One year after seven teams replaced their head coaches, the WNBA coaching carousel was open once again.
After the 2025 season ended, five more vacancies opened up, with the New York Liberty, Seattle Storm, and Dallas Wings making changes behind the bench, and the expansion Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo hiring their first coaches in franchise history (or return to the league, in Portland’s case).
Let’s get to know the new coaches of these teams, what they bring to the table, what to expect from them, and more.
Seattle Storm: Sonia Raman
Experience:
Head Coach:
Assistant Coach:
- Memphis Grizzlies (2020-2024)
- New York Liberty (2025)
What they’re saying:
“Sonia is a trailblazer, and learning about her road and her career path to getting here to Seattle was really moving. Furthermore, her vision for us and where we could go was very exciting.” – Seattle Storm general manager Talisa Rhea during Ramen’s introductory press conference.
“Sonia is great, man. I love Sonia. She helped me out a lot in my rookie year. You know, being a woman in this sport with the men, a lot of people may have doubts about you, whatever, but she held it down great. We all respected her on the Grizzlies, and she was great for that franchise. She was more, like, pull you to the side and talk to you face-to-face, one-on-one, which is what I enjoyed. You know, a lot of times you got everybody saying everything different ways at you, but she had a really good approach to her teaching. And she’s always calm, always relaxing. She just knows how to say things really well.” – Ziaire Williams, of the Brooklyn Nets, to Lucas Kaplan.
Offensive and defensive approach:
With her NBA experience, Raman puts a lot of focus on spacing and pace. The spacing on offense was evident last year with the Liberty, as they used a five-out offense. As for the pace, the Grizzlies were always among the top-10 teams in the category when Raman was an assistant coach there.
She’s looking to bring that to the WNBA.
“Huge synergy there,” Raman said to Her Hoop Stats. “I’m a big believer in that. It’s kind of what I’ve come from in all of my stops. You want to see if you can play the possession game, increase possessions, get out quickly and score before the defense, score earlier in the shot clock, and attack a defense that’s not set, attack an open paint. I think that there’s huge benefits to that. Seeking space and being really disciplined, thought is important to all of that.”
While we wait to see what the final roster looks like as the CBA negotiations continue, looking at the roster that the Storm had last year, Raman inherits a team that ranked fifth in both pace and three-point shooting, something she’ll take but will look to improve on in both categories.
Key takeaway:
Raman is a huge get for the Storm, as they look to thread the needle as a team built around veterans with a championship window while implementing a new coach and system. With Raman’s experience at different levels, it’s hard to argue with the hiring.
The players speak highly of her. The coaching staff speaks highly of her. Frankly, everyone speaks highly of her as a person and as a basketball mind.
It’s what Raman said during her introductory press conference that really drove home the type of person that she is.
“I really care about every single player I’ve ever coached,” Raman said. “I care about them as people first, and I’m really interested in learning about their lives. Not just what their goals are as basketball players, professionals, or student athletes, but what else about their lives is important to them. I really light up when I get to build those relationships.”
With veterans like Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins, Brittney Sykes, and Gabby Williams, having that respected coach goes a long way within the locker room.
Needle threaded, indeed.
Dallas Wings: Jose Fernandez
Experience:
Head Coach:
- University of South Florida (2000-2025)
Assistant Coach:
- USA Basketball U18 (2024) and U19 (2025)
What they’re saying:
“I’ve always thought he’s one of the best coaches in all of college basketball. Getting ready to play them is different than almost any other college team that you play … so I’m really happy for him.” – UCONN coach Geno Auriemma
“We found our guy. When you look at those buckets that we viewed as very important in the search, we found an experienced coach … a proven winner.” – Wings GM Curt Miller
Offensive and defensive approach:
Jose Fernandez made one thing clear when he was introduced as the new Dallas Wings head coach: he’s going to get the ball in the hands of his best players. Those were welcome words for Wings fans, who want to see Paige Bueckers initiating the offense more than she did during her Rookie of the Year campaign this past season.
“Our best players are going to get the basketball. We’re going to play with great spacing, and we know the importance of putting the entire five on the floor where they’re comfortable,” Fernandez said.
Fernandez’s South Florida teams, where he spent the last 24 seasons, ran a European-style offense predicated on ball movement and off-ball actions. You can expect an emphasis on attacking the rim and running the floor for transition opportunities, with plenty of on and off ball screens to release scorers.
On defense, Fernandez said, “We’re going to play harder than anybody in this league. We’re going to rim-run harder, our wings are going to sprint harder, we’re going to attack the rim, we’re going to create second shot opportunities, we’re going to cut hard, we’re going to screen hard, we’re going to stop the point of attack early, and we’re going to be tough to play against. That’s going to be the identity.”
Key takeaway:
The emphasis on experience was a key factor in the Wings’ coaching search, and though Fernandez will be making his professional debut, his success at the college and in international competitions stands out compared to his predecessor.
This isn’t a splashy hire, but it’s a smart one; Fernandez brings a steadying presence and a transferable offense that should allow Paige Bueckers to shine. And at the end of the day, if Dallas wants to get where it wants to go, it’s going to have to be through their budding superstar.
