WNBA Head Coaches 2024: Profiles of Coaches for Teams

The WNBA landscape has gotten a lot of attention in the 2024 season with the arrival of star players like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. However, with the fast-paced environment that has developed over the years and the continuous flow of talented players into the league, the head coaches are also becoming significant for the teams. When the significance increases, the stakes get higher for even the ones who are taking the call off the court. Head coaches of the WNBA franchises are the first line of offense when it comes to off-court planning.

Therefore, the franchises demand output when there is so much attention from the audience on the WNBA games and the rest of the community. Let’s check out the current head coaches of the league in 2024 and which one of them could not survive the expectations of the franchise owners in the WNBA and lost their jobs.

List of Current WNBA Head Coaches by Team 2024

Atlanta Dream – Tanisha Wright

Coaching Philosophy: Tanisha Wright is more committed to excellence and strategic execution and has a slightly empathetic attitude. She took the baton of being the head coach for Atlanta Dream in 2021 and led them to 14 wins after the 2018 season.

Career Success: Atlanta Dream had been progressive since her appointment in 2021 but could not get Atlanta past the playoff troubles. But the opponents swept them throughout the playoff series every time.

Tenure: Tanisha aided the Atlanta Dream in becoming better since 2021. However, despite her constant efforts in the evolving scenario of the WNBA, the head coach suffered a blow to raw players from different franchises.

Chicago Sky – Teresa Weatherspoon

Coaching Philosophy: Teresa Weatherspoon is more of a calculated and fair player without any risk. On the other hand, she has potential, like Angel Reese, as a defender who can evolve much better with risks. But she did not take it.

Career Success: As a player, Teresa Weatherspoon gave a lot to the league. During 1997 and 1999, she led the New York Liberty to the WNBA finals. However, on the coaching end, she has not been so successful.

Tenure: She just got to serve one season with the Chicago Sky in 2024. She had a successful start, but as the tournament proceeded, the highly potential Sky team could not make it to the playoff, which was disappointing even for the fans. That’s why the management decided to skip Teresa for next season.

Las Vegas Aces – Becky Hammon

Coaching Style: Becky Hammon is the epitome of coaching excellence when it comes to guiding the WNBA players. Her attention to detail, her coaching style, and her open line of communication, accountability, and positive ambiance mix together to let the basketball players dance to their beats. She is more of a tough coach who believes that adversity only shapes you better for the games.

Career Achievements: With Las Vegas Aces, Becky Hammon has gained great success as a coach, earning achievements like back-to-back WNBA Championships in 2022 and 2023. Later on, in 2022, she also earned the Coach of the Year title.

Tenure: She held out the responsibilities of head coach on December 31, 2021, for the Las Vegas Aces. For the past three seasons, she has been leading the WNBA team on the sidelines. However, in the 2024 season, her team could not get past the New York Liberty in the playoffs.

Also Read: Top 5 Highest-Paid WNBA Coaches and Their Salaries in 2024

Connecticut Sun – Stephanie White

Coaching Style: Stephanie’s consistent approach to improvement brought the best out of the Connecticut Sun, but they could not make it big as she missed the semi-final hurdle in the 2024 season as well.

Career Success: Stephanie has not been very successful as a head coach in WNBA, but she is progressive. She took the Indiana Fever to the 2015 WNBA Finals. However, she missed the 2016 playoffs after the first round. In a similar fate, she took the Connecticut Sun to Semi-Finals both times in 2023 and 2024.

Time period: Stephanie White has been active in the WNBA coaching scene for a long time, but primarily as a head coach, she has four years of experience.

Phoenix Mercury – Nate Tibbetts

Coaching Style: Nate Tibbetts of the Phoenix Mercury is more of a floor space creator rather than offensive and defensive formations. His coaching philosophy revolves around creating three-point chances for the shooters, resulting in fast rebounds and better bucket output.

Career Highlights: He has been a novice in the WNBA league as a coach. However, in the NBA scene, he has served in the NBA G-League.

Length of time: It was the first season of Nate Tibbetts as head coach in the WNBA. And there are chances that it is a multi-year tie-up between the Phoenix Mercury management and Nate.

