The Toronto Tempo won the race for Sandy Brondello, who was also up for the jobs in Dallas and Seattle. Brondello has over 10 years of head coaching experience in the WNBA and played for five years. Over her ten years as a head coach, Brondello won two championships and was the 2014 Coach of the Year. Those accomplishments made her one of the most sought-after coaching candidates available.
Hiring her to lead an expansion team was a bold and genius move. It signals a desire to form a competitive team right away and is a great first step toward establishing a winning culture for the new team. Brondello should be able to quickly put a cohesive system in place and get her players to buy in. On top of that, Brondello may also be able to attract some impactful free agents and give the Tempo an unusual edge for an expansion team.
Brondello’s presence may make Toronto a more enticing free-agency destination
Almost every veteran in the league will be a free agent, providing the Tempo and Fire with a unique opportunity that the Valkyries didn’t have last year. Signing with an expansion team in free agency is still a gamble for some of the most high-profile players in the league—a risk Tiffany Hayes took before the 2025 season and didn’t regret.
However, it is less of a gamble when the team is led by an experienced and proven coach whose presence promises success sooner rather than later. After coaching in the WNBA for over a decade, including stints with the Silver Stars, Sparks, Mercury, and Liberty, and leading Team Clark in the 2025 All-Star Game, Brondello has relationships with many players. That list includes some of the biggest stars in the league. If any stars or borderline All-Stars want to help build a culture from scratch or secure a bigger role and become the face of a team, Brondello’s presence may be enough to tip the scales and convince them to join an expansion team.
In an ideal world, some of the Liberty’s stars would follow Brondello to Toronto. While that seems unlikely to happen, Brondello may attract one or two impactful, less high-profile free agents.
While the Tempo have two important cornerstones in place—GM Monica Wright Rogers and Brondello—a lot is still up in the air. The franchise has no players yet, which will ultimately decide the direction the team will take in its first few seasons. Nevertheless, hiring Brondello is a great step toward establishing the right culture and environment for a thriving expansion team.