn (Sept. 21)
Quinn, 40, joined the Storm coaching staff as an assistant in 2019, then took over as head coach early in the 2021 season when Dan Hughes stepped down after six games due to health reasons. She finished with a 97-89 record in the regular season and a 4-8 mark in the playoffs.
Quinn also played in the WNBA from 2007 to 2018, including two stints with the Storm.
Analysis: Only the Minnesota Lynx’s Cheryl Reeve had longer tenure in a WNBA head coaching job than Quinn, who took over early in the 2021 season after Dan Hughes announced his immediate retirement. Quinn led the Storm to the inaugural Commissioner’s Cup title and four playoff appearances in five seasons, but Seattle fell short of expectations after adding Skylar Diggins and Nneka Ogwumike ahead of the 2024 campaign.
Per league sources and first reported by the Seattle Times, Jewell Loyd asked the Storm to fire Quinn after the team’s 2024 first-round sweep against Las Vegas. Diggins and Ogwumike supported Quinn keeping her job. After an investigation in response to Loyd’s allegations of bullying and harassment found no violations by the coaching staff, Loyd was traded to the Las Vegas Aces, who eliminated Seattle in a hard-fought three-game series in this year’s first round of the playoffs.
Presuming the core of Diggins, Ogwumike and Gabby Williams returns in free agency, the biggest challenge for Quinn’s replacement will be improving the team’s half-court offense. The Storm ranked 10th in points per possession outside of transition, per GeniusIQ tracking. In addition to a strong organization and facilities, Seattle can sell candidates on the promise of coaching No. 2 pick Dominique Malonga, who ranked fourth on ESPN’s ranking of under-25 talent as a 19-year-old rookie. — Kevin Pelton