Indiana Fever – Christie Sides

Coaching Approach: Christie Sides is more about relying on players’ natural game to inculcate the best of the results. However, with new potential like Caitlin Clark, a coach needs to work continuously to give such players their best form. 

Career Highlights: One of the key highlights of Christie Sides’ basketball coaching career is that she has seen throughout the NCAA and WNBA basketball landscape as an assistant to the head coach of a team.

Tenure: When Christie Sides was taken by the Indiana Fever in the fall of 2022, the motive was to rejuvenate the Indiana Fever’s team campaign after 2016. However, her hopes fruited only when Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark duo joined to make their team an offensive juggernaut.

New York Liberty- Sandy Brondello

Coaching Style: Sandy Brondello believes in improvising. That’s why she wants her players to trust in each other and trust in her decisions. It is a by-product of strong teamwork where Sandy can command the team to make some adjustments during the game with her analytical sight on the sidelines.

Career Highlights: The career highlights of the Australian coach include 2× WNBA champion titles in 2014 and 2024, WNBA Coach of the Year in 2014) and the Commissioner’s Cup title from 2023.

Tenure: Being a former WNBA veteran, Sandy Brondello has been leading the New York Liberty since 2022. She has the team for about two seasons and gave results in the 2023 season with the Commissioner Cup. Along with that, she is also holding the reins of the Australian National Basketball Team, earning them

Seattle Storm – Noelle Quinn

Coaching Style: Noelle Quinn has survived tough times by targeting players for specific development. It not only keeps the players glued to her natural style but also fosters better team chemistry on the court.

Career Highlights: Noelle Quinn is one of the blessed ones to have won the WNBA title as a player as well as a coach. Her team won the title in 2018, and since her appointment as head coach in 2019, she has taken her team to the playoffs three times.

Tenure: Noelle Quinn will continue to lead the Seattle Storm on the sidelines as she has been handling the responsibility since 2019. Also, in October 2023, reportedly per the Seattle Times, the Storm management signed Noelle to a Multiyear contract extension as a coach.

Washington Mystics – Eric Thibault

Coaching Style: Eric Thibault had a coaching style quite similar to his father, Mike Thibault’s. He tried to rebuild the team from the core. However, the on-court standards could not meet Eric’s strategy, and he lost his job in the end.

Career Highlights: Eric’s stint as a head coach for the Washington Mystics was not as impressive as his father’s time running the WNBA franchise at the helm. HIs on-court record with the team in the 2024 season was 14-26.

Tenure: Eric could only serve as a head coach for the Washington Mystics for two seasons. Before that, he was a long-serving assistant coach to his father on the team since 2013.

Dallas Wings- Latricia Trammell

Coaching Style: Latricia Trammell was aggressive on the sidelines as a head coach of Dallas Wings as she led her team to the playoffs in her first season. However, she could not scale up the motivation due to her overreliance on players in the clutch situations.

Career Highlights: Latricia Trammell’s career highlight with the Dallas Wings was finishing as the runner-up for WNBA Coach of the Year in 2023.

Tenure: Latricia spent about two seasons in the WNBA league as a head coach for the Dallas Wings team. However, the management did not seem happy with her 31-49 win-loss record in two seasons, ultimately resulting in her firing from the job.

Los Angeles Sparks- Curt Miller

Coaching Style: Curt Miller’s coaching style is more about high defensive formations in an old-school way to defend the rim. He also believes that practice makes perfect ideology, amounting to some intense practice sessions off the hard court.

Career Highlights: Curt Miller had a marvelous stint as a coach with the Connecticut Sun. However, his charms could not work the same for the Los Angeles Sparks team, as he recorded a 25-55 win-lose record over two years.

Tenure: Curt shifted to Los Angeles Sparks after leaving the Connecticut Sun at its prime in 2022. He has been guiding the team for about two seasons in the WNBA.

Minnesota Lynx- Cheryl Reeve

Coaching Style: Eric Thibault had a coaching style quite similar to his father, Mike Thibault’s. He tried to rebuild the team from the core. However, the on-court standards could not meet Eric’s strategy, and he lost his job in the end.

Career Highlights: The most coveted coach in WNBA history is Cheryl Reeve, as she has earned 4x WNBA Coach of the Year awards in 2011, 2016, 2020, and 2024. She won four championships with the Minnesota Lynx in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017.

