WNBA coaching changes for 2025: Wings name Chris Koclanes new coach
After a record seven WNBA head-coaching positions were open earlier this year, they are now all filled.
The Dallas Wings named Chris Koclanes, a former WNBA and current USC assistant coach, as their head coach on Monday. Shortly after that the Washington Mystics named Sydney Johnson, a longtime men's college coach who spent last season as a Chicago Sky assistant, their new head coach, and former WNBA player Jamila Wideman their new general manager.
We're tracking all the coaching and general manager changes this offseason.
Last updated:Dec. 23, 2024
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WNBA head-coaching changes
Washington Mystics
Former coach: Eric Thibault (fired Oct. 23)
New coach:Sydney Johnson (hired Dec. 23)
Before going to the Sky last season, Johnson had spent eight years as head coach of Fairfield University men's team (2011-2019), leading the Stags to four postseason appearances. Johnson started his coaching career as an assistant at Georgetown University and then became head coach at his alma mater, Princeton University. As a player, he helped lead the Tigers to two NCAA tournament appearances in the 1990s. He also has coached with USA Basketball.
Thibault, who was let go along with his father, Mystics general manager Mike Thibault, was 33-47 in two seasons, including a 14-26 mark this season, when Washington finished one game behind the eighth and final playoff team in the standings.
MORE: What the Thibaults' exit means for the Mystics, WNBA coaching vacancies
Dallas Wings
Former coach: Latricia Trammell (fired Oct. 18)
New coach:Chris Koclanes (hired Dec. 23)
Koclanes joins the Wings from USC, where he is an assistant coach. He previously spent eight seasons in the league working under current Wings general manager Curt Miller, who previously coached for the Los Angeles Sparks and Connecticut Sun.
Known for his defensive focus, Koclanes served as defensive coordinator under Miller in both Connecticut and Los Angeles and is also well-regarded for his work in player development. With Koclanes at the helm, the Wings -- who boast the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft -- will look to return to the playoffs after finishing second-to-last in the standings in 2024. They previously let go of Latricia Trammell after the team went 9-31 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
Connecticut Sun
Former coach: Stephanie White (parted ways Oct. 28)
New coach: Rachid Meziane (hired Dec. 4)
Meziane comes to the WNBA after years of success coaching in the French club league and a stint as the Belgium women's national team coach. The native of France most recently led Villeneuve d'Ascq to the Ligue Feminine de Basketball (LFB) championship and a EuroLeague runner-up finish during the 2023-24 season. As the Belgium national team coach since 2022, he led Belgium to its first FIBA European Women's Championship (EuroBasket) gold medal in 2023. The national team also finished fourth in the Paris Olympics. Meziane was also an assistant coach with the France women's national team from 2014 to 2021.
Los Angeles Sparks
Former coach: Curt Miller (fired Sept. 24)
New coach: Lynne Roberts (hired Nov. 19)
Roberts is the second coach this month to leave the college ranks for the WNBA. The 2023 Pac-12 coach of the year, Roberts took over Utah in 2015, and guided the Utes to the NCAA tournament each of the past three seasons, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2023.
MORE: New Sparks coach Roberts brings player-development skills to WNBA
MORE: Utah coach Lynne Roberts saw 'golden opportunity' with Sparks
Atlanta Dream
Former coach: Tanisha Wright (fired Oct. 2)
New coach: Karl Smesko (hired Nov. 13)
Smesko heads to the WNBA after 23 seasons at Florida Gulf Coast, which he built into a perennial NCAA tournament team. Smesko is 672-139 at FGCU and boasts the third-highest winning percentage (.829) among active Division I women's basketball head coaches, trailing only UConn's Geno Auriemma and LSU's Kim Mulkey. The Eagles are traditionally one of the country's best 3-point shooting teams.
MORE: How will FGCU coach Smesko translate to the WNBA, Atlanta Dream?
Chicago Sky
Former coach: Teresa Weatherspoon (fired Sept. 26)
New coach: Tyler Marsh (hired Nov. 2)
Marsh joined the Aces in March 2022 and was an assistant on Becky Hammon's staff for Las Vegas' back-to-back WNBA championships in 2022 and 2023. The Aces went 77-29 over his three seasons and were 19-6 in the playoffs. Before joining the Aces, he won an NBA championship with the 2018-19 Toronto Raptors as assistant video coordinator and player development coach, and spent two seasons as a player development coach with the Indiana Pacers.
MORE: Are Marsh's skill development and the Sky's potential a perfect match?
Weatherspoon was 13-27 in one season with the Sky, who were in playoff contention for much of the second half of the season despite losing rookieAngel Reeseto a wrist injury for the final six games of the regular season.
MORE: What's next for Sky, Reese after Weatherspoon fired?
Indiana Fever
Former coach: Christie Sides (fired Oct. 27)
New coach: Stephanie White (hired Nov. 1)
Four days after she parted ways with the Sun, White returns to Indiana, where she was head coach for two seasons in 2015 and 2016 and has a long tenure in the organization: four years as a player in the early 2000s and four more as an assistant (including the 2012 championship season) prior to her head-coaching stint.
MORE: Why White is a good fit for Fever, Clark
Sides was 33-47 in two seasons with the Fever, including a 20-20 record this season, when she led Indiana to its first playoff berth since 2016. The Fever were swept 2-0 in the first round.
MORE: What are Fever looking for in Sides' successor?
