Paige Bueckers will be playing under new leadership next season.
When Bueckers entered the WNBA, she came in with a championship pedigree and the experience of playing for one of the most accomplished coaches in college basketball. During the 2024–25 season, her UConn squad dropped only three games, and the year before that, just six. Much of that success came under the guidance of Geno Auriemma, who has built a dynasty with 12 NCAA titles—more than any other men’s or women’s coach—and helped shape numerous WNBA stars.
Transitioning from UConn and Auriemma’s winning culture to the struggling Dallas Wings was a major adjustment. The Wings managed only 10 victories, while rookie head coach Chris Koclanes failed to establish himself as a rising leader. The organization’s gamble on him ultimately didn’t work out.
On Tuesday, Dallas announced they had parted ways with Koclanes. The timing was notable, as the New York Liberty had just decided not to bring back Sandy Brondello after their early playoff exit. That move leaves the Wings with a prime chance to correct their first big misstep of the Paige Bueckers era by bringing in a proven coach capable of building around a star.
Sandy Brondello is a championship coach
If the Dallas Wings want to set Paige Bueckers up for early success in the WNBA, the smartest move they can make is hiring a proven championship coach—and Sandy Brondello fits that profile perfectly.
A former WNBA guard who played five seasons in the league, Brondello moved straight into coaching in 2005 as an assistant with the San Antonio Silver Stars and has remained in the league ever since. Across 13 seasons as a head coach, she’s built a résumé that includes a 269–181 record and two championships—one with the Phoenix Mercury in 2014 and another with the New York Liberty in 2024.
Few available coaches bring her combination of experience and credibility. Bringing Brondello to Dallas would establish the culture and system the Wings have lacked, giving Bueckers the kind of structure star players thrive under. While Brondello isn’t known for leading rebuilding projects, she has proven time and again that she knows how to maximize elite talent.
Hiring a better coach is just one of many steps the Wings must take
With this year’s rookies and next year’s lottery pick, the Wings will head into next season with plenty of young talent. That’s encouraging, but Dallas remains a long way from true contender status. Hiring an experienced head coach is just one piece of the puzzle—the franchise also needs to surround Paige Bueckers with stronger role players and proven veterans.
A coach like Sandy Brondello could instantly raise the Wings’ profile, making Dallas a more appealing destination for free agents while signaling to current stars that the organization is serious about winning. That message would matter most to Arike Ogunbowale. The four-time All-Star has stuck with Dallas through four different head coaches since 2019. If she’s going to commit to playing for a fifth, it needs to be someone with the credibility and track record to finally deliver results.
Wings Fire Coach Chris Koclanes After One Season
After just one season on the sidelines, the Dallas Wings announced Tuesday that Chris Koclanes will not return as head coach for the 2026 season. The move means Dallas is now set to hire its third head coach in as many years.
Koclanes struggled in his lone year at the helm, guiding the Wings to a disappointing 10–34 record despite having No. 1 overall pick and Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers as the centerpiece. It also marks the second straight year a franchise has parted ways with a coach after just one season with the top pick—following the Indiana Fever’s decision to move on from Christie Sides after coaching Caitlin Clark in 2024.
This year marked Chris Koclanes’s first opportunity as a head coach, after previously serving as a defensive coordinator with both the Connecticut Sun and Los Angeles Sparks.
His dismissal makes him the third WNBA coach to be let go since the end of the regular season. The Seattle Storm parted ways with Noelle Quinn, while the New York Liberty made the surprising decision not to retain Sandy Brondello. Unlike those two moves, which followed playoff exits, the Wings’ change came after a season in which they failed to reach the postseason.
