Things aren't looking good for the Chicago Sky's head coach Tyler Marsh. That's the word out from Sky beat writer Alissa Hirsh, who writes that the team's dismal 4-9 record so far this season has put the coach in peril.
Coaches are the face of a team, even an organization. While the GMs and owners actually make most of the top-down decisions and call the shots, the coach is the person who is tasked with executing their plan and doing so from a forward-facing position with the fans. Marsh's predecessor, Teresa Weatherspoon, learned this the hard way and was fired after only one season with the team. If the Sky keeps performing the way they are, it seems likely Marsh could end up on the outs.
Per Hirsh, the Sky, who are 12th in the WNBA standings at time of writing, need to find a way to make it the playoffs this season if Marsh will remain head coach. That's theoretically possible if the return of Courtney Vandersloot is all it's predicted to be, but there's no way to know until she's back on the floor.
There's also the question of whether or not this mess is truly Marsh's, and Marsh's alone.
The Chicago Sky has problems from the top down and the bottom up
While coaching is a crucial part of how any sports team performs, how the team is run at the executive level matters, too. GMs and owners are part of the decision-making process; they play a huge role in determining who is drafted to a team and who isn't, and in deciding which athlestes should be pursued during free agency. They're also the ones who are responsible for making sure that teams have everything they need to succeed.
To that end, the Sky did a great job during free agency. While the team saw Angel Reese depart for the Atlanta Dream, they signed several players who are capable of making a big impact, and who know what it takes to win. But the Sky is still dogged by the fact that they don't have a move-in date for their planned facility, and the latest reporting indicates they won't for some time.
As for Marsh, it's important to keep a few things in mind: as Hirsh pointed out, the job at the Sky is his first head coaching job ever. He also inherited a roster that wasn't strong, and has lost two stars — Vandersloot in 2025 and Rickea Jackson in 2026 — to ACL tears early in the season. There's a case to be made for allowing him the time to grow and develop, but also one to be made for the idea that coaches should be league-ready from the very beginning.
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