After the Liberty’s front office decided not to renew Sandy Brondello’s contract as the team’s head coach, she reportedly had many other options. The Seattle Storm, Dallas Wings, and Toronto Tempo were all interested in Brondello. She chose the latter and is set to become the Tempo’s first-ever head coach, forgoing the chance to coach Paige Bueckers in Dallas.
Going from a star-studded veteran Liberty team to an expansion team is quite the change. It also comes with a unique opportunity Brondello didn’t have in New York, though. She gets to help build a roster and a team from the ground up, specifically selecting players who fit into her system and philosophy, and establish what professional women’s basketball will look like in Toronto for years to come.
Going to Toronto offers a completely new opportunity for Brondello
Brondello has accomplished pretty much everything a WNBA coach wants to accomplish in their career. She won two championships, coached in the All-Star Game, led her team to a Commissioner’s Cup title in 2023, and was named the 2014 Coach of the Year.
Something Brondello hasn’t been able to do yet, is starting from a blank slate and building a team up from the ground. When she took over as the Phoenix Mercury’s head coach in 2014, the team already had an established core of Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, Candice Dupree, and DeWanna Bonner. While Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones didn’t join the Liberty until Brondello’s second year with the team, Sabrina Ionscue and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton were already in New York in 2022. Plus, Liberty GM Jonathan Kolb gave off the impression that he and Brondello weren’t necessarily aligned on what they thought the Liberty should look like in the future.
Coaching the Tempo will be quite a different experience. Brondello took the job without knowing a single player who would be on the roster, facing a completely new challenge and opportunity—which may be exactly why she chose Toronto. After accomplishing everything she did, Brondello might have just felt like it was time for a new chapter in her coaching career and to tackle something she hadn’t had an opportunity to do yet.
After years in the WNBA, Brondello knows very well what different players can bring to the table and has relationships with many. Both will come in handy in the expansion draft and free agency. Convincing veterans to join an expansion team in free agency is much easier if an established coach is leading the team. Choosing a championship coach as their first head coach was a bold statement by the Tempo, so fans should expect them to chase high-level free agents and try to be competitive as quickly as possible.