The Dallas Wings are working to hire longtime University of South Florida coach Jose Fernandez as their next head coach, sources with knowledge of the discussions confirmed to The Athletic.
While no deal has been finalized, according to a source, USF has already publicly announced that Fernandez is leaving the school for a WNBA opportunity.
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“While this is a bittersweet moment for our program, it is a well-deserved opportunity for Jose to realize a professional dream, and we are incredibly proud of him,” USF CEO of athletics Rob Higgins said in a statement.
Should the deal be finalized, Fernandez will be new to the WNBA. However, he has 25 years of head coaching experience, having been South Florida’s coach since November 2000.
Over a quarter-century, Fernandez became the program’s all-time winningest coach, won American Athletic Conference of the Year honors twice (in 2018 and 2021), amassed 12 20-win seasons and led the Bulls to 10 NCAA tournament appearances. Fernandez has coached seven WNBA draft picks, including two-time WNBA All-Star Courtney Williams.
Fernandez was a finalist for the Wings job last year but instead returned to USF, as The Athletic previously reported. The Wings hired Chris Koclanes instead, but parted ways with him after a 10-34 season.
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SB Nation was first to report news of Dallas zeroing in on Fernandez this time.
General manager Curt Miller has familiarity with Fernandez as well as the transition he is about to undertake. Like Fernandez, Miller was also once a collegiate coach. Miller received his first college head coaching job around the same time as Fernandez, with Bowling Green in 2001. He was later the head coach at Indiana before moving to the WNBA.
In recent weeks, the Wings focused their search on candidates with past head coaching experience. As The Athletic previously reported, Dallas looked at coaches from various levels of basketball — WNBA circles, men’s professional basketball and women’s college basketball.
Fernandez will assume one of the most pressurized jobs in the league, in large part because of the fanfare surrounding Wings star Paige Bueckers, who was a near-unanimous Rookie of the Year selection last season.
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The Wings could also get the No. 1 draft pick for the second straight season, having the highest chances of winning the 2026 lottery. The franchise plans to unveil a new practice facility before next season and move to downtown Dallas by 2027 as well.
USF announced that Bulls associate head coach Michele Woods-Baxter will assume the interim coach role when the season begins Nov. 3. Woods-Baxter is entering her 18th year with the program.
Fernandez is now the third coach in as many seasons to transition to the WNBA without any prior professional experience. The Atlanta Dream hired longtime Florida-Gulf Coast coach Karl Smesko last offseason. Smesko led the Dream to a franchise-record 30 wins in 2025. The Los Angeles Sparks hired former Utah coach Lynne Roberts in 2024, and she went 21-23 in her debut season.
With the Wings turning to Fernandez, the New York Liberty and the Seattle Storm are the remaining teams with head coach openings.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Dallas Wings, South Florida Bulls, WNBA
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