Tenure: Cheryl is the pioneer of coaching excellence, as she has been the source of strategic guidance on the sidelines for the Lynx for about 24 years. Her stint as head coach started in 2010.

Recent Head Coaching Changes in the WNBA

Indiana Fever- Stephanie White

The Indiana Fever team fired Christie Sides on October 27 to re-hire Stephanie White as the coach of the Indiana Fever on November 1. It happened just four days after White left the Connecticut Sun. She has an experience of leading the franchise as a coach in 2015 and 2016.

Connecticut Sun

The Connecticut Sun has not hired a new recruit since Stephanie White left on October 28. She carried a 62-32 win-loss record with the franchise and even carried it to the semi-finals in both seasons. However, she strived for more, and that’s why she left the Sun to coach a prospect like Caitlin Clark.

Washington Mystics

The Washington Mystics management has parted ways with both Mike Thibault and his son Eric Thibault on October 23. They had a 33-47 record in the general two seasons and couldn’t even make it to the last spot on the league chart ranking.

Dallas Wings

Dallas Wings fired Latricia Trammell on October 18 after her underperforming delivery from the sidelines during her two seasons with the league, as per ESPN.

Atlanta Dream

Tanisha Wright led the Atlanta Dream to the playoffs in 2023 and 2024 with a 48-68 win-lose record in three seasons. However, the management expects more from the head coach at this point due to the drought of winning since 2018. That’s why they fired Wright on October 2.

Chicago Sky

Teresa Weatherspoon could not utilize players like Angel Reese and other raw potentials in the 2024 season. With the players that they had last season, they could have easily made it to the playoffs. However, it did not happen, and Angel Reese was injured by the end of the season.

Los Angeles Sparks

Curt Miller was not as impressive as his previous coaching experiences, finishing at a league-worst 8-32 in this year’s summer. That’s why the management decided to move on from him on September 24.

The Role of Head Coaches in WNBA Franchises

WNBA head coaches, beyond strategizing, implement dynamics, mentality, and vision within their teams. Their involvement affects more than just game plans but the development of individuals, the relationships of the members within a group, and the philosophies of the institution.

Strategy and Game Planning

The ability of the head coach to successfully strategize is one of the parameters that determines the success of any basketball league team. This consists of scouting opponents, developing offensive and defensive strategies, and making split-second decisions during the match in order to exploit opportunities while minimizing losses.

Player Development

Coaches emphasis is also on the importance of enhancing the players’ skills. The head coach helps the players enhance their skills, performance, and potential through individual training and guidance, as well as helpful criticism.

Team Chemistry and Culture

Team dynamics play an important role in enhancing teamwork and respect among team members. The head coach sets up the culture of the team, promoting values such as determination, accountability, and teamwork, which are crucial for success in a long period of time.

Adaptability and Innovation

Those who have commanded the respect of their players have shown the ability to provide leadership over a constantly changing game and the implementation of new ideas. For any baseball team, it is important to be aware of the current changes in basketball systems with an emphasis on the management of players.

Leadership and Motivation

It is also crucial for a head coach to be able to command respect and bring out the best from the players. Compelling the players to perform well, maintaining high morale, and leading by example while appreciating the efforts of the team are a few ingredients of the winning formula of the team.

Also Read: Caitlin Clark’s Rookie of the Year: The Best 10 Defining Moments

Conclusion

As the WNBA gears up for the 2025 season, the marquee of head coaches across the three existing and growing in numbers and teams is bound to influence the outcome of the competition. Every trained coach possesses a varying degree of differentiated age, skill, experience, and strategic insight in individuals such as Becky Hammon and Mike Thibault or Karleen Thompson and Vanessa Nygaard.

Boasting about the latest coaching shifts, like in the case of Indiana Fever picking up White to replace their fired head coach, is the latest proof of the evolution of the league where teams are focused on performance and winning a championship. Challenges posed by coaches like Cheryl Reeve and Becky Hammon confirm the importance of maintaining the advantages of retention and capable leadership.

At the end of the day, head coaches are the creators of what success is for their teams, constructing the game, assisting the players, and building the spirit that is needed to compete in the very tough WNBA. When one understands the responsibilities and the history of these trainers, one can appreciate the beauty of the sport and the dedication it takes even more.

FAQ’s