And Fernandez gets that after learning from Geno Auriemma, Bueckers’ college coach.
“Geno said, ‘If there’s a shot you want her to make, she’ll make it. If there’s something you’re going to run, she’s going to run it.’ So I think it’s very important, not only developing a relationship with her, but everybody on the roster, where they feel comfortable on the floor in what they like, what they don’t like.”
“This won’t be the same old Dallas Wings, my brother. Change is coming, and we’re gonna win.”
Portland Fire: Alex Sarama
Experience:
Director of Player Development:
- Rip City Remix (2023-2024)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (2024-2025)
What they’re saying:
“Alex represents the next generation of coaching. He’s not just teaching the game, he’s transforming it. His approach to player development, grounded in evidence-based science, research, and creativity, aligns with our vision to make Portland a global hub for innovation in women’s sports.” – Portland Fire General Manager Vanja Černivec
Offensive and defensive approach:
“The opportunity to build something from the ground up is unique,” Sarama said. “At the Fire, we’re not just creating a team – we’re redefining how the game is taught and played, through an approach centered around adaptability and supported by evidence-informed methodologies. We want to create a new standard for the game.”
A proponent of the Constraints-Led Approach, which replaces traditional block training – where an athlete learns a single movement pattern step-by-step – and instead places them in game-like situations with special rules that force them to adapt their moves on the fly. The guiding principle of CLA is that training perfectly yields imperfect results.
It’s worked before with basketball players; Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum is a proponent, saying, “It changed my career. Before, I was very skilled. But I don’t think I was ever very purposeful.”
In Portland, Sarama will have the full support of the front office in attempting to execute his vision, and the opportunity to build a roster in his image. During his press conference, Sarama promised an up-tempo style of play, and based on what he helped build in Cleveland, developing talent will be a hallmark.
Key takeaway:
Alex Sarama is an out of the box hire in every sense of the word. He doesn’t have much coaching experience in the traditional sense, but his methodology has been proven across a variety of sports.
It’s a bold strategy for an expansion team, though one with a very high ceiling. Though not many W fans had heard of Sarama prior to his hire by the Fire, he’s well-respected in basketball circles, and his approach has had success in the NBA and across professional sports. It will be fascinating to see if it works and how quickly Sarama and his staff can get a completely new roster to buy into something unfamiliar.
Sarama’s analytical approach and clear vision for the team should help that cause. If it works, the Portland Fire could follow in the footsteps of last year’s expansion darling, the Golden State Valkyries.
Toronto Tempo: Sandy Brondello
Experience:
Head Coach:
- Australian National Team (2017-Present)
- New York Liberty (2022-2025)
- Phoenix Mercury (2014-2021)
Assistant Coach
- Los Angeles Sparks (2011-2013)
- San Antonio Silver Stars (2005-2009)
Player from 1998-2003 (Seattle Storm, Miami Sol, Detroit Shock)
Two-time WNBA Champion (2014, 2024)
What they’re saying:
“This is the place that I wanted to be. To build a team from the ground up. That really excited me.” – Brondello during her introductory press conference.
“From my first conversations with the Tempo organization, it was clear we share the same vision: to build a world-class franchise that competes at the highest level, to create a strong and dynamic culture, and to root everything we do in clear and consistent values. This is a place that’s serious about doing things the right way – about excellence, about people, about community – and that’s exactly the kind of environment every coach wants to be part of.” – Brondello said in a team-issued press release.
System approach:
What we saw last year in New York with Brondello, as we mentioned earlier with Ramen, is that she implemented a five-out offense. The NBA-style offense allowed for all five players to work the perimeter, opening up lanes for players to drive and kick or drive and hit a midrange pull-up shot. It was an offense designed to take advantage of the versatile players in the Liberty lineup from guard to big, making the focal point of the offense be centered around ball movement. It also put a lot of emphasis on Breanna Stewart, which is why the offense slowed down when she went out.
Versatility is key to this offense, so we’ll need to see what the Tempo’s roster makeup looks like before looking at the implementation of this kind of offense.
The Liberty’s numbers didn’t improve from 2024 to 2025, which is something that Brondello mentioned as being a key before the season, and also something that general manager Jonathan Kolb noted after they parted ways with Brondello.
Key takeaway:
Brondello is a huge get for the Tempo franchise. As soon as New York parted ways with her, she immediately became the top coaching candidate on the market.
According to Front Office Sports, Brondello was offered more money by the Dallas Wings and Seattle Storm to fill their coaching vacancies, but she passed on those higher-paying jobs for a chance to build from the ground up with Toronto.
Winsidr can confirm that the Storm had “significant interest in Sandy” before hiring Raman.
A new bar has been set as far as expectations for an expansion franchise after the record-setting season that the Golden State Valkyries had, securing a playoff berth in their inaugural season. The hiring of Brondello doesn’t guarantee that the Tempo will have a similar level of success, but by hiring the top coach on the market, a two-time champion, who is respected by players and coaches throughout the league, the Tempo are at least following the Valkyries in one key area: establishing a culture and identity that fans are able to buy into from the jump.
You can’t put a price on that.
