The Toronto Tempo are bringing in a big name to lead the franchise in their first season next summer.
The WNBA’s newest expansion team reportedly struck a deal to hire former New York Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello on Wednesday, according to Title IX Sports’ Howard Megdal. The franchise hired Monica Wright Rogers as its first general manager in February.
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Brondello has been a coach in the WNBA for decades. She got her start as an assistant with the San Antonio Silver Stars and briefly served as the team’s head coach during the 2010 campaign. She landed her first full-time head job in 2014 with the Phoenix Mercury, whom she led to a championship right away, and spent eight seasons in Arizona.
Most recently, Brondello spent the last four seasons with the Liberty before they split earlier this fall. She won a championship with the club in 2024, but they were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round last season, after going 27-17. The team is still searching for its next head coach to replace Brondello. The Seattle Storm and Dallas Wings are also currently without head coaches.
The Tempo are one of two expansion teams set to enter the WNBA next season. The other franchise, the Portland Fire, officially hired former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Alex Sarama as their first head coach last week. The league will continue to expand over the next several years, with Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia joining the WNBA by 2030.
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Brondello and Sarama will get to help shape their respective teams’ initial rosters this offseason, which is one of the most critical in the league’s existence amid tense negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement. The expansion draft is on hold until the next CBA is finalized, though it will likely follow a similar format as last year’s draft when the Golden State Valkyries entered the league.