WNBA general manager changes
Washington Mystics
Former GM: Mike Thibault (Oct. 23)
New GM:Jamila Wideman (hired Dec. 23)
Wideman played for a very popular Stanford squad that went to the women's Final Four three years in a row from 1995-97. Then she was picked third in the WNBA's first college draft and took part in the league's first season in 1997. In all, she played four seasons in the WNBA, then went to law school and was a longtime criminal defense and civil rights lawyer. Wideman has spent the last six years in the NBA league office, most recently as senior vice president of player development. -- Voepel
Connecticut Sun
Former GM: Darius Taylor (Dec. 3)
New GM: Morgan Tuck (Dec. 3)
In a two-day span, the Sun remade their brain trust. But the goal remains the same for a franchise that has made eight consecutive playoff appearances and played in four total WNBA Finals, but is seeking its first title.
"Basketball in Connecticut? You've got to win," said former UConn player Morgan Tuck, who was elevated to the Sun's general manager position Tuesday. "How do we make those tweaks to get to the next step. To win a championship, to get over that hump, it takes a lot of pieces. It's not that one thing that's missing ... it's kind of a holistic approach."
The Sun also named Rachid Meziane head coach Wednesday. He has an extensive coaching history internationally, both in his native France and as coach of the Belgian women's national team. Tuck, who played five seasons in the WNBA before retiring with chronic knee issues, said she became familiar with Meziane through watching him in FIBA competitions.
"We were really open-minded about what our candidate pool would look like," Tuck said. "Through our conversations, getting to know him and who he is as a person, we felt like he was the best fit for our team."
Sun president Jennifer Rizzotti has stressed that the team hopes for a coach who will relocate to Connecticut year-round, and it remains to be seen if Meziane and his family will do that. But once Meziane joins Rizzotti, Tuck and Darius Taylor -- who moved from the GM role to become the team's chief basketball strategist and director of scouting -- the Sun have a lot to decide for the upcoming free agency period.
Only three players are under contract for Connecticut for 2025: guards Marina Mabrey and Tyasha Harris, and center Olivia Nelson-Ododa. DiJonai Carrington, the WNBA's most improved player in 2024, is a restricted free agent. Stars Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner and Brionna Jones are all unrestricted free agents.
Minnesota Lynx
Former GM: Clare Duwelius (Nov. 11)
Duwelius left the Lynx to become GM and executive vice president of Unrivaled, the new 3x3 women's pro league that will launch in January. The Lynx have not said if they will hire another GM. A spokeswoman told ESPN on Monday that the franchise was still figuring out its front-office details.
Could that mean that coach and team president Cheryl Reeve resumes GM duties, a role she held in the 2018-2022 seasons? Reeve was named the WNBA's executive of the year this season and in 2019. The award is voted on by the league's other executives and was started in 2017. Reeve's honor marked the first time the executive of the year didn't have the GM role as part of their title.
Minnesota also announced Lynx assistant coach Katie Smith is moving to her alma mater, Ohio State, to be an assistant coach. That takes her out of the pool to fill one of the WNBA head-coach openings. -- Michael Voepel
Dallas Wings
Former GM: Greg Bibb (Oct. 18)
New GM: Curt Miller (Nov. 8)
Miller has been a coach for more than two decades. He was sought by other WNBA franchises after he was let go by the Sparks, sources told ESPN. His decision to take the Dallas GM job wasn't easy, sources also said, considering the impact it could have on his continued role in coaching USA Basketball.
But ultimately, Miller opted for another challenge and took the GM role. Near the end of his time as coach/GM with the Connecticut Sun, Miller told ESPN that he thought it was becoming less feasible for one person to do that dual role. He thought the demands and focus needed for both positions were best split between two people, and that has become the norm now in the WNBA.
Miller being out of the mix for the five open coaching positions (plus the two for the 2026 expansion teams) means that pool got weaker in terms of high-quality candidates with a lot of WNBA experience. He was at the top of the list there. Now, we wait to see if other recently fired coaches such as Latricia Trammell, Teresa Weatherspoon, Tanisha Wright, Christie Sides and Eric Thibault will move to other franchises. And we're watching to see who emerges among candidates who haven't been head coaches in the WNBA. -- Voepel
Las Vegas Aces
Former GM: Natalie Williams (Oct. 26)
Williams' contract wasn't renewed as part of a restructuring of the Aces' front office (the team's announcement didn't elaborate on what other changes that entails). Williams -- who was hired in 2022 and played for the franchise when it was the Utah Starzz -- served as GM during Las Vegas' back-to-back championship seasons. -- Alexa Philippou
Indiana Fever
Former GM: Lin Dunn (Oct. 4)
New GM: Amber Cox (Oct. 4)
Cox comes to the Indiana as its new chief operating officer and GM after previously serving as COO of the Dallas Wings. Her other WNBA experience includes stints as an executive with the Connecticut Sun and Phoenix Mercury. Dunn, the longtime Fever fixture, moves on from GM to a senior advisor role. -- Philippou
Golden State Valkyries
New GM: Ohemaa Nyanin (May 6)
Nyanin, a former assistant general manager with the New York Liberty, was named the first general manager of the expansion Golden State Valkyries. Nyanin has extensive experience with FIBA and USA Basketball. The team also hired a vice president of basketball operations, Vanja Cernivec, who will report to Nyanin. -- Philippou
